Using a special case of the hedonic pricing model of rec-reational demand, this study estimates demand, cost, and quality functions for private-boat walleye fishing in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie during the Summer 1981 season. It is based on a sample of 350 private boat anglers who report-ed their fishing activities in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie's Western Basin during this period.
The economic value of this activity is estimated using two theoretical approaches: One implicitly suggests that a recreational activity occurs at a point in time. Conse-quently, its price is viewed as the sum of money and time costs of travelling to and from the recreation site. The other considers a recreational activity to be a time-inten-sive activity. Its price is viewed in terms of the combined money and time costs of both consuming the activity and travelling to and from the recreational site. Sensitivity analysis is performed on estimates derived to demonstrate the effect of applying alternative measures of the opportu-nity cost of time. When these estimates are combined with creel census data on angler effort, the point-in-time ap-proach yields estimated aggregate values for the western Ba-sin which range from $29 million to $94 million. The time-intensive approach yields estimated aggregated values of $313 million to $571 million.