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Assessing the cost-effectiveness of a fish stocking program in a culture-based recreational fishery

Version 2 2024-06-03, 12:27
Version 1 2017-04-07, 11:25
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-03, 12:27 authored by TL Hunt, Helen Scarborough, K Giri, JW Douglas, P Jones
Fish stocking is commonly used to enhance, create and maintain recreational fisheries that typically generate significant economic activity. As fish stocking can be highly popular with stakeholders and is often a large economic investment, it should be evaluated to ensure it provides adequate return and is an effective use of fisheries management funds. In this study we evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a fish stocking program for non-native salmonid species of brown trout, rainbow trout and Chinook salmon at Lake Purrumbete, south-western Victoria, Australia. As Lake Purrumbete has no natural recruitment of these stocked species, it is described as a culture-based or put-grow-and-take recreational fishery. The average annual cost of the stocking program between 2007 and 2014 was estimated at $86,646 (2014 $AUD) per year including aquaculture production and transport of fish to release. A stratified random angler creel survey between December 2013 and 2014 was used to estimate visitation to the stocked fishery at 5447 fishing days, with average observed angler expenditure of $72 per person per day and the percentage of anglers satisfied with their fishing experience at 76%. The observed economic expenditure (market value) associated with the stocking program was estimated to be $351,741 with a 1:4 cost-benefit ratio return on stocking investment. The additional willingness to pay, or non-market recreational value of the stocked fishery, was estimated using the travel cost method to be an additional $84 - $291 per person per day with a 1:5 to 1:16 cost-benefit ratio return on stocking investment. This study demonstrates that fish stocking can provide a substantial return on investment, yielding significant economic and social benefits, and we recommend evaluations be conducted independently for stocking programs to assist in the responsible management of resources, maximise our understanding and subsequent benefits.

History

Journal

Fisheries research

Volume

186

Pagination

468-477

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ISSN

0165-7836

eISSN

1872-6763

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2016, Elsevier

Issue

Part 2

Publisher

Elsevier