Capital and environmental valuation in the Finnish fisheries – technical aspects and policy implications

Abstract

Fish stocks in the Baltic Sea are an important natural resource for Finland; targeted by both commercial and recreational fishermen. Fisheries managers require data on the economic value of commercial and recreational fisheries for decision making and to assess the economic sustainability of fisheries. The volume of recreational catch of salmon in Finland is greater than the volume of commercial catch. However, there is marginally information available on the recreational value of salmon angling. These data deficiencies hinder the possibility of fishery managers to make optimal regulatory deci-sions concerning fish stocks. Additionally, the angler preferences and related angler profiles should be consid-ered in the decision making process as the reaction to different management measures can vary considerably depending on the angler type. This thesis contributes to the alle-viation of the existing data deficiencies by contributing knowledge on the economic state of marine commercial fisheries and on the economic value of salmon angling. Defining an economic value is often ambiguous as the valuation methods involve inaccuracies which affect the reliability of the estimates. Therefore, it would be benefi-cial for the data end users to understand the consequences of the choices made in the estimation process in order to interpret the results correctly for decision making. In this thesis, the application of two different valuation methods: the perpetual in-ventory method and the travel cost method is described for defining the value of capital and recreational fishing in Finland. The perpetual inventory method is applied for esti-mating the capital value of the marine commercial fishing fleet of Finland. The thesis describes the justification for the choices made in the estimation process and how these choices affect the results. In addition, the differences between economic and financial analysis are discussed. Moreover, the thesis describes the value estimation of salmon angling in the River Teno and the River Tornionjoki employing the travel cost method. The studies use a two-step estimation procedure, which considers the potential endogeneity of on-site time per fishing trip. The case study of salmon angling in the River Tornionjoki explores the influence of angler profiles on the fishing behavior; the length of a fishing trip and the number of trips taken. The results show that the importance of increasing catch rate for the recreational benefit obtained by the angler is smaller than expected and the im-portance of salmon catch differs between the Teno and Tornionjoki rivers. In the River Teno, the experience of catching salmon in the previous season increased, on average, the number of fishing trips during the following season. In the River Tornionjoki the higher catch rate reduced the average number of fishing trips and the length of a trip during the season.