Despite their importance for human well-being, nearshore fisheries are often data poor, undervalued, and underappreciated in policy and development programs. We assess the value chain for nearshore ...Hawaiian coral reef fisheries, mapping post-catch distribution and disposition, and quantifying associated monetary, food security, and cultural values. We estimate that the total annual value of the nearshore fishery in Hawai'i is $10.3-$16.4 million, composed of non-commercial ($7.2-$12.9 million) and commercial ($2.97 million licensed + $148,500-$445,500 unlicensed) catch. Hawaii's nearshore fisheries provide >7 million meals annually, with most (>5 million) from the non-commercial sector. Over a third (36%) of meals were planktivores, 26% piscivores, 21% primary consumers, and 18% secondary consumers. Only 62% of licensed commercial catch is accounted for in purchase reports, leaving 38% of landings unreported in sales. Value chains are complex, with major buyers for the commercial fishery including grocery stores (66%), retailers (19%), wholesalers (14%), and restaurants (<1%), who also trade and sell amongst themselves. The bulk of total nearshore catch (72-74%) follows a short value chain, with non-commercial fishers keeping catch for household consumption or community sharing. A small amount (~37,000kg) of reef fish-the equivalent of 1.8% of local catch-is imported annually into Hawai'i, 23,000kg of which arrives as passenger luggage on commercial flights from Micronesia. Evidence of exports to the US mainland exists, but is unquantifiable given existing data. Hawaiian nearshore fisheries support fundamental cultural values including subsistence, activity, traditional knowledge, and social cohesion. These small-scale coral reef fisheries provide large-scale benefits to the economy, food security, and cultural practices of Hawai'i, underscoring the need for sustainable management. This research highlights the value of information on the value chain for small-scale production systems, making the hidden economy of these fisheries visible and illuminating a range of conservation interventions applicable to Hawai'i and beyond.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Declining natural resources have led to a cultural renaissance across the Pacific that seeks to revive customary ridge-to-reef management approaches to protect freshwater and restore abundant coral ...reef fisheries. Effective ridge-to-reef management requires improved understanding of land-sea linkages and decision-support tools to simultaneously evaluate the effects of terrestrial and marine drivers on coral reefs, mediated by anthropogenic activities. Although a few applications have linked the effects of land cover to coral reefs, these are too coarse in resolution to inform watershed-scale management for Pacific Islands. To address this gap, we developed a novel linked land-sea modeling framework based on local data, which coupled groundwater and coral reef models at fine spatial resolution, to determine the effects of terrestrial drivers (groundwater and nutrients), mediated by human activities (land cover/use), and marine drivers (waves, geography, and habitat) on coral reefs. We applied this framework in two 'ridge-to-reef' systems (Hā'ena and Ka'ūpūlehu) subject to different natural disturbance regimes, located in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Our results indicated that coral reefs in Ka'ūpūlehu are coral-dominated with many grazers and scrapers due to low rainfall and wave power. While coral reefs in Hā'ena are dominated by crustose coralline algae with many grazers and less scrapers due to high rainfall and wave power. In general, Ka'ūpūlehu is more vulnerable to land-based nutrients and coral bleaching than Hā'ena due to high coral cover and limited dilution and mixing from low rainfall and wave power. However, the shallow and wave sheltered back-reef areas of Hā'ena, which support high coral cover and act as nursery habitat for fishes, are also vulnerable to land-based nutrients and coral bleaching. Anthropogenic sources of nutrients located upstream from these vulnerable areas are relevant locations for nutrient mitigation, such as cesspool upgrades. In this study, we located coral reefs vulnerable to land-based nutrients and linked them to priority areas to manage sources of human-derived nutrients, thereby demonstrating how this framework can inform place-based ridge-to-reef management.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Eight years of octopus fishery records from southwest Madagascar reveal significant positive impacts from 36 periodic closures on: (a) fishery catches and (b) village fishery income, such that (c) ...economic benefits from increased landings outweigh costs of foregone catch. Closures covered ~20% of a village's fished area and lasted 2-7 months.
Octopus landings and catch per unit effort (CPUE) significantly increased in the 30 days following a closure's reopening, relative to the 30 days before a closure (landings: +718%, p<0.0001; CPUE: +87%, p<0.0001; n = 36). Open-access control sites showed no before/after change when they occurred independently of other management ("no ban", n = 17/36). On the other hand, open-access control sites showed modest catch increases when they extended a 6-week seasonal fishery shutdown ("ban", n = 19/36). The seasonal fishery shutdown affects the entire region, so confound all potential control sites.
In villages implementing a closure, octopus fishery income doubled in the 30 days after a closure, relative to 30 days before (+132%, p<0.001, n = 28). Control villages not implementing a closure showed no increase in income after "no ban" closures and modest increases after "ban" closures. Villages did not show a significant decline in income during closure events.
Landings in closure sites generated more revenue than simulated landings assuming continued open-access fishing at that site (27/36 show positive net earnings; mean +$305/closure; mean +57.7% monthly). Benefits accrued faster than local fishers' time preferences during 17-27 of the 36 closures. High reported rates of illegal fishing during closures correlated with poor economic performance.
We discuss the implications of our findings for broader co-management arrangements, particularly for catalyzing more comprehensive management.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The economic value of water quality is poorly understood in Hawaii. Quantifying the economic value of coastal water quality would inform policy decisions that impact the coast and help justify ...expenditures in water quality improvements. We conducted a non-market valuation of beach recreationalists’ preferences and willingness to pay for water quality and associated attributes at Oahu beaches. Using a discrete choice experiment analyzed by a conditional logit model, results suggest individuals were willing to pay $11.43 per day at the beach to reduce days of bacterial exceedance from 11 to 5 per year, a further $30.72 to reduce it to no bacterial exceedances at all. WTP to move from 15 ft to 30 ft of underwater visibility was $35.71, a further $14.80 to increase from 30 ft to 60 ft. Respondents were also willing to pay $15.33 to improve coral reef cover from 10% to 25%, a further $4.89 to improve to 45% cover. WTP for moving from 9 fish species to 18 species was $7.14, a further $2.47 to increase that to 27 fish species. These environmental improvements can improve Oahu recreationalists’ welfare by $205 million, $550 million, $639 million, $265 million, $274 million, $88 million, $128 million, and $44 million per year, respectively. Welfare gains may justify increased spending in management and restoration of coastal ecosystems.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
A major challenge for coral reef conservation and management is understanding how a wide range of interacting human and natural drivers cumulatively impact and shape these ecosystems. Despite the ...importance of understanding these interactions, a methodological framework to synthesize spatially explicit data of such drivers is lacking. To fill this gap, we established a transferable data synthesis methodology to integrate spatial data on environmental and anthropogenic drivers of coral reefs, and applied this methodology to a case study location-the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). Environmental drivers were derived from time series (2002-2013) of climatological ranges and anomalies of remotely sensed sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a, irradiance, and wave power. Anthropogenic drivers were characterized using empirically derived and modeled datasets of spatial fisheries catch, sedimentation, nutrient input, new development, habitat modification, and invasive species. Within our case study system, resulting driver maps showed high spatial heterogeneity across the MHI, with anthropogenic drivers generally greatest and most widespread on O'ahu, where 70% of the state's population resides, while sedimentation and nutrients were dominant in less populated islands. Together, the spatial integration of environmental and anthropogenic driver data described here provides a first-ever synthetic approach to visualize how the drivers of coral reef state vary in space and demonstrates a methodological framework for implementation of this approach in other regions of the world. By quantifying and synthesizing spatial drivers of change on coral reefs, we provide an avenue for further research to understand how drivers determine reef diversity and resilience, which can ultimately inform policies to protect coral reefs.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Manual content analysis provides a systematic and reliable method to analyze patterns within a narrative text, but for larger datasets, where human coding is not feasible, automated content analysis ...methods present enticing and time-efficient solutions to classifying patterns of text automatically. However, the massive dataset needed and complexity of analyzing these large datasets have hindered their use in fishery science. Fishery scientists typically deal with intermediately sized datasets that are not large enough to warrant the complexity of sophisticated automated techniques, but that are also not small enough to cost-effectively analyze by hand. For these cases, a dictionary-based automated content analysis technique can potentially simplify the automation process without losing contextual sensitivity. Here, we built and tested a fisheries-specific data dictionary to conduct an automated content analysis of open-ended responses in a survey of the Hawaiʻi small boat fishery to examine the nature of the fishery conflict. In this paper we describe the overall performance of the methodology, creating and applying the dictionary to fishery data, as well as advantages and limitations of the method. The results indicate that the dictionary approach is capable of quickly and accurately classifying unstructured fisheries data into structured data, and that it was useful in revealing deeply rooted conflicts that are often ambiguous and overlooked in fisheries management. In addition to providing a proof of concept for the approach, the dictionary can be reused on subsequent waves of the survey to continue monitoring the evolution of these conflicts. Further, this approach can be applied within the field of fishery and natural resource conservation science more broadly, offering a valuable addition to the methodological toolbox.
Perhaps the most understudied ecosystem services are related to socio-cultural values tied to non-material benefits arising from human–ecosystem relationships. Bequest values linked to natural ...ecosystems can be particularly significant for indigenous communities whose livelihoods and cultures are tied to ecosystems. Here we apply a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to determine indigenous fishers' preferences and willingness-to-pay for bequest gains from management actions in a locally managed marine area in Madagascar, and use our results to estimate an implicit discount rate. We validate our results using a unique rating and ranking game and other mixed methods. We find that bequest is highly valued and important; respondents were willing to pay a substantial portion of their income to protect ecosystems for future generations. Through all of our inquiries, bequest emerged as the highest priority, even when respondents were forced to make trade-offs among other livelihood-supporting ecosystem services. This study is among a relative few to quantify bequest values and apply a DCE to model trade-offs, value ecosystem service flows, and estimate discount rates in a developing country. Our results directly inform coastal management in Madagascar and elsewhere by providing information on the socio-cultural value of bequest in comparison to other ecosystem service benefits.
•We quantify fishers' bequest values using a discrete choice experiment.•Fishers valued cultural bequest highly compared to other services.•Fishers had a substantial willingness to pay to protect ecosystems for future use.•Fishers' annual discount rates (62%) imply a present bias.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Ocean and coastal ecosystems provide critical fisheries, coastal protection, and cultural benefits to communities worldwide, but these services are diminishing due to local and global threats. In ...response, place-based strategies involve communities and resource users in management have proliferated. Here, we present a transferable community-based approach to assess the social and ecological factors affecting resource sustainability and food security in a small-scale, coral reef fishery. Our results show that this small-scale fishery provides large-scale benefits to communities, including 7,353 ± 1547 kg yr(-1) (mean ± SE) of seafood per year, equating to >30,000 meals with an economic value of $78,432. The vast majority of the catch is used for subsistence, contributing to community food security: 58% is kept, 33.5% is given away, and 8.5% is sold. Our spatial analysis assesses the geographic distribution of community beneficiaries from the fishery (the "food shed" for the fishery), and we document that 20% of seafood procured from the fishery is used for sociocultural events that are important for social cohesion. This approach provides a method for assessing social, economic, and cultural values provided by small-scale food systems, as well as important contributions to food security, with significant implications for conservation and management. This interdisciplinary effort aims to demonstrate a transferable participatory research approach useful for resource-dependent communities as they cope with socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental change.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We develop a travel-cost random utility model to estimate the value of recreational ecosystem services provided by more than 170 outdoor sites located on the island of Maui (Hawaii, USA). Particular ...emphasis is placed on the role of coastal ecosystems by combining recent fine-scale data on coral cover and fish biomass with information on almost 3000 recreation trips taken by Maui's residents. Our approach is grounded in economic theory and provides estimates that are directly applicable to inform a wide array of coastal management questions. Our results show that the 2014–2015 coral bleaching event caused losses in the order of $25 M per year to Maui's residents. We also identify the areas where coral reef restoration would maximize welfare gains. Impacts can vary up to a factor of 1000 across locations, demonstrating the need to carefully consider such heterogeneity in spatial prioritization. Our simulations also show how access fees or green taxes can raise funds for financing conservation measures aimed at bolstering coral reefs resilience to climate change.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
A more comprehensive understanding of how recreational values and forest visitation rates vary across different activities enables forest managers to tailor conservation and management strategies to ...align with preferences among visitors, ensuring more effective allocation of budgetary resources. However, current research often focuses on only a few recreational activities, resulting in limited insights for forest managers. This study aims to expand the nature-based activities considered so that management can better serve the broader public. We conduct a travel cost analysis using a large survey-based dataset to estimate the value of nature-based recreation in national forests in the Sierra Nevada region and assess how these values differ across main activities. We categorize recreational activities into five broad groups (Passive, Active, Camping, Winter, and Other) to offer a comprehensive view of recreational preferences. A truncated negative binomial regression accounting for endogenous stratification is used to analyze the relationship between the number of trips to the forests, travel cost, activity categories, and socio-demographic variables. Our results suggest a mean consumer surplus (CS) of $65 per visit per person to national forests in the Sierra Nevada. Aggregated over annual per person visits, the total CS is approximately $313.3 million per year. Our findings reveal variations in CS across activity groups, with winter activities (e.g., skiing, snowboarding) and active activities (e.g., hiking, fishing) attracting the highest number of visits, and the highest total CS. Our results provide valuable insights for national forest managers, facilitating the strategic allocation of limited resources to recreational activities that maximize societal welfare.
•Estimate CS of nature-based recreation in national forests in the Sierra Region.•Analyze variations in consumer surplus across recreational activity groups.•Winter and active activities provide the highest consumer surplus.•Our findings guide forest managers in aligning strategies with visitor preferences.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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