Recreation values for sport fishing in the western part of Sweden

Based on the study Paulrud, Anton. (2004). Recreational values of different types of sport- fishing in western Sweden, in Economic valuation of sport-fishing in Sweden: Empirical findings and methodological developments. Doctoral thesis, SLU.

Background How is the relationship between social net benefits and the actual resource allocation in this case? Decisionmaking based on the cost or the net benefit of a recreational activity Net benefit of a recreational activity is the willingness-to-pay (WTP) minus the opportunity cost for it Using the travel cost method the consumer surplus can be estimated Benefit measures like these can be used for decisionmaking when budgets are limited

Valuation study for sport fishing Study from 1998 that used the travel cost method to value sport fishing in the county of Bohuslän in the western part of Sweden Sport fishing can be divided into five cathegories: Ordinary sport fishing, in lakes, for perch and pike Sport fishing in lakes with planted fish like rainbow trout Sport fishing in streams and watercourses Coastal fishing Sport fishing from boats with guides

The travel cost study Postal survey sent to 1800 sport fishers, aged above 15 Addressees were obtained from fishing card sales 70% response rate Respondents were asked: Socio-economic questions Questions about the latest fishing trip within the county of Bohuslän Travel cost Lodging during the trip Fishing fees Questions about how often they fish

The travel cost method Individual data or average values from geographical zones can be used 9 geographical zones were used Number of sport fishers in each zone is calculated Visiting frequency from each zone to each fishing location Cost per fishing day is estimated Regression analysis with visiting frequency as dependent variable and cost per day as independent variable ln V ij = β 0 + β 1 C ij Consumer surplus (CS) is calculated as the area below the demand curve minus the opportunity cost

Total CS is obtained by summing over all individuals Benefit per day is obtained by dividing total CS with the total number of fishing days Marginal value of the catch is calculated as: ln (CS i ) = α 0 + α 1 ln (catch i ) i = fishing location i ∂CS i / ∂catch i

Cost for one day of fishing (SEK)

Total catch

Consumer surplus

Total values per year, per fish, per kilo and number of days

Marginal values

Summary The study shows large values for sport fishing in the county of Bohuslän Basis for policy decisions about allocation of resources for sport fishing Values and costs depend on which type of sport fishing we are talking about Marginal values are important, they will decrease with the size of the catch The total value of sport fishing for Bohuslän can be even larger