Premium
THE VALUE OF IN‐STREAM WATER TEMPERATURE FORECASTS FOR FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
Author(s) -
HUANG BIAO,
LANGPAP CHRISTIAN,
ADAMS RICHARD M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7287.2011.00261.x
Subject(s) - recreation , fishery , fishing , environmental science , resource (disambiguation) , marginal value , chinook wind , value (mathematics) , water right , water resources , fish <actinopterygii> , natural resource economics , ecology , economics , oncorhynchus , biology , computer science , computer network , machine learning , microeconomics
Water temperature is an important factor affecting aquatic life within the stream environment. Cold water species, such as salmonids, are particularly susceptible to elevated water temperatures. This paper examines the economic value of short‐term water temperature forecasts for salmonid management. Forecasts may have economic value if they allow the water resource manager to make better water allocation decisions. This study considers two applications: water releases for management of Chinook salmon in the Klamath River and leasing water from agriculture for management of steelhead trout in the John Day River. We incorporate biophysical models and water temperature distribution data into a Bayesian framework to simulate changes in fish populations and the corresponding benefit from recreational fishing and opportunity cost of water under different temperature forecast accuracies. Simulation results indicate that use of the forecasts results in increased fish production and that marginal costs decline and net benefits increase as forecast accuracy increases, suggesting that provision and use of such stream temperature forecasts would have value to society. ( JEL Q22, Q25, Q28, Q50)