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Socioeconomic Value of the Trout Fishery in Lake Taneycomo, Missouri
Author(s) -
Weithman A. Stephen,
Haas Mark A.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1982)111<223:svottf>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fishery , stocking , rainbow trout , salmo , hectare , trout , environmental science , geography , fish <actinopterygii> , agriculture , biology , archaeology
Lake Taneycomo, a 700‐hectare hydroelectric impoundment in southwestern Missouri, supports an excellent put‐grow‐and‐take fishery for rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri. When the fishery became threatened by releases of deoxygenated water from an upstream reservoir, it became important to determine its value. We used three methods for estimating the value of the fishery: Replacement cost of fish; travel cost; and income multiplier. Information for the latter two methods was based on 500 angler interviews. Replacement cost of the rainbow trout would be $0.5 million. The travel‐cost method provided an estimate of $2.9 million for the value of the fishery to anglers (consumersˈ surplus). The income‐multiplier method provided an estimate of $9.9 million for the net economic benefit to the local economy, or about 7% of all economic activity in the area. The benefit: Cost ratio of the rainbow trout stocking program at Lake Taneycomo was 22:1 for the local economy.