Assessing Stream Values: Perspectives of Aquatic Resource Professionals

Abstract

Abstract We used a multiattribute judgment technique to identify features of streams and rivers that confer ecological and fishery values as perceived by aquatic resource professionals. Four groups of professionals were surveyed: (1) fishery managers from Virginia's fisheries management agency; (2) aquatic biologists from Virginia's water quality regulation agency; (3) fishery managers from throughout the USA; and (4) fish ecologists from throughout the USA. Each professional assigned scores indicating value to a series of hypothetical streams that varied on the basis of six predetermined factors. We used multiple linear regression to examine relationships between the varying factors and the value scores assigned by professionals. Importance to rare and endemic species and species richness were major determinants of perceived ecological value, whereas fishery value was largely determined by species composition, aesthetic quality, and fish size. Although value perspectives were generally similar among grou...