Economic Damage Assessment of Coastal Development using Dynamic Bioeconomic Model

Abstract

This article analyzes the interdependency between nonrenewable marine sand resources and renewable fishery resources by the developed dynamic bioeconomic model. The developed bioeconomic model is applied to a case study of efficient sustainable management for marine sand mining, which adversely affects a valuable blue crab fishery and its habitat in Korea. The socially-efficient extraction plan for marine sand and the time-variant environmental external costs to society in terms of diminished harvest rate of blue crab are determined. To take into account long-term effects from destroyed fishery habitat, a Beverton-Holt age structure model is integrated into the bioeconomic model. The illustrative results reveal that the efficient sand extraction plan is dynamically constrained by the stock size of the blue crab fishery over time. Thus, the dynamic environmental external cost is more realistic resource policy option than the classical fixed external cost for determining socially optimal extraction plans. Additionally, the economic value of bottom habitat, which supports the on- and off-site commercial blue crab fishery is estimated. The empirical results are interpreted with emphasis on guidelines for management policy for marine sand mining.