Intergenerational cost–benefit analysis and marine ecosystem restoration

Abstract

Ghoti papers Ghoti aims to serve as a forum for stimulating and pertinent ideas. Ghoti publishes succinct commentary and opinion that addresses important areas in fish and fisheries science. Ghoti contributions will be innovative and have a perspective that may lead to fresh and productive insight of concepts, issues and research agendas. All Ghoti contributions will be selected by the editors and peer reviewed. Etymology of Ghoti George Bernard Shaw (1856‐1950), polymath, playwright, Nobel prize winner, and the most prolific letter writer in history, was an advocate of English spelling reform. He was reportedly fond of pointing out its absurdities by proving that ‘fish’ could be spelt ‘ghoti’. That is: ‘gh’ as in ‘rough’, ‘o’ as in ‘women’ and ‘ti’ as in palatial.AbstractConventional cost–benefit analysis (CBA) tends to show that most ecosystem restoration programmes are not worthwhile in economic terms. This is because discounting puts more weight on current net benefits than future ones. I suggest that this is partly because conventional CBA is based on the current generation's time perspective (termed here the ‘discounting clock’). That is, net benefits are discounted starting when the analysis is carried out (the present). To tackle this problem, I propose the use of an intergenerational CBA, which takes into account the fact that current restoration efforts may produce benefits, in particular, fish protein, to future generations, and that these benefits need to be valued using the respective discounting clocks of the generation receiving them. This approach appears to meet the requirements imposed by most management jurisdictions, where there is an explicit or implied requirement to account for benefits to future generations in decision‐making concerning the use and management of marine resources.