Measuring the Economic Value of Anglers' Kept and Released Catches

Abstract

Economic measures of the value of recreational catch typically have been based on the aggregate number offish caught per unit effort. Fishery management councils, however, regulate recreational catch through bag limits and size restrictions that influence the composition of kept and released fish in the catch, not just the number of fish caught. Statistical tests for pooled site travel cost demand models for anglers of king mackerel Scomberomorus cavalla in the Gulf of Mexico region showed that indicators of kept and released catches outperformed an aggregate indicator. Accounting for the composition of catch had a significant effect on economic measures of the gains and losses from catch regulations and suggested that aggregate indicators may give misleading estimates of the change in economic value due to regulations. Economic studies of the value of recreational catch in other fisheries should give more consideration to the effects of regulations on the composition of kept and released catches and to the social factors that influence the keep or release decision.