Download Economics and the Marine Environment

Economics and the marine
environment
David Whitmarsh
CEMARE, Department of Economics
University of Portsmouth
Presentation given at the Portsmouth
Business School Research Conference
July 21st 2005
Introduction
• CEMARE research is concerned with socio-economic
•


•



aspects of natural resources and the environment
An important focus is on:
marine living resources and how they can be used
sustainably
marine environmental impacts, especially in coastal
areas
Key questions:
Will the pressures on the marine environment intensify ?
Do changes in the marine environment have any
measurable social or economic impact ?
Is there an efficient way of controlling the exploitation of
the sea and preventing its misuse ?
Problems and pressures in the coastal zone
• Coastal areas are important to society but are under
•
•
•
•



pressure from multiple activities and uses, e.g.
Shipping, waste disposal, dredging, recreation, fishing,
aquaculture, oil and gas exploration, port and harbour
development, etc.
Plus: accidents and ‘perturbations’ (e.g. oil spills)
Environmental impact on: water quality, critical habitat,
biodiversity, fish stocks
Pressures are likely to intensify due to:
Increased population in coastal areas
Increased demand for marine products
Increased competition for ocean space
Socio-economic impacts of marine environmental
degradation
• Negative effects on:




•
•
Incomes (e.g. oiled beaches  tourist receipts, reduced
fish stock  fishing revenue)
Environmental assets (e.g. damage to valuable natural
resources such as coral, mangrove, etc.)
Human health (e.g. pathogens in contaminated
seawater)
Public attitudes (e.g. salmon farming: ‘farmed and
dangerous’)
Monetary values can be placed on some (but not all!)
non-market environmental impacts, e.g.
Exxon Valdez oil spill (1989) – lost conservation values
(wildlife etc.) estimated at $2.8 billion
Damage assessment: the Sea Empress oil spill
South Wales
Sea Empress
Incident: 72,000
tonnes of oil
discharged,
1996
The Sea Empress case: summary of economic costs
Category
Lower
estimate
(£M)
Upper
estimate
(£M)
Clean-up & salvage
49.1
58.1
Tourism
0.0
2.9
Recreation
1.0
2.8
Commercial fisheries
0.8
1.2
Recreational fisheries
0.8
2.7
Local industry
0.0
0.0
Conservation values
22.5
35.4
Human health
1.2
3.0
TOTAL
75.3
106.1
• Apart from clean-up and
salvage, the largest cost
item was the lost
conservation values.
• NB: Most of the affected
area fell within
Pembrokeshire Coast
National Park, and involved
35 SSSI and 2 National
Nature Reserves.
• These were treated as
non-use values and
assessed using the
Contingent Valuation
Method.
• Source: Moore et al. 1998
Managing the marine environment efficiently
• Economic valuation of environmental impacts is crucial
for decision-making using a cost-benefit approach, e.g.


Is it worth spending £ x million on coastal defence to
preserve ‘priceless’ wildlife habitat ?
Should the expansion of marine aquaculture be curtailed
because of the (supposed) environmental harm caused ?
• Economic instruments can be applied to:


Control pollution (e.g. liability laws, emission charges,
tradable water pollution permits)
Conserve natural resources (e.g. property and use rights
in fisheries, ecolabelling and seafood certification)
Current research: the ECASA project
• ECASA (= Ecosystem Approach to Sustainable
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aquaculture) is a €2.5M project funded under the EU
Framework Programme Six
Background: The expansion of aquaculture has brought
benefits to society, but there is evidence of negative
effects on the environment
Partners: UK, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France,
Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Croatia, Israel.
Coordinated by Scottish Association for Marine Science
Website: http://www.sams.ac.uk/research/research.htm
Duration: 3 years, commenced December 2004
University of Portsmouth (CEMARE) is responsible for the
socio-economic component
CEMARE staff: David Whitmarsh and Gianna Palmieri
Socio-economic research within the ECASA project
• Factors affecting aquaculture production (e.g. demand,
technological innovation, policies, etc.)
• Externalities of aquaculture and other CZ activities (e.g.
pollution damage costs)
• Models for evaluating the impact of policies on:
 Financial performance of aquaculture producers
 Prices and markets
 Employment and output (e.g. multiplier effects)
• Public attitudes and preferences. Focussing on:
 The social acceptability of aquaculture development and
its environmental impact
 Identification of factors determining attitudes and values