Business partner or simple catch? The economic value of the sicklefin lemon shark in French Polynesia

By E. Clua, N. Buray, Pierre Legendre, Johann Mourier, Serge Planes. 2011

108 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Most arguments invoked so far by the scientific community in favour of shark conservation rely on the ecological importance of sharks, and have little impact on management policies. During a 57-month study, we were able to individually recognise 39 sicklefin lemon sharks that support a shark-feeding ecotourism activity in Moorea Island, French Polynesia. We calculated the direct global revenue generated by the provisioning site, based on the expenses of local and international divers. The total yearly revenue was around USD5.4 million and the 13 sharks most often observed at the site had an average contribution each of around USD316 699. Any one of these sharks represents a potential contribution of USD2.64 million during its life span. We argue that publicising economic values per individual will be more effective than general declarations about their ecological importance for convincing policy makers and fishers that a live shark is more valuable than a dead shark for the local economy. Studies monitoring the potential negative ecological effects of long-term feeding of sharks should, however, be conducted to ensure these are also considered. Besides declarations about the non-consumptive direct-use value of sharks, as promoted by ecotourism, the calculation of their other economic values should also benefit shark conservation.

Subfields: Aquatic Science, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/431206095af6129cea7af38396b38366d950c294

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In Aquatic Science

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

Citations in the corpus

Shark and ray provisioning: functional insights into behavioral, ecological and physiological responses across multiple scales (2015, background): “These activities generate large revenues for tourist operators and related businesses worldwide (Gallagher & Hammerschlag 2011, Cisneros-Montemayor et al. 2013) and promote the nonextractive value of elasmobranchs (Brunnschweiler 2010, Clua et al. 2011, Vianna et al. 2012).”
Global economic value of shark ecotourism: implications for conservation (2013, background): “Amid uncertainty about the future of shark populations there is a growing interest in the economic benefits of sharks for ecotourism at both local and global scales (Topelko & Dearden 2005; Clua et al., 2011; Gallagher & Hammerschlag, 2011).”
Biological effects, conservation potential, and research priorities of shark diving tourism. (2015, background): “…to generate annual revenues of approximately US$1.8 million to the coastal communities in the area (Dicken and Hosking, 2009), while in Moorea (French Polynesia) shark diving with lemon sharks (Negaprion acutidens) was estimated to generate over US$5.4 million annually (Clua et al., 2011).”
The importance of research and public opinion to conservation management of sharks and rays: a synthesis (2011, unknown): “This type of research includes consideration of the economic value of resources, both from an extractive fisheries perspective (Campbell et al. 1992) as well as from the nonextractive uses (Clua et al. 2011).”
Socio-economic value and community benefits from shark-diving tourism in Palau: A sustainable use of reef shark populations (2012, unknown): “4 million per year (Clua et al., 2011).”