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What are native fish worth?

Started by Guest_darter1_* , Apr 29 2010 08:04 PM

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7 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_darter1_*

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Posted 29 April 2010 - 08:04 PM

Not exactly sure which forum to put this question in...I apologize in advance if I chose the wrong one.
What are native fish worth? What I mean is, aside from threatened, endangered, and gamefish what are darters, suckers, minnows etc. worth monetarily?
For example, most States allow the capture of bait-fish within a daily limit. Does this mean that a $20 fishing license can "buy" 50 bait fish a day throughout a year... making each bait fish worth about .1 cents apiece (if all the money from a license went to just bait fish).
What happens in a pollution case or fish-kill event? What about a bait-fish-farmer who makes a living off these fish? What price would he give each fish? Does anyone know if bait fish have been used in a legal assessment of any sort (insurance, litigation etc.)?
What monetary value do we put on fish when they become "more rare" and who decides this?
I am sorry for all the questions at once.

Thanks,
Tim

Edited by darter1, 29 April 2010 - 08:16 PM.

#2 Guest_donkeyman876_*

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Posted 29 April 2010 - 08:26 PM

I don't know if you really can put a monetary value on wild fish. Bait fishs are usualy about 15 cents a peice and pet natives are worth and where from $1-$15 000. But I would say you can't realy put a price on wild criters.

#3 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 29 April 2010 - 08:29 PM

The better way to frame your question is, what are ecosystem services worth? How do you value clean water, whether for drinking, food production, recreation or aesthetics? Clean water needs living organisms for stability, and living organisms need clean water for life. There's a large economics literature on this subject, valuing both individuals' assessments and also putting monetary values on clean air, clean water, etc. as it benefits human society. Taking it down to bait fish is both hard and easy; bait dealers who raise their own fish have a minimum valuation based on the difference between their costs and what people are willing to pay for the fish. The more typical bait wholesalers who net fish and sell them to retail outlets certainly have an easy-to-calculate valuation since the fish they collect are "free", if available and not coated in oil or whatever, and their expenses would be simpler such as maintaining nets, a boat, delivery truck, etc.

So can I get a "Drill, Baby, Drill!"?

#4 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 29 April 2010 - 10:13 PM

Even in cases where the market can determine a value (your first "keeper" baseball card) you might have a greater interest than the markets. You will always be shorted these exchanges as your first baseball card cannot be replaced and few will miss it but those that do, will miss it dearly. Poor analogy since a baseball card has only sentimental value unlike what Bruce has described, something with a value as part to something as fundamental as water you can drink.

So can I get a "Drill, Baby, Drill!"?

Really Bruce? We should get a separate forum to discuss politics.

#5 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 29 April 2010 - 10:26 PM

Nah, at this point it's beyond politics and into reality. I'm not sure if I'm flipped out or merely sad that I'm supposed to go to Dauphin Island, AL, in a week.

#6 Guest_darter1_*

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Posted 30 April 2010 - 07:32 AM

Many pollution events (Acid Mine Drainage) still allow recreational use. There are a few awesome canoeing/kayaking hotspots near me that are completely nailed by AMD. These streams have no fish community and are not used for anything but recreation.
So... "who cares?"... (devils advocate).

"Each one [of the Earth's 5 million invertebrate species] plays a role in its ecosystem. It's like we're tearing the cogs out of a great machine. The machine might work after you tear out ten cogs, but what happens when you tear out a hundred?"

— Scott Black, Xerces Society, quoted in Sierra

#7 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 30 April 2010 - 05:02 PM

Actually the American Fisheries Society has created a guideline, that has stood in court, that puts a monetary value on fish for the purpose of assessing fines associated with fish kills.

#8 Guest_Jim_*

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Posted 01 May 2010 - 12:49 PM

The fish i choose to keep, and study have no monetary value. Its more an issue of the enjoyment i derive, from finding where a particular species can be obtained, and actually being able to study and replicate that specimens requirements to be kept successfully in my home aquarium, in such a way that it thrives, just as in nature. From that point on its a mutual exchange, me providing that creatures every need to survive happily, and they provide me with hours on end of interactive enjoyment. I think, under that circumstance the value of one seemingly drab, and common darter, could maybe be calculated in the priceless range.