FISHERY BULLETIN; VOL. 72. NO. 1 



no additional fishing effort would be needed to 

 land the production from these hatcheries. 

 While this provides an adequate reason to omit 

 fishing costs for hatchery fish, this would not be 

 true for total salmon production. 



A stronger basis for omitting costs necessary 

 to land fish and using the ex-vessel price, results 

 from current fishery management policies. Regu- 

 lated inefficiency has been used in salmon fish- 

 eries to prevent overharvest thus excluding effi- 

 cient fishing methods. This process probably 

 results in dissipation of at least 75% of potential 

 net benefits and may be as high as 95% (Richards, 

 1969).'* Since the market prices used result from 

 normal market activities and thus represent the 

 market value of the fish resource to users, this 

 potential benefit could be realized if society 

 elects to change management methods and 

 reduce fishing costs. 



Several inadequacies exist in the use of the ex- 

 vessel price as a representation of the net value 

 for commercially caught fish. The first inade- 

 quacy is that the ex-vessel market price fails to 

 completely measure market value. Gear or sup- 

 plies furnished by processors and bonuses paid 

 are examples of values that are not included in 

 estimated market values. A second inadequacy 

 exists since ex -vessel values fail to completely 

 measure potential production. For example, a 

 large share of the catch is now taken on troll 

 gear and many sublegal size fish are caught. In 

 the removal from the gear and release of these 

 sublegal fish, many sustain injuries that result 

 in death or reduced growth. This wa.stage sig- 

 nificantly reduces the total production from the 

 resource to society. Also, estimated market 

 values do not include other ty])es of benefits. 

 For example, ex-vessel prices may not always 

 be determined in markets with adequate com- 

 petition to indicate total benefits, resulting in 

 a producer surplus (i.e., additional profits to 

 fish buyers). Benefits due to employment and 

 income generated for coastal communities and 

 the regional and national economy are not 

 included. Consumer surj^lus or benefits to con- 

 sumers that are not included in market prices 

 are also omitted. 



These factors indicate that using the ex-vessel 

 price for commercially caught fish is a reason- 



able estimate of benefits that could be realized. 

 If all factors were included, this could prove to 

 be a quite conservative estimate of total benefits. 

 Tables 8a and 8b present the net value of com- 

 mercially caught 1965- and 1966-brood coho 

 salmon by ocean regions and Columbia River 

 commercial fisheries. Two calculations were 

 required to obtain the net value. The theoretical 

 commercial catch was multiplied by the average 

 Ad marked coho weight to obtain the total 

 pounds of Columbia River coho caught by region. 

 The total pounds were then multiplied by the 

 average ex-vessel price paid in each region to 

 obtain the net value of the coho catch to that 

 region. 



Sport 



The net value for salmon and .steelhead sport 

 fishing is estimated to be $20 per day of fishing. 

 This value results from reconciling the existing 

 research that is closely related to estimated net 

 economic values of Columbia River sport caught 

 salmon. The maximum potential benefits from 

 sport fishing at a single market price is predicted 

 at $20 per fishing day by Brown, Singh, and 

 Richards (1972).' A single market price is in- 

 tended to be comparable with typical conditions 

 that underlie normal market price determina- 

 tion. The original data for this report were from 

 a 1962 survey in Oregon with results published 

 in 1964. The net value that resulted in maximum 

 benefits was estimated at $8 per day of fishing 

 in the original analysis (Brown. Singh, and 

 Castle, 1964). However, Brown and Nawas (in 

 press) developed research techniques that more 

 efficiently utilize available information. When 

 these techniques were used in an analysis of the 

 1962 survey data, an estimated value of $20 per 

 day was derived. This is the estimated value 

 used in this report. 



Two other reports support the revised Oregon 

 results. The estimated net economic value for 

 the 1967 sport salmon fisheries of Washington 

 resulted in a recommended value of $28 per day 

 of fishing (Mathews and Brown, 1970). An eval- 

 uation of the net economic values for the Idaho 

 sport fisheries, based on a 1968 survey, resulted 



** Jack A. Richards. 1969. An economic evaluation of 

 Columbia River anadromous fish programs. U.S. Dep. Int.. 

 Fish Wildl. Serv.. Bur. C ommer. Fish., Working paper 17, 

 274 p. (Processed.) 



' William G. Brown, Ashok K. Singh, and Jack A. 

 Richards. 1972. Influence of improved estimating tech- 

 niques on predicted net economic values for salmon and 

 steelhead. (Oreg. State Univ., Corvallis), Agric. Exp. Stn. 

 unpubl. manuscr.. 26 p. (Typescript.) 



154 



