SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC VALUES OF MARINE BIRDS 



179 



geese for Kotzebue area villages, 68 for 

 Norton Sound villages, 24 for northwest 

 Seward Peninsula villages, and 37 for St. 

 Lawrence, Diomede, and King Island villages. 



A 1974 subsistence survey carried out 

 jointly by the University of Alaska and the 

 Bristol Bay Native Corporation showed that, 

 in 20 Bristol Bay villages, 57% of the house- 

 holds harvested waterfowl. The average kill 

 was 32 birds per household. 



Eider ducks are the most important marine 

 birds taken by residents of Barrow, Alaska. 

 Johnson (1971) interviewed 31 adult hunters 

 with average kills of 88 birds per hunter. Bar- 

 row people also take substantial numbers of 

 geese at Atkasook, a summer camp on the 

 Meade River 80 miles southeast of Barrow. 



Point Hope, Alaska, villagers also favor 

 eider ducks above all others. Pederson (1971) 

 indicated that each household that hunted 

 took about 150 eiders in the summer of 1971. 

 Each summer, Point Hope and Kivalina resi- 

 dents travel to the Cape Thompson and Cape 

 Lisburne cliffs to gather murre eggs. Both 

 Pederson (1971) and Kessel and Saario (1966) 

 showed an average harvest of 5 to 10 dozen 

 eggs per household (equivalent in weight to 10 

 to 20 dozen chicken eggs). 



To our knowledge, there is no available evi- 

 dence to indicate that the number of migra- 

 tory birds taken in the North in spring and 

 fall is a significant factor in the survival of a 

 particular species. The birds are, however, a 

 significant factor in the economy and culture 

 of the people of the Mackenzie Delta region 

 and much of coastal Alaska. This may not al- 

 ways be true, for their social and economic 

 conditions are changing rapidly. 



With the native birthrate twice the national 

 average and with hunting technology improv- 

 ing yearly, the day will undoubtedly come 

 when marine birds and other wildlife re- 

 sources are not able to withstand intensified 

 harvest pressures without more regulation 

 and control. An obvious need exists for gov- 

 ernment conservation agencies to work more 

 closely with the native people of northern re- 

 gions in conservation education and develop- 

 ment of sound harvest regulations. 



Recreational Uses 

 No attempt was made in this evaluation to 



affix dollar values to every marine bird en- 

 joyed by recreationists. Goldstein (1971), in 

 his economic study of wetlands, found it im- 

 possible to fix the value of the production and 

 harvest of migratory waterfowl in Minnesota. 



The amount of money spent by recrea- 

 tionists in seeking enjoyment from marine 

 birds does not measure the values they derive; 

 it measures only their costs to participate in 

 such ventures. The analogy that could be 

 made is that the value of a diamond is equal to 

 the cost of mining it. Nevertheless, expendi- 

 ture data for services and goods provided by 

 air-taxi and charter boat operators and mer- 

 chants selling bird guides, binoculars, and 

 other outdoor recreational equipment are use- 

 ful indicators in establishing the secondary or 

 indirect benefits of recreational activities as- 

 sociated with marine birds. 



The normal economic concept of net bene- 

 fits from marine bird recreation would include 

 only those accruing to individuals who pro- 

 vide goods and services to the recreationists, 

 gross revenues minus the costs (Wollman 

 1962; Pearse and Bowden 1969). This eco- 

 nomic return, however, in no way measures di- 

 rect benefits of marine bird resources to the 

 recreationists. 



Another important consideration in eval- 

 uating recreational use of marine birds is to 

 recognize that many of the nonparticipants 

 either value the option of being able to take 

 advantage of them in the future, or simply be- 

 lieve that the availability of such resources 

 benefits society (Stegner 1968). Such benefits 

 are difficult, if not impossible, to quantify yet 

 may be exceedingly important due to the 

 uniqueness of the marine bird resource and be- 

 cause many decisions affecting it may prove 

 irreversible. 



Increasing numbers of bird enthusiasts 

 throughout North America are discovering 

 the excitement and pleasures derived from 

 visiting marine bird rookeries. As pointed out 

 by Sowl and Bartonek (1974), and as anyone 

 can attest who has ever had the privilege of 

 watching the antics of tufted puffins (Lunda 

 cirrhata) near their colonies on a day when the 

 sun is obscured and the air buoyant, watching 

 seabirds is fun. 



We have found that organizations and busi- 

 nesses in practically every North American 

 coastal State and Province, from Nova Scotia 



