The non-consumptive economic value of wildlife: the case of three cetacean species
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.05323.077Keywords:
common dolphin, killer whale, long-finned pilot whale, Mediterranean, whale-watching, wildlife economic valuationAbstract
The conservation of wildlife is one of the most pressing issues in the current times, but wildlife conservation economic values have often been largely ignored due to an absence of market prices, as setting an economic value on biodiversity or whole ecosystems can be challenging. Nevertheless, valuing wildlife can be of great significance to improve decision-making in the conservation field, as it can provide a complementary perspective based on economic principles. Whale-watching provides an opportunity for the economic valuation of wildlife. Specifically, it offers a framework in which the economic revenue allows the economic valuation of the targeted cetaceans to be estimated through the direct and indirect expenditure of the tourists who purchase whale-watching tours. Here, we performed an economic analysis based on population abundances of the three main species targeted by the whale-watching companies in the Strait of Gibraltar (Spain): long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and killer whales (Orcinus orca). These species generated a total annual income of €4,089,056, €1,876,833, and €505,389, respectively, and each individual would generate an average of €14,048, €951, and €36,099 each year, respectively. Incorporating life expectancy, this corresponded to a total population value of €112,426,185, €16,685,147, and €19,171,107, respectively, over their lifetime. These values provide an idea of the potential contribution of cetaceans to the local economy but only represent their non-consumptive value based on tourism. Our results reinforce the idea that a sustainable, high-quality whale-watching culture, under ACCOBAMS High-Quality Whale-Watching requirements, should be promoted to ensure a sustainable industry, stable economic income and the viability of cetacean populations in the Strait of Gibraltar.
Downloads
References
Álava J.J., Barragán M.J., Denkinger J. 2012. Assessing the impact of bycatch on Ecuadorian humpback whale breeding stock: A review with management recommendations. Ocean Coast. Manag. 57: 34-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2011.11.003
Barnes J. I., Schier C., Van Rooy G. 1999. Tourists' willingness to pay for wildlife viewing and wildlife conservation in Namibia. S. Afr. J. Wildl. Res. 29: 101-111.
Bearzi G. 2012. Delphinus delphis (Mediterranean assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012:e.T134817215A195829089.
Bearzi G., Agazzi S., Gonzalvo J., et al. 2008. Overfishing and the disappearance of short-beaked common dolphins from western Greece. Endanger. Species Res. 5: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00103
Beaumont N.J., Austen M.C., Mangi S.C., Townsend M. 2008. Economic valuation for the conservation of marine biodiversity. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 56: 386-396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.11.013 PMid:18191954
Bejder L., Samuels A., Whitehead H., Gales N. 2006. Interpreting short-term behavioural responses to disturbance within a longitudinal perspective. Anim. Behav. 72: 1149-1158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.04.003
Bentz J., Lopes F., Calado H., Dearden P. 2016. Enhancing satisfaction and sustainable management: Whale-watching in the Azores. Tour. Manag. 54: 465-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.11.016
Bruno M., Alonso J. J., Cózar A., et al. 2002. The boiling-water phenomena at Camarinal Sill, the Strait of Gibraltar. Deep-Sea Res. II: Top. Stud. Oceanogr. 49: 4097-4113. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(02)00144-3
Burns G.L., Howard P. 2003. When wildlife tourism goes wrong: a case study of stakeholder and management issues regarding Dingoes on Fraser Island, Australia. Tour. Manag. 24: 699-712. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(03)00146-8
Campbell L.M., Smith C. 2006. What makes them pay? values of volunteer tourists working for sea turtle conservation. Environ. Manage. 38: 84-98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-005-0188-0 PMid:16738822
Carbó-Penche M., Salazar-Sierra J.M., de Stephanis R., Esteban R. 2007. Socio-economic analysis of the whale-watching industry in Andalucia, Spain. In Proceedings of the 21st Annual Meeting of the European Cetacean Society. San Sebastian, April (Vol. 22).
Carrera M., Favaro E., Souto A. 2008. The response of marine tucuxis (Sotalia fluviatilis) towards tourist boats involves avoidance behaviour and a reduction in foraging. Anim. Welf. 17: 117. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0962728600027627
Chao A., Lee S., Jeng S. 1992. Estimating population size for capture-recapture data when capture probabilities vary by time and individual animal. Biometrics 48: 201-216. https://doi.org/10.2307/2532750 PMid:1581485
Chapagain B.P., Poudyal N.C., Watkins C. 2020. A travel cost analysis of elk-viewing opportunity generated from an elk reintroduction project in Tennessee. Hum. Dimens. Wildl. 27: 84-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2020.1864067
Charnov E.L. 1993. Life history invariants: Some explorations of symmetry in evolutionary ecology. Oxford University Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198540724.001.0001 PMid:19425966
Corkeron P.J. 1995. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Queensland: behaviour and responses to whale-watching vessels. Can. J. Zool. 73: 1290-1299. https://doi.org/10.1139/z95-153
Corkeron P.J. 2004. Whale-watching, iconography, and marine conservation. Conserv. Biol. 18: 847-849. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00255.x
David-Negre T., Hernández J.M., Moreno-Gil S. 2018. Understanding tourists' leisure expenditure at the destination: a social network analysis. J. Travel Tour. Mark. 35: 922-937. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2018.1447533
de Groot R.S., Fisher B., Christie M., et al. 2010. Integrating the ecological and economic dimensions in biodiversity and ecosystem service valuation. In: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB): Ecological and Economic Foundations, pp. 9-40. Earthscan, Routledge, London.
de Stephanis R., Cornulier T., Verborgh P., et al. 2008a. Summer spatial distribution of cetaceans in the Strait of Gibraltar in relation to the oceanographic context. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 353: 275-288. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07164
de Stephanis R., García-Tíscar S., Verborgh P., et al. 2008b. Diet of the social groups of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar. Mar. Biol., 154: 603-612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-008-0953-8
Dicken M.L. 2010. Socio-economic aspects of boat-based ecotourism during the sardine run within the Pondoland Marine Protected Area, South Africa. Afr. J. Mar. Sci. 32: 405-411. https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2010.502642
Echevarría F., Lafuente J.G., Bruno M., et al. 2002. Physical-biological coupling in the Strait of Gibraltar. Deep-Sea Res. II: Top. Stud. Oceanogr. 49: 4115-4130. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(02)00145-5
Elejabeitia C., Urquiola E., Verborgh P., de Stephanis R. 2012. Towards a sustainable whale-watching industry in the mediterranean sea. In: Rosalino L. M., Silva A., Abreu A., (eds), New trends towards Mediterranean tourism sustainability. Nova Science Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-62257-627-2.
Esteban R., Verborgh P., Gauffier P., et al. 2013. Identifying key habitat and seasonal patterns of a critically endangered population of killer whales. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. 94: 1317-1325. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002531541300091X
Esteban R., Verborgh P., Gauffier P., et al. 2016a. Using a multi-disciplinary approach to identify a critically endangered killer whale management unit. Ecol. Indic. 66: 291-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.01.043
Esteban R., Verborgh P., Gauffier P., et al. 2016b. Dynamics of killer whale, bluefin tuna and human fisheries in the Strait of Gibraltar. Biol.Conserv. 194: 31-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.11.031
Esteban R., Foote A. 2019. Orcinus orca (Strait of Gibraltar subpopulation). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T132948040A132949669.
Foote A.D., Osborne R.W., Hoelzel A R. 2004. Whale-call response to masking boat noise. Nature 428: 910-910. https://doi.org/10.1038/428910a PMid:15118717
Forestell P.H., Kaufman G. 1996. Whale-watching in Hawaii as a model for development of the industry worldwide. In: Colgan, K., Prasser, S., Jeffery A. (eds), Encounters with whales.. Canberra: Australian Nature Conservation Agency.
Gallagher A.J., Hammerschlag N. 2011. Global shark currency: the distribution, frequency, and economic value of shark ecotourism. Curr. Issues Tour. 14: 797-812. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2011.585227
García de Pedraza L., Garcia Vega C. 1991. Características de los vientos en la zona del Estrecho de Gibraltar. Calendario meteorológico 1991. Publicaciones del Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia, Madrid, pp. 188 201.
Gauffier P., Verborgh P., Giménez J., et al. 2018. Contemporary migration of fin whales through the Strait of Gibraltar. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 588: 215-228. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12449
Genov T., Bearzi G., Bonizzoni S., Tempesta M. 2012. Long-distance movement of a lone short-beaked common dolphin Delphinus delphis in the central Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Biodivers. Rec. 5: E9. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755267211001163
Giménez J., Gauffier P., Verborgh P., et al. 2011. The Bay of Algeciras: a feeding and breeding ground for common dolphins. In Abstract Book 25th Conference of European Cetacean Society, Cádiz, Spain.
Guinet C., Domenici P., de Stephanis R., et al. 2007. Killer whale predation on bluefin tuna: exploring the hypothesis of the endurance-exhaustion technique. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 347: 111-119. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07035
Hoyt E., Parsons E. C. M. 2014. The whale-watching industry. Whale-watching: Sustainable tourism and ecological management, pp. 57-70. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139018166.006
Jakobsson K.M., Dragun A.K. 2001. The worth of a possum: valuing species with the contingent valuation method. Environ Resour Econ. 19: 211-227.
IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force. 2017. Final Report of the Workshop: First IMMA Regional Workshop for the Mediterranean, Chania, Greece, 24-28 October 2016. 29 pp. Available at: https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/download/final-report-regional-orkshop-mediterranean-sea-important-marine-mammal-areas/.
Just E.R., Hueth D.L., Schmitz A. 1982. Applied welfare economics and public policy. American J. Agric. Econ. 64: 797-798. https://doi.org/10.2307/1240602
Kareiva P., Tallis H., Ricketts T. H., Daily G. C., Polasky S. 2011. Natural Capital: Theory and practice of mapping ecosystem services. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588992.001.0001
Kirkby C. A., Giudice R., Day B., et al. 2011. Closing the ecotourism-conservation loop in the Peruvian Amazon. Environ. Conserv. 477 38: 6-17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892911000099
Loomis J.B., White D.S. 1996. Economic benefits of rare and endangered species: summary and meta-analysis. Ecol. Econ. 18: 197-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8009(96)00029-8
Lusseau D., Bejder L. 2007. The long-term consequences of short-term responses to disturbance experiences from whale-watching impact assessment. Int. J. Comp. Psychol. 20: 228-236. https://doi.org/10.46867/IJCP.2007.20.02.04
Mangubhai S., Sykes H., Manley M., Vukikomoala K., Beattie M. 2020. Contributions of tourism-based Marine Conservation Agreements to natural resource management in Fiji. Ecol. Econ. 171: 106607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106607
Mace G.M., Barrett M., Burgess N.D., et al. 2018. Aiming higher to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. Nat. Sustain. 1: 448-451. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0130-0
Magalhães S., Prieto R., Silva M.A., et al. 2002. Short-term reactions of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) to whale-watching vessels in the Azores. Aquat. Mamm. 28: 267-274.
Martín-López B., Montes C., Benayas J. 2007. The non-economic motives behind the willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation. Biol. Conserv. 139: 67-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2007.06.005
Middleton V.T., Hawkins R. 1993. World Travel & Tourism Environment Research Centre Oxford Brookes University, UK. Tour. Rev. 48: 10-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb058118
Ministerio de la Presidencia 2007. Real Decreto 1727/2007, de 21 de diciembre, por el que se establecen medidas de protección de los cetáceos. BOE-A-2008-516. https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2007/12/21/1727.
Murphy S., Winship A., Dabin W., et al. 2009. Importance of biological parameters in assessing the status of Delphinus delphis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 388: 273-291. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08129
Neumann D.R., Leitenberger A., Orams M.B. 2002. Photo-identification of short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in north-east New Zealand: A photo-catalogue of recognisable individuals. N.Z.J. Mar. Freshw. Res. https://doi.org/10.1080/00288330.2002.9517115
Notarbartolo di Sciara G., Aguilar A., Bearzi G., Birkun A., Frantzis A. 2002. Overview of known or presumed impact on the different species of cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. In: Notarbartolo di Sciara (ed), Cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: State of Knowledge and Conservation Strategies. pp. 194- 196. A report to the ACCOBAMS Secretariat, Monaco, February 2002.
Otis D. L., Burnham K. P., White G. C., Anderson D. R. 1978. Statistical inference from capture data on closed animal populations. Wildl. Monogr. 62: 3-135.
O'Connor S., Campbell R., Cortez H., Knowles T. 2009. Whale-watching Worldwide: tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding economic benefits, a special report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth MA, USA, prepared by Economists at Large.
Parsons E. 2012. The negative impacts of whale-watching. J. Mar. Biol. 2012: 807294. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/807294
Parsons E., Warburton C., Woods-Ballard A., Hughes A., Johnston P. 2003. The value of conserving whales: the impacts of cetacean-related tourism on the economy of rural west Scotland. Aquat. Conserv.: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 13: 397-415. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.582
Pérez-Jorge S., Gomes I., Hayes K., et al. 2016. Effects of nature-based tourism and environmental drivers on the demography of a small dolphin population. Biol. Conserv. 197: 200-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.03.006
Pollock K.H., Nichols J.D., Brownie C., Hines J.E. 1990. Statistical inference for capture-recapture experiments. Wildl. Monogr. 107: 3-97. ISSN: 0084-0173.
Pons M., de Stephanis R., Verborgh P., Genovart M. 2022. Sharp decreases in survival probabilities in the long-finned pilot whales in Strait of Gibraltar. Mar. Biol. 169: 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04030-1
Rasmussen M. 2014. The whaling versus whale-watching debate. Whale-watching: Sustainable tourism and ecological management, pp. 81-94. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139018166.009 PMid:24515679 PMCid:PMC4093791
Reeves R., Notarbartolo di Sciara G. 2006. The status and distribution of cetaceans in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature. IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation.
Richardson L., Loomis J. 2009. The total economic value of threatened, endangered and rare species: An updated meta-analysis. Ecol. Econ. 68: 1535-1548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.10.016
Ring I., Hansjürgens B., Elmqvist T., Wittmer H., Sukhdev P. 2010. Challenges in framing the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity: the TEEB initiative. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2: 15-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2010.03.005
Roman J., Estes J. A., Morissette L., et al. 2014. Whales as marine ecosystem engineers. Front. Ecol. Environ. 12: 377-385. https://doi.org/10.1890/130220 PMid:17334437
Rossi-Santos M.R. 2016. Whale-watching noise effects on the behavior of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Brazilian breeding ground. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 27: 040003. https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0000271
Salles J.M. 2011. Valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services: Why put economic values on Nature?. C. R. Biol. 334: 469-482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2011.03.008 PMid:21640956
Salvamiento Marítimo 2010. Informe Anual de Salvamiento Marítimo. http://www.salvamentomaritimo.es/sala-de-comunicacion/informe-anual.
Samonte-Tan G.P., White A.T., Tercero M.A., et al. 2007. Economic valuation of coastal and marine resources: Bohol marine triangle, Philippines. Coast. Manage. 35: 319-338. https://doi.org/10.1080/08920750601169634
Schwoerer T., Knowler D., García-Martínez S. 2016. The value of whale-watching to local communities in Baja, Mexico: A case study using applied economic rent theory. Ecol. Econ. 127: 90-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.03.004
Senigaglia V., Christiansen F., Bejder L., et al. 2016. Meta-analyses of whale-watching impact studies: comparisons of cetacean responses to disturbance. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 542: 251-263. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11497
Shawky A.M., Christiansen F., Ormond R. 2020. Effects of swim-with-dolphin tourism on the behaviour of spinner dolphins, at Samadai Reef in the Egyptian Red Sea. Aquat. Conserv.: Mar. Freshw. 30: 1373-1384. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3332
Subroy V., Gunawardena A., Polyakov M., Pandit R., Pannell D. J. 2019. The worth of wildlife: A meta-analysis of global non-market values of threatened species. Ecol. Econ. 164: 106374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106374
Swanson T.M., Barbier E. (eds) 1992. Economics for the wilds: wildlife, wildlands, diversity and development. Earthscan. ISBN: 1-85383-124-7.
Tenan S., Hernández N., Fearnbach H., et al. 2020. Impact of maritime traffic and whale-watching on apparent survival of bottlenose dolphins in the Strait of Gibraltar. Aquat. Conserv.: Mar. Freshw. 30: 949-958. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3292
Timmel G., Courbis S., Sargeant-Green H., Markowitz H. 2008. Effects of human traffic on the movement patterns of Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii. Aquat.Mamm. 34: 402-411. https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.34.4.2008.402
Tisdell C., Wilson C. 2001. Wildlife-based tourism and increased support for nature conservation financially and otherwise: evidence from sea turtle ecotourism at Mon Repos. Tour. Econ. 7: 233-249. https://doi.org/10.5367/000000001101297847
Tisdell C.A., Wilson C. 2003. Economics of wildlife tourism. In: Higginbottom K. (ed), Wildlife, Tourism, impacts, management and planning. Common Ground Publishing Pty.
Van Tonder C., Saayman M., Krugell W. 2013. Tourists' characteristics and willingness to pay to see the Big Five. J. Econ. Fin. Sci. 6: 631-644. https://doi.org/10.4102/jef.v6i3.251
Verborgh P., Gauffier P. 2021. Globicephala melas (Strait of Gibraltar subpopulation). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T198787290A198788152.
Verborgh P., de Stephanis R., Pérez S., et al. 2009. Survival rate, abundance, and residency of long-finned pilot whales in the Strait of Gibraltar. Mar. Mammal Sci. 25: 523-536. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2008.00280.x
Verborgh P., Gauffier P., Brévart C., et al. 2019. Epizootic effect and aftermath in a pilot whale population. Aquat. Conserv.: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 29: 820-828. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3082
Verborgh P., Gauffier P., Esteban R., de Stephanis R 2021. Demographic parameters of a free-ranging deep-diving cetacean, the long-finned pilot whale. Mar. Mammal Sci. 37: 463-481. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12752
Visser F., Hartman K.L., Rood E.J.J., et al. 2011. Risso's dolphins alter daily resting pattern in response to whale-watching at the Azores. Mar. Mammal Sci. 27: 366-381. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00398.x
Wearing S., Neil J. 2009. Ecotourism: Impacts, potentials and possibilities? Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780080940182 PMCid:PMC2763266
Wearing S.L., Cunningham P.A., Schweinsberg S., Jobberns C. 2014. Whale-watching as ecotourism: How sustainable is it? Cosmop. Civ. Soc. 6: 38-55. https://doi.org/10.5130/ccs.v6i1.3714
White G. C., Burnham K.P. 1999. Program mark: survival estimation from populations of marked animals. Bird study, 46(suppl.): S120-S139. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063659909477239
Whitehead H., Gowans S., Faucher A., Mccarrey S. W. 1997. Population analysis of northern bottlenose whales in the Gully, Nova Scotia. Mar. Mammal Sci. 13: 173-185. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1997.tb00625.x
World Tourism Organization 2020. Growth in international tourist arrivals continues to outpace the economy. World tourism barometer No. 18, all regions, 20th January. https://www.unwto.org/world-tourism-barometer-n18-january-2020
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed.
Funding data
EOSC-Life
Grant numbers LIFE07NAT/E/000732;LIFE02NAT/E/8610
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
Grant numbers CGL2011-25543