Fishery rent: a spatial and species level analysis for marine policy

Fisheries rely on important renewable marine resources. Understanding the status of fish stocks and their role in food provisioning ecosystem services can help improve the management of the marine environment. While fish stock assessment is well established, research on the monetary valuation of fisheries provisioning ecosystem services remains limited, particularly at the level of individual species. To further contribute to the preservation of the marine environment for future generations, there is a strong need to develop and implement appropriate techniques for the valuation of fisheries resources. This study develops and demonstrates a method to estimate the economic value of (commercial) fisheries provisioning services at the level of individual species and fishing areas. The proposed technique fills this gap and is tested by using an Italian case study. Results provide the economic value of several commercial fisheries and move beyond data limitations to produce results for fisheries management and policy makers. We conclude by calling attention for further expansion to other countries and improvements to link economic valuation, habitat mapping and ecological research in policy analysis discussion.