Social and Economic Implications of a

This paper is intended to supplement prior and current analyses of the potential social and economic implications of marine reserves in the Channel Islands, California. For the proposed network of marine reserves, there exists to date only a comparison of the immediate effects of a marine reserve network on revenues and employment from consumptive fishing and recreational activities in the region around the CINMS. This analysis, conducted by the stakeholder working group’s socioeconomic panel with support from NOAA’s Special Projects Office (available as Leeworthy and Wiley, 2001a), computes the revenues lost due to various percentage reductions of areas available to consumptive uses, notably commercial and recreational fishing and diving. Importantly, the analysis only provides a before and after scenario for each of the boundary alternatives, including the “preferred alternative ” submitted by the Sanctuary Advisory Council to the California Department of Fish and Game. Crucially, the current socioeconomic analysis rests on the assumption that current fishing efforts could continue at present rates into the future. In this analysis, the “preferred alternative ” would reduce commercial fishing ex-vessel values by about 16 % of the 1996-1999 baseline total ($28,111,179), or roughly $4.5 million, an