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Freshwater and fisheries: The need for comparative valuation

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DOI: 10.14321/aehm.025.01.39

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 Freshwater and fisheries: The need for
comparative valuation
Do
Devin Michael Bartley wn
loa
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, MI, USA de
d
devinmichaelbartley@gmail.com fro
m
htt
p:/
/sc
Aquatic ecosystems and specifically the freshwater therein, provide several ecosystem benefits including hol
arl
provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. These benefits are substantial but are not yp
partitioned equally or equitably among the various stakeholders. Demand for freshwater is expected to ubl
ish
double by 2050; the inland fisheries sector is in competition with other users of freshwater and will need ing
col
to demonstrate the value of freshwater and its fisheries to ensure appropriate policies to manage inland lec
tiv
aquatic ecosystems. e.
or
I have examined published material to estimate the value of water to industry, domestic, agriculture, g/
and fisheries users. Although the estimates are extremely rough, there are differences of many orders of m
su
magnitude in the value of freshwater depending on what it is used for. For example: p/
ae
h
• Inland fisheries harvested in 2016 ~10.2 million t worth US$5.5 billion m/
art
• Inland aquaculture produced in 2016 33.8 million t worth US$61.1 billion icl
e-
• 45,000 large dams generated 20 percent of world electricity worth US$5.7 trillion pd
f/2
• Large dams irrigated 100 million ha of land worth US$665 billion 5/
1/
39
The large values associated with water use by non-fisheries sectors are often not realized by the /1
fisheries, sector, but need to be in policy negotiations. The large differences in dollar value between 60
83
inland fisheries’ products and the other users of freshwater do not reflect the true value of inland fisheries 72
/3
in terms of nutrition, food security, and cultural values for many stakeholders. Those values are difficult 9b
art
to determine, and the stakeholders are often rural communities in developing countries whose needs ley
are not often addressed. As reflected in the Rome Declaration: Ten steps to responsible inland fisheries, .p
df
efforts must be made to engage other users of freshwater and accurately value the services provided by by
so
freshwater ecosystems. Examples of specific benefits derived from freshwater fish are provided to help cia
l@
develop a robust valuation system for these ecosystem services. Inland fisheries will never produce the ae
number of pounds of product produced from irrigated farmland, or surpass the value of electricity from h
m
hydropower, but crops and electricity do not have the nutritional value of fish. Therefore, elements of a s.o
rg
more robust value system and framework are proposed that acknowledges the other uses of freshwater on
and addresses the social and cultural needs of communities that depend on inland fisheries for their 14
Jul
livelihood. y
20
22
Keywords: ecosystem services, water management, inland fisheries

39
Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 25(1): 39–48, 2022. Copyright © 2022 Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management Society.
ISSN: 1463-4988 print / 1539-4077 online. DOI: 10.14321/aehm.025.01.39
40 Bartley et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 25 (2022) 39–48
This paper looks at additional ecosystem
Introduction services from freshwaters and the beneficiaries to
present a comparative picture of the many services
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the they provide. As reflected in the Rome Declaration:
United Nations (FAO) and others have stated that Ten steps to responsible inland fisheries (Taylor et
there are genuine concerns that biological diversity, al., 2016), efforts must be made to accurately value
ecosystem services, and many fishery resources of the services provided by freshwater ecosystems
inland aquatic ecosystems will be lost as the world and engage other users of freshwaters in order
strives to accommodate 9 billion people by 2050 to inform a more robust valuation system for Do
(FAO 2016). Demand for freshwater is expected to freshwater ecosystems.
wn
loa
double by 2050 (OECD, 2012); freshwater fishes de
d
are the most endangered group of vertebrates used fro
by humans (Ricciardi and Rasmussen, 1999). The Methodology m
htt
inland fisheries sector is in competition with other p:/
Published material was examined to estimate /sc
users of freshwater and will need to demonstrate hol
the value of water for different users, i.e. industry, arl
the value of freshwater and its fisheries to ensure yp
municipal, agriculture, and fisheries. Examples ubl
appropriate policies are put in place to manage ish
of specific benefits derived from freshwaters that
inland aquatic ecosystems in the coming decades. ing
are managed for fish are provided to help develop col
Humans withdraw about 10 percent of the lec
a more complete valuation system for these tiv
world’s freshwater, or about 3,800 km.3 Of that e.
ecosystem services. or
10 percent, agriculture uses 70 percent, industry g/
extracts another 20 percent, and 10 percent is for m
su
domestic use (Comprehensive Assessment of Results and discussion p/
ae
Water Management in Agriculture, 2007). These h
are global estimates and some rivers have so much Although the estimates are extremely rough, m/
art
water withdrawn that they do not reach the sea, e.g. there are differences of many orders of magnitude icl
e-
the Colorado River in North America. These sectors in the value of freshwater depending on who is pd
are extremely important in national economies, but using it (Table 1). The few elements in Table 1 f/2
5/
the sectors rarely consider fishery resources. are only ”provisioning” ecosystem services, i.e. 1/
39
Aquatic ecosystems, and more specifically services that directly produce a product; these /1
60
freshwater ecosystems, are extremely valuable services are easier to determine than the supporting, 83
and provide several ecosystem benefits including regulation, and culture services, and therefore are 72
/3
provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural usually included in policy discussion. However, the 9b
art
services (Brugere et al., 2015). These benefits are supporting, regulating, and cultural services also ley

substantial. For example, global wetlands were need to be considered and are often provided in .p
df
valued at US$ 4.9 trillion in 1997 (Costanza et al., abundance by freshwater ecosystems (WWF, 2013; by
so
1997), which equates to about US$ 7.9 trillion in Funge-Smith, 2018). cia
l@
2020.1 However the various ecosystem services Freshwater is an extremely valuable resource ae

are often difficult to calculate and compare, and for irrigation and hydroelectric generation. The h
m
are not partitioned equally or equitably among World Commission on Dams (WCD, 2000) s.o
rg
the various stakeholders. The value of electricity reported that over 45,000 large dams and reservoirs on
14
generated from hydroelectric power plants is easier stored 135,000 km3 of water, generated almost 20 Jul
to determine than the value indigenous people percent of world’s electricity, and helped irrigate y
20
place on their spiritual connection to a river, or 100 million ha of land (~40 percent of the total). 22

how society values iconic species, such as salmon,
bears, and eagles that depend on freshwaters. Yet
all of these values and who benefits from them are
necessary to make informed decisions on how to
manage a river (Lumley et al., 2016; WWF, 2013).
FAO (2003) reported that water productivity in 23
irrigation systems in 11 countries had an average
value of US$0.25m-3 and that industrial use values
were US$7.50 m-3. Therefore, using these rough
estimates, the value of freshwater for industrial

1 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, prices in 2020 are 62.24 percent higher than average prices
since 1997 https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1997.
 Bartley et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 25 (2022) 39–48 3

purposes is US$5.7 trillion and for agriculture
it is US$665 billion (Table 1). It is easy to see
why governments and developers prioritize other
uses of freshwater over fisheries and aquaculture.
However, these calculations ignore the vital role
inland fisheries and aquaculture play in food
security and improved nutrition, especially in
rural areas (FungeSmith, 2018; Funge-Smith and
Bennett, 2019) . Different metrics and means of
analysis are needed if resource managers and
flows. Although the World Commission on Dams
and others have noted the environmental damage
many dams produce, dams are still being built,
albeit at a slower pace (WCD, 2000; Baran, 2010).
The large differences in dollar value between
inland fisheries and the other uses of freshwater
(Table 1) do not reflect the range of ecosystem
services provided by nor the true value of inland
Do
fisheries in terms of nutrition, food security, and wn
loa
cultural values for many stakeholders. Rivers and de

policy makers are to consider that water should wetlands provide a variety of ecosystem services d
fro

be managed to provide a full suite of ecosystem that are not often considered by water managers and m
htt
services. policy makers (Table 2). Many of these services are p:/
/sc
often in conflict with other users of freshwaters, are
Damming rivers can provide electricity, flood hol
difficult to determine, and the stakeholders are often arl
control, irrigation, and transport. However, these yp
rural communities in developing countries whose ubl
services are often at the expense of fisheries and ish
needs are not often addressed. Not discounting the
the people that depend on or have strong cultural ing
important role crops play in food security and the col
connections to aquatic ecosystems (Lumley, 2016). lec
2,800 calories pers.-1day-1 intake by the world’s tiv
The World Commission on Dams (2000) reported e.
population, more than 2 billion people are thought or
that 450 million people live downstream of large g/
to be undernourished because of imbalanced diets
dams and would be impacted by changes to river m
su
p/
Table 1. Indicative values of some provisioning ecosystem services from freshwaters ae
h
m/
Sector Service Value (US$) Notes art
icl
Industry Hydroelectrici 5.7 trillion 45,000 large dams generated 20* percent of world e-
ty electricity (FAO, 2003; WCD, 2000) pd
f/2
Agriculture Irrigation 665 billion Large dams irrigated 100 million ha of land (FAO, 2003; 5/
1/
WCD, 2000)** 39
/1
Inland aquaculture Food 61.1 billion Inland aquaculture produced 33.8 million t in 2016 (FAO, 60
2018) 83
72
Inland fisheries Food 5.5 billion Inland fisheries harvested 10.2 million t in 2016 (FAO, /3
9b
2018) art
ley
* Back of the envelope calculations: Given a value for industrial water productivity of US$7.5(m3)-1 x 20% of available water used .p
df
in industry x 3,800,000,000,000 m3 (total water available) = US$5 700,000,000,000 by
so
** Back of the envelope calculations: Average agriculture water use is 70% of available water x 3,800,000,000,000 m3 (total water cia
available) x US$0.25(m3)-1 (average water productivity of irrigation) = US$665,000,000,000 l@
ae
h
Table 2. Some indicative ecosystem services of freshwaters. m
s.o
rg
Item Indicative example and value on
14
Provisioning Fish US$2.1–3.8 billion in LMB (Baran, 2010) Jul
services US$545 million in Nile perch export earnings from y
20
Lake Victoria (Mbabazi and Mkumbo, 2015) 22
Hydroelectricity US$235 million year-1 in the LMB (Mungkung et al.,
2015)
Crop production US$ 5.4 million year-1 and US$ 20.7 million year-1,
respectively, from agriculture and river-bank gardens
in the LMB (Mungkung et al., 2015)
Papyrus, crafts and domestic water supply US$1.4 billion from small wetland in Lake Victoria
(Mbabazi and Mkumbo, 2015)
4 Bartley et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 25 (2022) 39–48

Item Indicative example and value

Regulating Carbon sequestration US$968 and US$100 ha-1 year-1 overall carbon
and sequestration by forests in the LMB and by
supporting mangroves in the delta, respectively; value data not
services available for loss of sequestration by phytoplankton
denied of sediment transport by dams (WWF, 2013)
Water flow and flood control
Do
Flood plain nutrient buffering Northern Nigeria flood plains US$32 per 1,000 m3 wn
of water compared to US$ 0.15 per 1,000 m3 for loa
de
agriculture d
fro
Commercial and recreational ocean US$ 26 million and US$ 54 million per year, m
fisheries respectively (Morton and Knowler, 2015) from htt
p:/
migrating salmonids in the Columbia River /sc
hol
Water treatment US$130,000 year-1 km-2 from wetlands in Pacific arl
yp
Northwest (see references in Morton and Knowler, ubl
2015) ish
ing
Nutrient cycling and sediment transport US$17 million hypothetical gain in the Columbia col
lec
River (Morton and Knowler, 2015) tiv
fertilizer in the LMB were US$24 million year-1 to e.
or
replace lost fertilizer in the LMB if all planned dams g/
were built in the basin (Mungkung et al., 2015) m
su
US$ 3.68 million year-1 to replace nutrient buffering p/
ae
of some Lake Victoria wetlands h
m/
Sediment transport art
icl
Fish breeding habitat US$673,956 in small part of Lake Victoria (Mbabazi e-
and Mkumbo, 2015) pd
f/2
Cultural Recreational fisheries Columbia River and ocean salmon fishing 5/
1/
services US$54.7 million/year (Davis, 2014); Global 39
recreational fisheries, including supplies— /1
60
US$64–79 billion (see references in Funge-Smith 83
72
and Bennett, 2019) US$30 billion recreational. /3
fishing and 500 000 jobs (Youn et al. 2016) 9b
art
ley
.p
Identity and community cohesion Beach management units established on Lake df
Victoria (Mbabazi and Mkumbo, 2015) by
so
Giant Mekong Catfish festivals LMB cia
Historical legends and religion based on salmon l@
ae
(Lumley et al., 2016) h
m
Education and research s.o
rg
Biodiversity US$64.2 and 45.8 billion values of forests and on
14
wetlands along the lower Mekong, respectively, Jul
would increase by about10 percent when protected y
20
areas were added to increase ecosystem services and 22
biodiversity (WWF, 2013)
Existence value US$34–2,428 year-1 household-1 to conserve Pacific
Salmon (see references in Morton and Knowler,
2015)
Columbia River management reduced hydro-electric
output by 10 percent to conserve fish and wildlife
dependent on the river
 Bartley et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 25 (2022) 39–48 5

that are deficient in nutrients often best provided
by fish, e.g. proteins, trace elements, minerals, and
lipids (WHO, 2005). Fish and fish products from
inland fisheries have a special role to play both in
livelihoods and in providing valuable nutrition to
rural communities (Roos, 2016).
Fishery resources are often not valued or the
full value of freshwater ecosystems not accurately
accounted for. In the inner delta of the Niger River
in Mali, two existing dams, the Selingue and
et al., 2015). The loss of gardens would impact
450,000 households and demonstrates that the loss
of ecosystem services may often be strongest felt
by households and not by large businesses.
The loss of fisheries In the LMB would be a
severe economic and livelihood loss to the 60
million people in the basin. Calculating the cost to
replace the loss of protein from fish is another way
Do
to estimate the hypothetical value of ecosystem wn
loa
services. Replacing loss of fish with beef would de

Markala, and one planned dam, the Fomi dam, have require using 3.6 percent of the total discharge d
fro

or will lead to an economic loss of €4,268,291, € of the Mekong River, equivalent to a 28 percent m
htt
1,219,512, and € 9,146,341, respectively, from increase in water withdrawal; replacing with p:/
/sc
the fisheries (Wetlands International, 2005). In chicken would require less land and water but hol

northern Nigeria, the government spent US$3 would still require more than 36,000 km2 of land arl
yp

billion on dams for irrigation, only to realize that and an 8 percent increase in total water withdrawal. ubl
ish
the economic benefit of the flood plain was higher Completely replacing the harvest of Mekong River ing
col
than those from irrigated agriculture: US$32 vs. fish with beef would require using 65 percent of the lec

US$0.15 1,000 m-3 of water; the increased value LMB’s total land area (Lymer et al., 2016)! tiv
e.
of the floodplain did not include groundwater Lake Victoria’s fisheries (east Africa) produce or
g/
recharge and water supply to Lake Chad (IUCN, an estimated 1,000,000 mt of fish per year valued m
su
2000). at US$1.56 billion. The lake’s Nile perch fishery p/

Mungkung et al. (2015) estimated that only generates US$545 million in export earnings, but ae
h
5 percent of the potential hydroelectric power in these figures are also underestimates as they do not m/
art
the Mekong basin is exploited; this 5 percent has include illegal and unreported catch. The wetlands icl

an economic value of US$235 million per year. around the lake provide feeding and nursery habitat e-
pd

The provision of electricity to the lower Mekong to support capture fisheries, and a thin strip of fish f/2
5/
Basin (LMB) is a valuable ecosystem service that breeding area was valued at US$673,956 (Mbabazi 1/
39
can’t be ignored and will be a major part of future and Mkumbo, 2015). However, the actual breeding /1

development plans for the basin. However, how the area was determined to be much larger and therefore 60
83

benefits are distributed and at what environmental undervalued by about 50 times (Mbabazi and 72
/3
cost are crucial considerations. Mkumbo, 2015). Other wetland services that are 9b
art
mutually supportive of each other, such as papyrus
Fish resources in the LMB are estimated to ley
production, crafts, and domestic water supply were .p
be worth between 2.1 and 3.8 billion US$ on df
valued at US$1.4 billion from an equivalent area by
first sale, and between 4.2 and 7.6 billion US$ so
(Mbabazi and Mkumbo, 2015).
on retail markets (Baran, 2010). Numerous dams cia
l@
for hydroelectricity are planned for the LMB. It is It is often difficult to classify an ecosystem ae

projected that if all the planned dams were built, service as supporting or regulating, therefore they h
m
capture fisheries harvest would be reduced by about are combined in this document. The Columbia s.o
rg
880,000 metric tons year-1, valued at about US$476 River (USA) is currently managed for hydropower on

million by 2030 (Lymer et al., 2016; Mungkung production, flood control, and transport, and 14
Jul

et al., 2015). The new reservoirs in the LMB may has many fish conservation measures in place. y
20
provide an opportunity for capture fisheries, but are However, returning to the pristine state of the river, 22

only expected to produce about US$14 million yr-1.
Additionally, at least 9,000,000 ha of land suitable
for agriculture and river bank gardens would
become flooded by the reservoirs behind the dams.
The economic value of the agriculture and river
bank gardens is around US$5.4 million year-1 and
US$20.7 million year-1, respectively (Mungkung
i.e. with no hydropower and a free flowing river,
would generate US$17 million in benefits per year
in regard to nutrient cycling (Morton and Knowler,
2015). The nutrients released from dying salmon
as they return from the ocean to spawn support
charismatic wildlife such as eagles and bears, and
provide nutrients to riparian habitats (Morton and
6 Bartley et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 25 (2022) 39–48

Knowler, 2015). Returning the Columbia River to
its pristine state would deprive other stakeholders
of the benefits of electricity, irrigation, and flood
control, and may not be in the best interest of
overall society, especially in light of the numerous
conservation measures in place on the Columbia
River.
The conservation measures on the Columbia
River deal with mitigating the impacts of the
hydrosystem, (the entire water flow system within
year-1, equivalent to 35 percent of their gains from
crop production (Simonit and Perrings, 2011). The
loss of wetlands’ buffering service would yield
an estimated loss in fishery production valued at
US$216 ha-1year.-1
Wetlands also help improve overall water
quality. Wetlands in areas of the Pacific Northwest
(North America), both natural and artificially created,
Do
were shown to provide water quality improvement wn
loa
valued at over US$130,000 year-1 (km2)-1 (see de

the basin) and involve allocating about 10 percent references in Morton and Knowler, 2015). Water d
fro

of the millions of acre-feet of water in the Columbia quality improvement is one of the most expensive m
htt
River Basin for fish and wildlife, i.e. this is water undertakings in municipal water treatment plants p:/
/sc
not used for hydroelectricity generation (Box 5 in (Joan Rose, Homer Nowlin Chair in Water hol

Bartley et al., 2016). However, the Columbia River Research, Professor, Michigan State University, arl
yp

also supports commercial and recreational ocean pers. comm.), therefore letting wetlands perform ubl
ish
fisheries that have been valued at US$26 million and this service could save cities hundreds of thousands ing
col
US$54 million per year, respectively (Morton and of dollars each year. lec

Knowler, 2015). In the FAO statistics for capture Many modern and especially indigenous tiv
e.
fisheries, the quantities of the recreational ocean or communities identify with wetlands and associated or
g/
inland catch are not accounted for as either inland biodiversity. In addition to the fish that are a m
su
or marine captures (pers. obs.), further showing traditional food and ceremonial item, there is a p/

that the provisioning value of these fisheries is sense of community and connection to nature ae
h
underestimated (see also Bartley et al., 2015). and spirituality that comes from these ecosystems m/
art
Dams on the Mekong River not only impede (Lumley et al., 2016). Fisheries in Lake Victoria, icl

migrating fishes, but also prevent the flow of for example, provide a sense of identity and a e-
pd

sediments. Agriculture productivity would be mechanism for community engagement where f/2
5/
reduced due to this reduction in sediment load. beach management units direct community 1/
39
Estimates of the cost of replacing sediment with activities on fishing and other activities (Mbabazi /1

fertilizer in the LMB were US$24 million year.-1 and Mkumbo, 2015). The Mekong River also is 60
83

Furthermore, inundated rice paddies would lose home to endangered and iconic species such as 72
/3
about US$ 4.1 million year-1 but agriculture in the giant Mekong Catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), 9b
art
the basin would gain from increased irrigation the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) ley

by US$ 15.54 million year-1 (Mungkung et al., and the largest cyprinid species in the world, the .p
df
2015). Gillson (2011) noted that freshwater flows giant Siamese carp (Catlocarpio siamensis). In by
so
generally, but not always, increased catch in several the LMB over the last few decades, about 1,000 cia

coastal and marine fisheries. Although estimates new species have been described (WWF 2015). l@
ae

are not available, the reduced nutrients in the Festivals celebrating the giant Mekong Catfish h
m
Mekong Delta will reduce phytoplankton’s ability occur annually in parts of the LMB and images of s.o
rg
to sequester carbon. Overall carbon sequestration the Catfish can be found in ancient bas reliefs and on

by forests in the LMB and by mangroves in the delta rock paintings.2 14

Jul

were US$968 and US$100 ha-1 year-1, respectively Forests around the Mekong River and its y
20
(WWF, 2013). wetlands were valued at US$64.2 billion and 22

Wetlands around Lake Victoria provide nutrient
buffering services to the farms in the area. In
the Yala drainage of Lake Victoria, losing those
wetlands and the ecosystem service they provide
would require farmers to spend US$3.68 million
US$45.8 billion, respectively, but adding protected
areas to increase biodiversity resulted in a 10
percent increase in these values (WWF, 2013).
Furthermore, there is an expected annual gain in
value of US$4 billion in these ecosystems, which

2 https://edgeosci.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=192f43ae96a747568956cb71c2977e28 and http://www.

mrcmekong.org/assets/Publications/Catch-and-Culture/Catchjun03vol9.1.pdf
 Bartley et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 25 (2022) 39–48 7

would result in US$55 billion to the economy of
the LMB by 2035; most of this extra value would
be in the form of regulating and supporting services
(WWF, 2013).
Recreation is an important societal activity
associated with many waterbodies, especially
in the developed world, but increasingly so in
the developing world. The value of recreational
Chinook Salmon fishing in the Columbia River was
estimated at US$34.5 million year-1 (Davis, 2014).
other uses of freshwaters and wetlands. In 2004,
the Pak Mun dam in Thailand, in response to
pressure from local communities, allowed its dam
gates to be opened during the rainy season when
many fish, especially catfishes, needed to migrate
(Jutagate et al., 2005; Roberts, 2001). There was a
period of increased catch per unit effort following
the opening; however, currently the gates are
Do
open only sporadically and many populations of wn
loa
migratory fishes have declined (Soukhaphon et de

The Chinook Salmon of the Columbia River, and al., 2021). Rice fields in a district in Indonesia are d
fro

elsewhere, is an iconic species for indigenous people being managed in an integrated manner based on m
htt
that figures prominently in literature and religion.3 local regulations to allow community members p:/
/sc
Removing the conservation efforts that are in place to exploit fish resources on land they do not own hol

on the Columbia River and prioritizing hydroelectric during the wet season. During the dry season, the arl
yp
development would reduce the value of recreational landowners claim their plots to cultivate rice, with ubl
ish
fishing by US$1.3 million year.-1 Indigenous and the exception of some small pools within the rice ing

other communities around the Columbia Basin field that are inhabited by several species of fish col
lec

value Chinook and other Pacific salmon, recognize and are kept as broodstock to supply fish for the tiv
e.
that they are threatened, and through contingent next wet season. The value of the fish is greater or
g/
valuation estimates have provided a per household than that of the rice (Muthmainnah and Prisantoso, m

value on conserving the fishes of US$34–2,428 2016). In fact, rice fields can yield from 120 to300 su
p/

year-1, with one estimate along the Snake River of a kg ha-1 of aquatic animals when managed for both ae
h
total community value of over US$1 billion year-1 rice and aquatic animal production (Halwart and m/
art
(see references in Morton and Knowler, 2015). Bartley, 2005). icl

Recreational fishing can sometimes be in Dams are a major impactor of freshwater e-

pd

competition or conflict with fisheries for food and ecosystems while providing, among other f/2
5/
conservation. As societies develop and become services, valuable hydroelectricity, irrigation, 1/
39
wealthier, there is a progression from fishing for and flood control (WCD, 2000). However, many /1

food to fishing for fun; this is sometimes associated dams have not met their stated objectives or are 60
83

with conservation of biodiversity (FAO, 2010). underperforming and, as a result, are being removed. 72
/3
For example, Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) Economic analyses have shown that removal of 9b
art
is a popular non-native recreational fish that some dams and restoration of watersheds and their ley

competes with and preys on native Pacific Salmon fisheries can provide more economic benefits than .p
df
in California (Sabal et al., 2016). There are efforts maintaining the dams (EcoNorthwest, 2019). Four by
so
to remove the Striped Bass to allow native fishes dams on the Klamath River (USA) are scheduled cia

to recover, but these efforts are not popular with to be removed and will generate US$6.9 million l@
ae

recreational fishers and therefore have not been in net revenue to benefit local tribes, including h
m
incorporated into state policy (pers. obs.).4 improved water quality and aesthetics and reduced s.o
rg
toxic algae, as well as benefits to cultural lifestyle, on
religious practices, and overall standard of living 14
Jul
Conclusions: Solutions are (Department of Interior, 2012). Removal of other y
20
dams in the USA is predicted to yield over $340
possible but will be difficult million in benefits, including a US$36.7 million
22

Despite the disparity in values between increase in commercial fisheries. Although the
hydropower and irrigation, and many other loss of electric generation potential and higher
services provided by freshwater ecosystems, there electricity rates were acknowledged, the dams
is an emerging awareness of the value of these were reported to be very inefficient at generating
3 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chinook-people
4 https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Regulations/Fishing-Map/SF-Bay
8 Bartley et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 25 (2022) 39–48

electricity and the figures were not included in the
analysis (Winter and Crain, 2008).
Dams of course are not the only development
activity that adversely impacts many of the services
of freshwater ecosystems. However, they provide a
good model on which to base tradeoffs that will be
useful in examining other activities and demonstrate
that good governance and a multi-stakeholder
approach should be followed. Better evaluation
and governance are needed for fisheries in water
of non-food producing activities would need to
stay within the same global boundaries to protect
a range of ecosystem services and the people
and biodiversity that rely on them. The global
boundaries of the new framework can be scalable
to local conditions (Willet et al., 2019). Arid areas
may have different resources, opportunities, and
priorities than humid areas; for example tropical
Do
wetlands were shown to display a range of wn
loa
ecosystem service values ranging from US$30 to de

management and that non-formal values need 3,000 ha-1 year-1 (Korsgaard and Schaub, 2010). d
fro

more attention, e.g. livelihoods, food security, and Implementing a new framework for managing m
htt
biodiversity. The Columbia River Basin provides freshwater resources will necessitate involving p:/
/sc
an example of a governance structure that tries to the competing sectors and appreciating the value hol

maintain fisheries and wildlife while providing for of multiple uses of freshwater resources. It will arl
yp
other uses of the river. The operations of over 30 also challenge national and international resource ubl
ish
federal dams and the mitigation actions on the river agencies such as FAO to develop new metrics that ing
col
are guided in part by the Northwest Power and address human, organismal, and environmental lec

Conservation Council. The 1980 Pacific Northwest well-being (Stentiford et al., 2020). With this new tiv
e.
Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act appreciation for ecosystem services and a new or
g/
directs the council to prepare, using the best comparative framework, it is hoped that society m

available science, a fish and wildlife program that can produce truly sustainable and responsible su
p/

mitigates for the impact of the hydropower system development of the world’s freshwater ecosystems ae
h
and that protects and enhances fish and wildlife of to 2050 and beyond. m/
art
the river basin and related spawning grounds and icl
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