Evaluating Spatially Explicit Strategies for Addressing Short-Term Socioeconomic and Conservation Trade-Offs in Recreational Fisheries

Highly exploited recreational fisheries are typified by a short-term trade-off between potentially conflicting objectives of conserving wild fish populations and achieving desired socioeconomic outcomes.  Stock enhancement is a management strategy that has been commonly proposed to potentially circumvent this trade-off, though its efficacy has rarely been evaluated.  To assess what trade-offs might be realized with enhancement, we used a bioeconomic model representing the planned enhancement of Florida’s recreational red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) fishery.  We found stock enhancement generally did not alleviate the trade-offs between wild stock abundance and socioeconomic value, when considering equilibrium results of a single, discrete fishery.  Rather, short term socioeconomic gains were possible only with substantial losses to conservation objectives.  When considering a spatially explicit mosaic of fisheries characterized by different, stylized environmental and stakeholder attributes, conditions existed where regional socioeconomic increases could be achieved with enhancement at marginal conservation costs.  These results emphasize the influence of spatial scale and connectivity of fish and fishers on the realization of trade-offs under stock enhancement or other strategies.   A key implication is that a spatially explicit “portfolio” approach may be most well-suited for addressing trade-offs for which no clear win-win scenario is evident.