Why Carp Are More Valuable than Bluefin Tuna

Value of fisheries is often viewed through the single lens of contribution to economies.  Given traditional approaches, marine fisheries are often seen as being incredibly valuable in comparison to inland fisheries.  However, inland fish provide for food, employment and culture security for millions of rural poor of the developing world and provide recreation and employment for millions in the developed world.  For example, the Mekong River provides 3.9 million tons of fish and contributing $3.5-7 billion annually to the economy.  Recreational fisheries contributed $41.8 billion annually in expenditures to the United States economy, with 34 million people participating in angling activity in 2011.   Drivers of inland fisheries are external to the fishery itself; whether it be fragmentation caused by hydropower, diversion of water for row crop agriculture,  or water set aside for industrial use, inland fisheries are often absent from the discussion about management of inland water.    Development of better monitoring systems and protocols, based on nontraditional approaches to collecting fisheries information, and measures of value that include the role of inland fisheries in nutrition, economic security and non-market cultural values will be important if the inland fisheries sector is to be represented at discussions of sustainable freshwater systems.