Socio-economic consequences of aquatic liming

Summary

This chapter attempts to describe the various socio-economic consequences of liming activities. The main areas discussed are concerned with fish and fishing, although human health and the environment are also considered. Various examples of the socio-economic benefits of recreational fishing have been drawn from Swedish and non-Swedish studies which focus on the value of salmon fishing.

A section of this chapter is devoted to cost-benefit analyses of nine different liming projects. These projects were selected arbitrarily, so the results cannot be said to represent the Swedish liming effort as a whole. The cost to society is assumed to correspond to the cost of liming and fishery management, while the benefit is to be found in the value of fishing for recreational and household needs (current utilization value). The values of sustained biodiversity and other forms of utilization (such as bird-watching) which also result from liming are therefore not included. Despite this, the study shows that five of the projects could be considered profitable, one broke even and three were probably unprofitable.

The conclusion is that Swedish liming activities are an essential and profitable investment for society, with positive spin-off in terms of:

• recreational fishing, commercial fishing and fish farming;

• levels of mercury and caesium in fish;

• species and biotope conservation (biodiversity);

• increased insight into the aquatic environment and its organisms;

• environmental awareness among the general public;

• tourism.