Fish Can Be more Valuable Alive than Dead

Abstract

Iconic species related to coral reefs like sharks, large fishes and marine turtles are increasingly valuable for dive-based tourism. This also applies to recreational fisheries of tarpon, bonefish and permit. Jardines de la Reina National Park (JRNP) in South Central Cuba is well known worldwide because of its high-quality diving and fly fishing experiences. Studies conducted within JRNP show that the main attractions for divers were sharks and rays (78{\%}), large fishes (15{\%}) and marine turtles (7{\%}). Anglers preferred species were tarpon (47{\%}), bonefish (31{\%}) and permit (22{\%}). Although visitation is very limited (average 1250 divers and 600 anglers per year), tourism activities provide important revenues. The gross revenues generated by these activities and the percentage from the attractions were used to estimate that annual revenues from sharks and rays diving were up to US{\$} 1,773,647, from large fishes up to US{\$} 417,328, from marine turtles up to US{\$} 182,581, from fly fishing of tarpon up to US{\$} 1,225,903, from bonefish up to US{\$} 808,574 and from permit up to US{\$} 573,827. These figures are among the highest worldwide. Total gross benefits from tourism almost double those from commercial fisheries in an area eight times smaller, suggesting the need for more comprehensive and diverse economic use of biological diversity to maximize the services that nature provides.