A choice experiment application to estimate willingness to pay for controlling excessive recreational fishing demand at the Sundays River Estuary, South Africa

Authors

  • DE Lee Department of Economics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6001, South Africa
  • SG Hosking Department of Economics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6001, South Africa
  • M du Preez Department of Economics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, 6001, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v40i1.5

Keywords:

estuary, demand management, recreational attributes, recreational fishery, choice experiment

Abstract

The Sundays River Estuary, situated in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, has excessive recreational demand for estuarine ser­vices, specifically recreational fishing. The estuary has been over-fished, putting its sustainability at risk. Various manage­ment interventions may be required in order to save it, but how is this to be done without reducing welfare? The main aim of this paper is twofold: first, to assess and comprehend the economic value of the estuarine resources at stake; and, second, to propose policy measures to redress the situation (excessive demand, specifically recreational fishing). An application of a choice experiment reveals that the physical size of fish stocks is a very important predictor of recreational choice at the Sundays River Estuary, and it is recommended that demand be curtailed through an increase in the boat license fee for using the estuary of ZAR174 per annum.

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Published

2025-03-31

Issue

Vol. 40 No. 1 January (2014): Water SA

Section

Research paper

License

Copyright (c) 2025 DE Lee, SG Hosking, M du Preez

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

DE Lee, SG Hosking and M du Preez (2025) “A choice experiment application to estimate willingness to pay for controlling excessive recreational fishing demand at the Sundays River Estuary, South Africa”, Water SA, 40(1 January). doi:10.4314/wsa.v40i1.5.