THE ECONOMIC-PERFORMANCE OF MARINE STOCK ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS

I reviewed nine marine stocking programs for which biological or econo mic measures of success were available. Only one, the Japanese chum sa lmon program, appears to be a clear economic success. Programs for pin k salmon in Alaska, chinook and coho salmon in the U.S. and Canada, lo bster in the U.K. and France, cod in Norway, and Kemp's ridley sea tur tle are clear economic failures. No economic data were available for s triped mullet in Hawaii or red drum in Texas. Incomplete and conflicti ng economic data for flounder in Japan provide no clear evidence. Mark ing was successfully used in a number of projects to establish that th e stocked individuals survived, but it was far more difficult to estab lish that stocking effected a net increase in population size. Marking should be standard procedure for establishment of survival; control a reas should be the method for determination of net increase in abundan ce. I suggest that stocking programs be made subject to peer review by scientists without a vested interest in the success of marine enhance ment. The economics of stocking should be compared with that of altern atives such as habitat protection, fishery regulation, and stricter en forcement. Density-dependent processes in the ocean pose difficult obs tacles for marine stocking programs, and none of the projects reviewed showed clear evidence of increasing total abundance. It appears that a coalition of vested interests including politicians, users, and tech nology advocates has little desire for critical evaluation and that ma ny stocking programs will continue to receive substantial public funds even if shown to be uneconomical.