Leisure and Recreation Benefits at Lyme Bay

Leisure and recreation benefits at Lyme Bay

Devon and Dorset (North Sea, the UK)

Rees et al. (2010), summarised by Marianne Kettunen

First draft

E.g. remains to be reviewed by original author

KEY MESSAGE
The designation of a reserve like the Lyme Bay one in the UK can result in increased opportunities for recreational activities for divers and sea anglers, thereby creating economic benefits for the tourism sector.
SHORT SUMMARY
The Lyme Bay, located in southwest England, was declared a reserve in 2008 to protect the reefs in the area, which were under threat from scallop dredging. The area provides leisure and recreation activities like diving, sea angling and wildlife watching, which result in economic opportunities for dive business(which offers services to divers like gear and training) and the charter boat industry, which brings sea angles and/or divers to their sites of interests.These leisure and recreation activities provide an income for tourism operators estimated at more than £18 million per year.

The Lyme Bay Fisheries and conservation reserve

Lyme Bayis situated in the English Channel in southwest Englandoff from the coast of Devon and Dorset. Thearea stretches2,460km2consisting a variety of habitats such as sandy seabed, gravels, cobbles and rocky reefs. The area is home to over 1,300 species of marine fauna and flora, including several species of conservation interest at national level such as pink sea fan (Eunicellaverrucosa), sponge (Adreusfascicularis) and sunset coral (Leptopsammiapruvoti) (Anon, 2015). The Lyme Bay habitats are also essential for commercial fish and shellfish species such as Sole (Soleasolea), Bass (Dicentrarchuslabrax), Brown Crab (Cancer pagurus), Lobster (Homarusgammarus), Scallops (Pectin maximus), and Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) (Anon, 2015). The ship wrecks in the bayhelp to support marine biodiversity as their structure creates a habitat which enables the settlement of reef associated species and provides shelter for fish.
The reefs in Lyme Bay have been under threat from scallop dredging. Consequently, in 2008 Lyme Bay was closed to toweddemersalfishinggear (scallop dredging and bottom trawling)and Lyme Bay Fisheries and Conservation Reserve was established to protect the reef habitats.Fishermenusingstaticgearandrecreational users(e.g.diversandanglers)arestillpermittedinthe closed area. About 20% of the area is, however, completely [?] protected by a voluntary agreement made between DEFRA and the fishermen of the South West Inshore Fishermen's Association [TBC].
2.SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS PROVIDED BY THE AREA
2.1 Tourism and recreation
Diving,seaanglingandwildlife watching arekeycomponentsoftheleisureandrecreation activities undertaken inLymeBay, all of which isbuilding on the enjoyment and use of biodiversity and biodiversity resources in the area.Diving andanglingactivitiesinthe bayaresupported by dive businesses,whichofferservicestodiversincludinggear and training, andthecharterboatindustrywhoseskipperstake sea anglers and/ordiverswhoarenotusingtheirownboats to suitable sites.Charter boat operators alsotakepeopleoutonwildlifewatching trips throughout thebaytoobservespeciessuchasbottlenose dolphins (Tursiopstruncatus) andguillemots(Uriaaalge).
Whole of Lyme Bay: The above recreation activitiesoccuracrossthe whole of LymeBayand they are highly dependent on the quality and functioning of marine ecosystems. A study by Rees et al. (2010) assessed the spending created by different leisure and recreation industry sectors,this way exploring the socio-economic importance of tourism and recreation ecosystem services. According to the study, seaanglersspend the most inthe bay (£13687992 per year). Theestimatedexpenditurebydivers– estimated throughtrips they make withdiveclubsinLymeBay–is£1048956peryear. The boatcharteranddivebusinessesinthe bayhaveacombinedturnoverof£3542919peryear. Thisgivesatotalvalueof recreationactivities of £18 279867peryear.
Lyme Bay reserve: The Lyme Bay reserveprotectsapartofthe turnover and expenditure generated bythemarineleisureand recreation industryinthe area. Rees et al. (2010) estimated that localdiveandcharterboatbusinessesgeneratea turnover of £676 734per yearthroughtheiruseofthe reserve in particular. Sea anglers anddiversspend£3266999per yearvisitingsitesin the closed area.Thisgivesatotalturnover valueforrecreationactivitiesin the closed areaof£3943733per year. The mostvaluablesitewithin theclosedarea(andinLymeBayas a whole) isthewreckoftheBaygitanowithrecreation groups generating £414311expenditure/turnoverperyearvisiting the site. Themostvaluablereefsiteintheclosedarea–andalso inthe whole of Lyme Bay – istheWestTennentsreefwithrecreationgroups generating £427 056ofexpenditure /turnoverperyearvisitingthe site. Charterboatoperatorsmakethemostuseof the closed area. Anglersspendthemostmoneyon their activity intheclosedarea(£3034138peryear).
All and all, the closed areaprotectslessthan27%oftheeconomicvaluegenerated by these groups. Divebusinessescurrentlyderivetheleastbenefitof the closed areapolicyinLymeBayleaving92%oftheirresource base (the divesites)unprotected.
The monetaryvaluationislargelydemonstrativeoftherelativeeconomic significanceofthemarineleisureandrecreationindustry. ThemarineleisureandrecreationindustryinLymeBay canbevaluedatleastto £17millionofexpenditure/turnoverper yearfromtheuseofthemarineresources.Thisenablescomparisons between this industry andotherdirectusevalueswithinthecontext ofmarinespatialplanning.Landingsfromscallop dredgingwithinLymeBaywere for example valuedas£1848577in2007.
2.2. Other benefits
Fishing continues to be of importance within the Lyme Bay and there are several commercially targetedspecies within the Lyme Bay reserve. The volume of catch ranges from the highest at 600 tonnes per year down to less than a single tonne, depending on the fish species. A dedicated initiative called the 'Reserve Seafood' brand has been established to help fishermen achieve top pricing for their catch. [More data sought]
2.3 Management of benefits
The information on both monetary and non-monetaryvaluationis considered to be of high importance formarinespatialplanning.Supporting amonetaryvaluationwithspatialdataandfrequency countsprovidesameansbywhichtovalueindividualsites. Thesedatacouldbeusedtosupportcompensationclaimsbymembers ofthe recreation andleisureindustryifasite theyconsider valuablehasbeendamagedordestroyedbyhumanactivities.
TheUKMarineandCoastalAccessActincludesprovisionsfor compensationforbreachestomarinelicensingconditionswhich damagethemarine environment. Applicationoftheprecautionary principlealsorequiresthatthosewhocausedamage shouldbeheld responsible. Fishermenalsofeelthatthey shouldbefinanciallycompensatedifexcludedfromfishinggrounds underplansforMarineConservationZones, however therearenoplansforacompensationpackageforfishermen undertheUKMarineandCoastalAccessBill [TBC current situation].Determining theproportionalvalueofasitecanprovidean evidencebaseforconservingparticularmarinesites,inthiscase theLymeBayreefs.Astrongeconomiccaseforprotectioncould alsobemadefor other recreationhotspotsinLymeBayandthis wouldneedtobeconsideredforfuturemarinespatialplanning scenarios.Thislevelofdetailinthevaluationcanalsoenable themonetaryvalueofrecreationtobeincludedandcompared tosectorsofthefishingindustryinalong-termcostbenefit analysisoftheLymeBayclosedareapolicy,takingintoaccount mutualexclusivityofallactivities.
As regards future marine spatial planning, both monetaryandnon-monetary(spatial)valuationshavearole to play.Non-monetaryvaluesrepresentedspatially provideabaselinebywhichtoplanwithmultiplestakeholder groups.Proportionalmonetaryvaluesofdifferentsites canprovideabaselineagainstwhichthecostsandbenefitsof MPAscanbemeasuredtodeterminefuturemarinespatialplanning scenarios.A valuationofthemarineleisureandrecreationindustrycansupport conservationobjectivesastheeconomicscanjustifyandenable policymakerstodesignateareasforconservationwhenitmay betotheshorttermdetrimentofothereconomicinterests.However, recreationuseneeds to be sustainableinrelationtotheconservationobjectives ofthemarine protected area.Divetourismcan,forexample,haveadverse effectsonbenthicfeatures.
3. CONCLUSIONS
Estimates about the economic income generated by the recreation sector like the one carried out by Rees et al. (2010) can help argue in favour of protecting valuable ecosystems such as the Lyme Bay reefs. This kind of studies shows the benefits provided by the designation and good management of MPAs, and can show how the economic income generated by well protected ecosystems can compensate the economic losses of specific stakeholders like fishermen. [to be completed]
SOURCES

Anonymous (2015) Lyme Bay Fisheries and Conservation Reserve, accessed 28 Oct 2015

Rees, S. E., Rodwell, L. D., Attrill, M. J., Austen, M. C. and Mangi, S. C. (2010) The value of marine biodiversity to the leisure and recreation industry and its application to marine spatial planning, Marine Policy, Vol 34: 868–875.