Non-commercial values attached to marine resources in the coastal zone

The background of the Project is the increassing pressure on the Coastal zone from comemrcial activities in the Northernmost part of Norway (Northern Norway). According to municipal and county plans, several types of industries aim for expansion in this area, of which marine aquaculture and marine Fishing tourism are the most prominent. On the other hand it is also a fact that the population of the region make an extensive use of the Coastal zone for recreational activities. The question thus is whether People in Northern Norway regard Commercial expansions in the Coastal zone as a threath to the use of the zone for recreation? To answer this question we impelmented two surveys among the population of the region; a large discrete Choice survey iwth more than 1000 responses, and a small in-Depth interview survey among 16 persons at two locations. Both surveys verify the extensive use of the Coastal zone for recreation. 84% of the respondents say they use to walk along the coast during the summer season, and other popular activities is grilling and just relaxing on the beaches. The small survey revealed that in addition to friends, Family members are important when doing recreational activities in the Coastal zone, and that many families have traditions for what they do in this zone. These traditional are transferred through the generations, and an important value for the ols generations is to take children and grandchildren to the Beach and teach them how to master this Natural environment. The Choice Experiment showed that in general People were not resistant to industrial expansions in the Coastal zone. They welcomed both New Fish farms and tourism facilities, and if they had to choose among them there was a slight preference for Fish farms to tourism facilities. The positive preference for more Commercial acilties is strongly correlated With the positive preference for New jobs. On the other hand had People a high willingness to pay (WTP) for reduction in Waste on the beaches, and they very clearly stated that the polluter should pay if Commercial activities implied more Waste. Also, a prerequisite for Commercial expansion was that stricter regulations of the comemrcial units should be put in Place. Although People were surprisingly homogeneous in their stated preferences, there were some deviations to the results above. People in urban areas were more scpetical to Commercial expansions in the Coastal zone than were the rural population. While the urban population placed the highest WTP for reduced Waste on the beaches the rural population regarded the presence of more Commercial activities and less Waste as equally important.Among the more surprising results we want to emphasize that People being recreationally active in the Coastal zone were more positive to the presence of comemrcial facilities along the coast than were those not recreationally active.Finally, we asked about peoples' WTP to prevent reductions in recreational catches of Fish. We had expected a postivie WTP to prevent such reductions. Instead People were unambiguously supporting a reduction in recreational catches per Fishing day from boat from 15 to 10 kg. The positive WTP for reduced catches were valid both for tourists' and locals' catches. We interpret this as a preference for Conservation of local Fish Stocks. The small survey yielded some New results With respect to types of values Attached to the Coastal zone which has so far not been treated in the litterature on total economic value of ecosystem services. We revealed a value which we named transfer value, and which is the value the old generations attach to transferring knowledge and skills to younger generations through activities in the Coastal zone. By playing With children in the Coastal zone parents and grandparents transfer knowledge to the Young of how to master this Natural environment. Interesting is that although the Access to the Coastal zone changes over years, the activities that parents do togehter With chidlren and grandchildren to a larger degree remains the same. This shows the importance of keeping arenas for transfer of traditions, and also for Empowerment of the Young. Finally, we implemented an input-output analysis of the local aquaculture industry in Troms county. We estimated the economic Direct, indirect and induced effects in the county of one aquaculture License. Although completed, this work has so far not been sufficiently analyzed and hence we are not able to present the results. However, the result is to be Applied in a cost-benefit analysis of aquaculture expansions in Northern Norway.

Conflicts in the coastal zone (CZ)) and about marine resources can be expected to increase in the future. Simultaneously, there is a lack of relevant data on the non-commercial use and valuation of the CZ resources. This project will supply data on local inhabitants values attached to marine resources in the coastal zone. The data collected will be of a quality which make them suitable as input in models and management processes regarding utilization of CZ resources. The project concentrates data collecti on and application to the three northernmost counties in Norway. By the use of the technique benefit-transfer they can be transferred to other parts of Norway. Results from the project will be relevant for local authorities coastal zone planning processes , and national authorities management of marine resources.