Forecasting biological and economic impacts of aquatic invasive species in Lake Michigan

Grant: # 1546

Grant Amount: $238,018.33

Board Decision Year: 2015

University of Wyoming - Economics and Finance (Laramie)

Economics and Finance

Finnoff, David ([email protected]) 307-766-5773

2015 Ecosystem Health and Sustainable Fish Populations Social, Economic, and Technology (SET) Research to Inform Policy and Practice - Social, economic, and technology research to inform policy and practice

Project Details

Researchers at the University of Wyoming used dynamically linked ecosystem and economic models to forecast both the bioeconomic impacts of bigheaded carp, an aquatic invasive species, on Lake Michigan’s food web and fisheries, and the impacts of potential invasive species management strategies. The modeled effects of bigheaded carp on levels of sport-fished species were heterogeneous across space and time and did affect households’ decisions regarding when, where, and what species to fish. A bigheaded carp invasion caused fishing to become more expensive overall and reduced demand for fishing goods, causing the economy to contract. Researchers noted that if spatial or species-level information is ignored in their model, the model results contain significant bias.

Documents

Final Report

View - 2015.1546_final_report.pdf