
Lab Seminar - Fish and birds in Poyang Lake: market and non-market values in fishery and habitat management
Xiurou Wu presented her research on joint production of market and non-market goods of working landscapes. Working landscapes offer market and non-market ecosystem services at the same time. However, due to market failures, the joint production of market and nonmarket services is usually inefficient. This project examines the trade-offs between the local fishery and habitat for the critically endangered migratory Siberian Crane in the largest freshwater lake in China, Poyang Lake. With economic growth, China is making moves toward conservation and environmental improvement. A rise in wealthy individuals is translating into surge in non-profit funding. NGOs are concerned about the Siberian Cranes wintering in Poyang Lake and try to come up with a way to incentivize local fishermen to modify the current fishing practice. A bio-economic model of the local fishery, vegetation growth and crane population will be developed to estimate the opportunity cost of fishing as well as the compensation scheme for the fishermen under the co-management system.