Volume 112, April 2015, Pages 68–77
Analysis
Alien invasions and livelihoods: Economic benefits of invasive Australian Red Claw crayfish in Jamaica
Highlights
- •
- Invasive alien species (IAS) are conventionally considered to be undesirable.
- •
- Utilisation of invasive Australian Red Claw crayfish provides economic benefits.
- •
- Including increasing and supplementing fishing incomes during seasonal droughts
- •
- Particularly for those with no alternative occupations or the least wealthy
- •
- The economic benefits of IAS should be considered within landscape management.
Abstract
Invasive
species have caused widespread economic and environmental disruption,
which have been widely studied. However, their potential benefits have
received much less attention. If invasive species contribute to
livelihoods, their eradication may negatively impact wellbeing. Failing
to value these benefits may lead to an undervaluation of invaded
ecosystems. We assess the potential economic benefits of an invasive
species within an artisanal fishery in Jamaica. We monitored catches
over 259 fisherman-days, and conducted 45 semi-structured interviews,
with 76 fishermen. We show that the invasive Australian Red Claw
crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) is an important source of
income for fishermen within the Black River Lower Morass of Jamaica and
supplement incomes during periods when native shrimp (Macrobrachium
spp.) catches decline. We also show that full-time fishermen and those
who have no alternative occupations expend the greatest fishing effort.
We use the intra-annual variation of fishermen's harvest effort between
seasons (when catch per unit effort changes) as a proxy for dependence.
Using this measure, we found that the least wealthy appear to be the
most dependent on fishing, and consequently benefit the most from the
invasive crayfish. Our results demonstrate the importance of considering
the potential benefits of invasive species within integrated landscape
management.
Abbreviations
- IAS, invasive alien species;
- BRLM, Black River Lower Morass;
- GLMM, generalised linear mixed model;
- GLM, generalised linear model;
- AIC, Akaike information criterion;
- AICc, corrected Akaike information criterion.
Keywords
- Invasive alien species;
- Invaded ecosystems;
- Small-scale fishery;
- Ecosystem services;
- Wild-harvest products
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
