Economic Benefits of Habitat Restoration: Seagrass and the Virginia Hard-Shell Blue Crab Fishery

Since the early 1960s, water pollution has caused the disappearance of much of the seagrass (predominantly eelgrass Zostera marina) and other submerged aquatic vegetation in Chesapeake Bay. Seagrass beds appear to serve as preferred habitat for the blue crab Callinectes sapidus during early stages of its life history, and there is a statistically significant relationship between the abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation and catch per unit of effort in the Virginia hard-shell blue crab fishery. Virginia seagrass beds might be partially or fully restored through a combination of pollution abatement and replanting. I developed a simple simulation model with minimal data requirements to generate rough estimates of some of the economic benefits that would accrue from seagrass restoration. The estimated net economic benefit to Virginia hard-shell blue crab fishermen of full seagrass restoration is about US$1.8 million per year, and additional annual benefits of about $2.4 million should accrue to U.S. hard-shell blue crab consumers.