Tourist use and preservation benefits from big-game fishing in the Canary Islands

Abstract

Deep-sea game fishing is an activity that tourists can enjoy at some holiday destinations. This paper presents results on the benefits received by international tourists from big-game fishing in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). Both the use and the preservation values emanating from the sport-fishing resource are investigated by following the contingent valuation method. The responses to two dichotomous choice questions are modelled using a bivariate approach which takes account of possible correlation effects. The results show that both use and preservation values can be significantly explained by the practitioners' socio-economic characteristics as well as by the degree of their involvement in the fishing activity. It is also determined that the preservation value for the biomass stock is very relevant when compared with the use value for the activity of big-game fishing.