Economic Valuation of the Creation Project of Snow Crab Spawning and Habitat Ground
This study is to evaluate economic effect of the creation project of snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio, spawning and habitat ground in Uljin and Youngdeok county. The main results of this study are summarized as follows: first, 14,400 million won was invested in the creation project cost of Chionoecetes opilio spawning and habitat ground of Uljin and Youngdeok County from 2015 to 2020. Second, the creation project of Chionoecetes opilio spawning and habitat ground directly provides fishing benefits, festival benefits, research and development benefits and employment benefits. Third, on the basis of above benefits, the creation project of Chionoecetes opilio spawning and habitat ground has net present value of 29,900.53 million won, internal rate of return 16.9%, and benefit-cost of 2.91 under a 4.5% social discount rate. Also, the creation project creates 195 jobs. This indicates that the creation project of Chionoecetes opilio spawning and habitat ground not only contributes to the increase in the income of coastal fishery and fishing villages but also to the job making. The result of this study provides useful information to policy makers or project managers as it shows that the project to create spawning and habitat ground should be carried out in consideration of the resource and biological characteristics of individual fish and that economic assessment logic should also be developed based on this. Also, it proves that the project to create a snow crab spawning and habitat ground is a national and local infrastructure project that increases the actual fishing income in the region. At the same time, it maintains the reproducibility function of most fish species, along with enhancing the people's benefits such as fishing village tourism and marine product consumption. Moreover, it provides useful information on budgeting for the continuous development of snow crab spawning and habitat ground in the mid to long-term.