WELFARE EFFECTS OF FISHERY POLICIES: NATIVE AMERICAN TREATY RIGHTS AND RECREATIONAL SALMON FISHING

Severe declines in Pacific Northwest salmon stocks, coupled with increasing recreational demands, and judicial decisions supporting Native American fishing rights create challenges for fishery agencies. This article explores the welfare effects on recreational anglers of alternative salmon allocation policies to meet Native American treaty rights. A discrete choice random utility model, coupled with a Poisson trip frequency model, is used to analyze these welfare effects. The model is fit to survey data from the Willamette River spring chinook fishery, an important recreational fishery in Oregon. Management options have dramatically different welfare effects.