What’s in the sea for me? Valuing market and non-market marine ecosystem service benefits

Valuation involves the measurement of the benefit that an individual can get from a good or service. The marine and coastal ecosystems around the island of Ireland provide many valuable benefits to the Irish economy and society. While the value of some these goods such as fish and aquaculture are somewhat easier to measure as they are traded in established markets, the value of many other benefits such as carbon sequestration, waste treatment and recreation are not captured in any market. Without incorporating these values into the decision making process these benefits may be ignored or underestimated. In this presentation we introduce the audience to the research that is undertaken by SEMRU in this area. In particular we examine the statistics that the cluster collect and use to quantify the Irish ocean economy (the market based ecosystem benefit values) and the methods they employ to value non-market marine ecosystem service benefits.

This seminar is one of a series of seminars in the 2016 Whitaker Ideas Forum.  Dr Hynes will be representing the SEMRU Research Cluster.