SPC Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin #15 - PDF document

SPC Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin #15 Ð December 2005 19 Introduction The Marine MACMACprogram is a means to promote the sustainabilityreef ecosystems through market mechanisms.MAC has created a third-party certification pro-gram to assure compliance with standardsdesigned to support sustainability. Certified par- Ecosystem and fisheries management addresses Òin-situÓ habitat, stock and species Liliana A.Alencastro,Robert L.Degner and Sherry L.Larkin 2.Corresponding author: Dr. Robert L. Degner, PO Box 110240, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL32605-0240, USA. Email: SPC Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin #15퀀December 2005 20 tages were derived from lower mortality rates andhrough increased levels of efficiency with respectto storMAC 2002MAC 2002es cooper-ating in the case study did not charge price premi-Although the MAC program has been initiated andis continuing, little is known about consumer pref-rences for ecolabeled marine ornamental organ-isms and consumersÕ willingness to pay price pre-miums for such products. To fill this void,researchers at the University of Florida conductedmation about influences of the ecolabeling pro-gram in the marketplace. The information fromeffectiveness and success of the program (Alencas-tro 2004). The study also sought to obtain informa-fish attributes, including whether it was brought torespondentsÕ characteristics on preferences forfrom that survey, which was conducted on the Methodology boards relating to marine ornamental fish. Theywere recruited using a convenience samplingoach. Thus, this group was likely to be moreinvolved in the hobby and more knowledgeablethat this sample is unlikely to represent the entireeported results is limited to this specific marketsegment. Survey responses are analyzed using dis-crete choice modeling, which is a survey-basedtechnique that is being increasingly used to deter-mine preferences for new environmental productswo discrete choice experiments were conductedto analyze the importance of product attributes onconsumerÕs decision on which product to buy. Pomacanthus xan-thometopon and the second involved a more afford-able specimen, the maroon clownfish, Premnas bia- Fig. 1Fig. 1e selected for theexperiment because they are popular with hobby-ists and because both originate in areas that haveexperienced varying degrees of ecological damage.Accordingly, respondents were told the angelfishand clownfish were from the Philippines andIndonesia, respectively, countries where some col-2002). Both experiments were used to examine theeffects of a longer post-purchase survival guaran-ed (cultured) were examined in theangelfish and clownfish experiments, respectively.Statistical models were first used to determine thefactors that had a significant effect on the probabil-the estimated models were used in simulations toobtain the probabilities that a fish with given char-by a particular type of consumer (Alencastro 2004). Figure 1. Blue-faced angelfish, Pomacanthus xanthometopon (printed with permission of Jeff픀s Exotic Fish) Premnas biaculeatus printed with permission of John E. Randallprinted with permission of John E. Randall