Simulating Direct and Indirect Damages to Commercial Fisheries from Marine Sand Mining: A Case Study in Korea

Rapid growth in marine sand mining for construction and other uses poses environmental challenges to coastal nations virtually worldwide. Yet the development of management policies, such as a system of fees imposed on operators for damage caused by mining, has been frustrated by a lack of studies to support such measures. Adapting a Beverton-Holt bioeconomic model, this paper attempts to contribute to the estimation of external costs to commercial fisheries due to marine mining. Using the major mining area of Ongjin in Korea as a case study, we estimate economic losses in use value of commercial fisheries through the time to recovery of the injured resource stocks. Present value of lost catch over a 1-year period from mining to resource recovery is estimated at $38,851 for a single “prototype” mining site. Estimated cumulative damages due to recurring mining for 5 and 10 years are $1.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively, at 20 mining sites. Sensitivity analyses are used to examine the effects of alternative assumptions to assess the many sources of uncertainty. Using a form of meta-analysis, dose-response information is used to assess the excess mortality the mining sediment plume has on eggs and larvae and, ultimately, on the value of lost catch ($841). Also addressed is the importance of specifying the appropriate “premining” conditions against which to assess environmental losses at the mining site. Damages estimated with premining fish populations are $23,066 higher than is the case using postmining conditions. Overall, the illustrative results suggest the variety of complex conditions which influence damage to fisheries from mining and which can benefit from further study to improve management guidelines. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Applying the principle of sustainability to coastal sand mining: The case of Pakiri-Mangawhai Beach,New Zealand

The purpose of New Zealand's Resource Management Act (1991) is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. Coastal sand mining may be consistent with this purpose where: (1) extractions occur from sediment systems open to inputs of sediment, and the volumes extracted do not limit the natural development, physical characteristics, and ecological diversity of the coastal environments affected; or (2) extractions from palimpsest or relict sedimentary deposits occur at a rate where the rate of extraction is insignificant compared with the volume of the resource. The response of coastal sand mining companies and consent-granting authorities to the requirements of the Resource Management Act (1991) are examined with respect to recent applications to mine sand from a coastal sand body in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. The assessments of environmental effects (AEE) submitted in support of these applications do not establish the sustainability of the sand mining operations. Specifically they do not define the dimensions of the active sediment system, quantify the volume of the related resource, or state the period within which sustainability is achievable. Further, the AEE do not consider the cumulative effects of the extractions, either in terms of the total volume of sand mined or the cumulative effects of different anthropogenic activities. The test of sustainability demands a quality of information and understanding of coastal systems that is well beyond that obtained in the past or accepted at present. There is a clear need for New Zealand's resource management legislation to be supplemented by technical guidelines that help ensure the test of sustainability is rigorously applied.