Valuing biodiversity in freshwater fisheries: Evidence from Laos

Reducing the impact of large-scale biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning and human wellbeing requires understanding which aspects of biodiversity are central to the ecosystem services on which humans rely. Despite this need, the impact of biodiversity on fishing yield in freshwater systems is not well understood. Using detailed data on fish catch and estimates of fish functional diversity in the Mekong River Basin, we build on the ecological notion of the river continuum concept (that links biological diversity with the natural variation in the physical environment along a river) to show that higher levels of diversity lead to economically significant increases in freshwater fish yield. We also show that local fisheries are vulnerable to the extinction of a small number of key species which, if lost, could compromise the productivity of local fisheries. Our analysis suggests that achieving win-win solutions that link biodiversity protection with improvements in economic outcomes in freshwater fisheries may require well targeted conservation efforts.