Use of non-native, invasive or other problematic species from populations established in the wild for recreational or commercial purposes

Overall effectiveness category No evidence found (no assessment)
Number of studies: 0
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Effectiveness

not assessed
Certainty

not assessed
Harms

not assessed

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Some non-native, invasive or other problematic species have potential recreational or commercial use and therefore could be valuable. For such species, such as the edible Pacific oyster Crassostrea (also known as Magallana) gigas or Wakame kelp, Undaria pinnatifida in the UK (Epstein & Smale, 2017), management of populations established in the wild could potentially be through intentional recreational or commercial harvest (Nuñez et al. 2012; Pasko et al. 2014). For instance, a campaign called “Eat Lionfish” in 2010 aimed to promote the capture of the lionfish Pterois volitans, which is invasive in many parts of the world, for human consumption (Franke 2007; Nuñez et al. 2012). However, it is possible that enabling collection/hunting/fishing of introduced, non-native, or problematic marine species can lead to unintentional, perverse incentives to maintain an invasive population (Campbell et al. 2009). This may lead to acceptance of introduced marine species, with a reduced motivation to act to eradicate and/or manage invasive, non-native, and problematic species, which is often against International Treaties that a country may be signatory to (Campbell et al. 2009). Experts advise that a balance needs to be considered and struck between controlling/eradicating and creating unintentional perverse incentives to maintain a population of non-native, introduced, or problematic marine species (Simberloff et al. 2011).

_{Campbell M.L., Grage A., Mabin C. & Hewitt C.L. (2009) Conflict between International Treaties: Failing to mitigate the effects of introduced marine species. Dialogue, 28, 46–56}

_{Epstein G. & Smale D.A. (2017) Undaria pinnatifida: A case study to highlight challenges in marine invasion ecology and management. Ecology and Evolution, 7, 8624–8642.}

_{Franke J.M. (2007) The invasive species cookbook: conservation through gastronomy. Bradford street Press, Wauwatosa, WI.}

_{Kilian J.V., Klauda R.J., Widman S., Kashiwagi M., Bourquin R., Weglein S. & Schuster J. (2012) An assessment of a bait industry and angler behavior as a vector of invasive species. Biological Invasions, 14, 1469–1481.}

_{Nuñez M.A., Kuebbing S., Dimarco R.D. & Simberloff D. (2012) Invasive species: to eat or not to eat, that is the question. Conservation Letters, 5, 334–341.}

_{Pasko S., Goldberg J., MacNeil C. & Campbell M. (2014) Review of harvest incentives to control invasive species. Management of Biological Invasions, 5, 263–277.}

_{Simberloff D., Alexander J., Allendorf F., Aronson J., Antunes P.M., Bacher S., Bardgett R., Bertolino S., Bishop M., Blackburn T.M. & Blakeslee A. (2011) Non-natives: 141 scientists object. Nature, 475, 7354.}

Key messages

We found no studies that evaluated the effects of using non-native, invasive or other problematic species from populations established in the wild for recreational or commercial purposes on subtidal benthic invertebrate populations.

‘We found no studies’ means that we have not yet found any studies that have directly evaluated this intervention during our systematic journal and report searches. Therefore, we have no evidence to indicate whether or not the intervention has any desirable or harmful effects.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Please cite as:

Lemasson, A.J., Pettit, L.R., Smith, R.K. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Subtidal Benthic Invertebrate Conservation. Pages 635-732 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Subtidal Benthic Invertebrate Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Category
Genetically modify non-native, invasive or other problematic species Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	Synopsis Link
Use biocides or other chemicals to control non-native, invasive or other problematic species Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	Synopsis Link
Use biological control to manage non-native, invasive or other problematic species populations Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	Synopsis Link