SPECIAL ISSUE: The Dynamics and Value of Ecosystem Services: Integrating Economic and Ecological Perspectives Measuring contributions to economic production —use of an Index of Captured Ecosystem Value

The production of an economic good derived from a renewable natural resource base involves the extraction of ecosystem function values as represented by the contribution made to production by the originating ecosystem. The artisanal mixed-species fisheries of Jamaica is used as a case study in the development of a biophysically based index to account for captured ecosystem values (or embodied ecosystem values) and an examination of the extent to which those values are proportionately reflected in monetary exchange values. The Index of Captured Ecosystem Value (ICEV) is developed from a basis in information theory relevant to an analysis of network flows in ecosystems. Technical coefficients, describing the production relationship between ICEV values and market values of catches associated with individual fishing efforts in Jamaican fisheries, reveal that captured ecosystem function associated with fisheries using distinct technologies (i.e. China net, trap, hand line, palanca and speargun) are valued differently by the market. This surplus value is rooted in the observation that certain fisheries target species that are more connected within the coral reef food web than those species typically captured by other fisheries. Consideration of the biophysically based contributions of coral reef ecosystems to fisheries production reveals distortions between market and supply-side values, indicating that the role of ecosystems is not being consistently treated. Comment and direction is offered regarding the development of indices of ecosystem function or value that can be applied to policy questions concerning the extraction of a renewable natural resource. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.