Chris Reid

The New Economic Model and Marine Fisheries Development in Latin America

The New Economic Model (NEM) has profoundly influenced fisheries development in Latin America, facilitating the emergence of new and increasingly influential interest groups within the industry. It has also stimulated new forms of production and prompted new legislation to regulate fishing in the regions most important fishing countries. These changes have coincided with Latin Americas increasing importance in world fisheries production and trade. The NEM has not, however, resolved the sectors fundamental problems, such as overfishing, overcapitalization and conflict, and has arguably exacerbated them.

The political economy of marine fisheries development in Peru, Chile and Mexico

Latin American fish production has expanded significantly in recent years. Unfortunately, as management systems in the three major Latin American fish producing countries have not developed at the same pace, all three countries now experience problems of overfishing and industrial overcapitalisation. This article examines the distinctive national fisheries development programmes that have led to this ‘tragedy of the oceans’. By comparing and contrasting the Peruvian, Chilean and Mexican management styles, it offers a critical assessment regarding the likely direction of future Latin American fisheries policy.

An analysis of fishing capacity in the western and central Pacific Ocean tuna fishery and management implications

Recent increases in the volume of canning grade tuna caught in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) have led to concern about the increasing catching capacity of the fleet of purse seine vessels operating in the fishery. In this paper, data envelopment analysis is used to examine the current technical efficiency of the WCPO purse seine fleet, the potential catching capacity of the fleet and the excess capacity currently present in the fishery. These estimates are then used to examine possible implications of a move to a management regime based on limiting the total number of fishing days in the fishery.

Neo-liberalism and its impact on overfishing and overcapitalisation in the marine fisheries of Chile, Mexico and Peru.

Abstract The linkages between neo-liberalism and the fisheries sector in three of Latin Americas principal fishing nations are examined. The paper shows how macroeconomic policies have not only re-inforced the sectors traditional export orientation but also permitted increased private participation in harvesting and processing. Production and export growth was facilitated by the absence of an effective regulatory framework as the belief that fish stocks were plenteous (following the designation of 200 mile Economic Exclusion Zones in the 1970s) encouraged governments to permit open access fisheries regimes. The belated recognition that there were indeed ‘limits to growth’ spawned a series of fisheries laws in the early-1990s which have sought to re-regulate the sector. To date these efforts have been largely unsuccessful — and the principal regional fisheries are presently both overcapitalised and dangerously overfished.

Productivity growth in natural resource industries and the environment: an application to the Korean tuna purse-seine fleet in the Pacific Ocean

Measures of multifactor productivity growth in natural resource industries are misleading without accounting for the effects on the environment. This paper introduces environmental effects into an output-oriented Malmquist index of multifactor productivity growth in order to evaluate growth in productivity and technical efficiency for Korean purse seine vessels fishing for tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

Mainstreaming fisheries in development and poverty reduction strategies in the Asia-Pacific region

This paper offers an assessment of the mainstreaming of fisheries in national development plans and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers within the Asia-Pacific region. Fisheries and aquaculture in the region make a significant contribution to world fisheries production. Importantly, those directly involved in the sector are predominantly small-scale artisanal producers, a group traditionally regarded as extremely vulnerable in poverty terms. Therefore, mainstreaming – integrating a sector into every stage of the national policy process – may have important welfare implications for those drawing livelihoods from the industry. This paper examines the significance of fisheries and aquaculture to developing Asia-Pacific economies, and evaluates the extent to which the sector has been mainstreamed in national development and poverty reduction strategies using a content analysis framework. We conclude that the representation of fisheries issues, the recognition of sectoral poverty, policy responses, and stakeholder representation, is typically greater than in other fish producing regions, and there are many examples of best practice.

'The white slavery of the motor world': opportunism in the interwar road haulage industry

Subcontracting has been an important feature of British industrial development. External (inter-firm) subcontracting, common in the building trades, transport and engineering, has been represented as an alternative to large-scale direct management. Meanwhile internal subcontracting to skilled artisans has historically constituted an important alternative to wage labour in a wide range of industries such as clothing and textiles, coal mining and quarrying, iron and steel, engineering and the metal goods trades. Understanding this form of subcontracting is central to explanations of changes in the labour process, industrial relations and gender divisions of labour in these sectors. A considerable literature stretching from the nineteenth century has questioned the possible exploitative consequences of such contractual arrangements. While both forms of subcontracting declined from the late nineteenth century, as firms sought to internalize production and management, external subcontracting continued to be important in several sectors such as construction, transport and some engineering-related trades. It is in these industries that subcontracting established its recognizable modern form, with medium and large businesses delegating tasks to smaller firms or individuals. The last two decades have witnessed a renaissance of subcontracting, in the context of corporate moves towards reducing costs by fostering greater labour market flexibility’. The British road haulage industry was transformed between the wars from a primarily short distance service to a major competitor to the railways, due to technological developments and measures that reduced the immediate cost of vehicle acquisition. As an essentially ‘new’ industry in which subcontracting became a key feature, it provides an excellent illustration of the development of subcontracting relations. The industry’s growth was facilitated by freight clearing houses which subcontracted haulage to individual vehicle owners. These intermediaries were crucial in negating barriers to entry in the haulage trade, by arranging hire purchase (HP) for vehicle purchases and co-ordinating payloads. Such inducements attracted considerable numbers of subcontractors into the sector. While recognizing these potential advantages, virtually all commentators on the industry have stressed the highly exploitative effects of its subcontracting relations. The industry’s trade journal The Commercial Motor frequently highlighted abuses, arguing that while ‘responsible’ clearing houses existed, they were in a minority. Most were said to exploit their powerful position over hauliers, especially those drivers who became tied to their services, driving down their rates with ‘a wonderful compound of cynicism and pretended helplessness’. Contemporary and historical academic analysis of road haulage during this period has generally offered a similar verdict without examining subcontracting in any great detail. This article re-examines this conclusion by explicitly focusing upon the relations between clearing houses and hauliers. It uses the framework of transactions cost analysis to explain how clearing houses were able to push down subcontractors’ rates by exploiting privileged information, while using HP arrangements and other contractual obligations to monopolize the subcontractors’ services. Such practices generated persistently low incomes for hauliers, who found it necessary to work excessively long hours in an attempt to stave off business failure. These problems were exacerbated by overcapacity within the sector, which can be partly attributed to the reduced barriers to entry arising from clearing house incentives. In addition, some clearing houses capitalized upon the potential for opportunism provided by contemporary HP contract law, engineering subcontractor default on HP payments to regain possession of vehicles. The article begins by outlining the emergence and form of subcontracting in road haulage. It then discusses the nature and impact of opportunism in the sector, explaining why independent hauliers enjoyed limited earning opportunities outside their dealings with the clearing houses, the significance of their contractual obligations and the role played by HP commitments. The analysis also considers why exploitative subcontracting relations were able to persist for many years, despite being widely recognized by well-informed observers. In conclusion the article briefly comments on the wider relevance of opportunism for the analysis of subcontracting in other sectors.

Natural Resource Exploitation and the Role of New Technology: a Case-history of the UK Herring Industry

Technological change in the UK herring industry took place rapidly after 1965, due in part to the active encouragement encouragement given to fishermen to switch from driftnetting to pelagic trawling and purse-seining. The adoption and diffusion of these modern methods of capture stimulated a major expansion of output, but this very success was undermined by the depletion of the fish-stocks on which the industry depended. In the case of the West of Scotland herring fisheries, which were especially important to UK fishermen, the decline in fish-stock biomass caused vessel catch-rates to fall after 1973. The failure of international fisheries management, which acted as a permissive factor in the intensification of fishing effort, also had important economic implications as it resulted in the dissipation of resource-rent. The Authors calculate that the maximum sustainable ‘rent’ which could have been generated from the West of Scotland herring fishery was approximately £14 millions per annum at 1976-equivalent prices. The resource-rent effectively financed the overcapitalization of the fleet and the decline which followed, and it is the speed with which this occurred that most distinguishes the herring fishery from others where technological change has taken place. The article concludes by arguing that, although the UK public authorities (notably the Herring Industry Board) might reasonably be criticized for pursuing a development strategy which resulted in economic and biological over-fishing, the international regime of fisheries management which prevailed at the time gave them little choice but to adopt a pro-active approach to technical innovation.

Bilateral trade and fisheries development: the Anglo-Danish Trade agreement, 1933

This article examines the fish trade between Denmark and Britain, focusing on the 1933 bilateral trade agreement. Britain was the main export market for Danish fish, achieving a significant market share. Import penetration exacerbated British concerns about competitiveness that had emerged during the 1920s. While British protectionism saw the introduction of tariffs and quotas, which nominally reduced Danish imports by 10%, the Danes accommodated restrictions through exporting semi-processed fish. This article details trends in fish imports from Denmark, examines the national positions in negotiating the trade agreement, and considers how each countrys fishing industry responded to its implementation. It draws two principal conclusions. First, that the significance of trade in the development of the interwar fisheries requires greater consideration in historical accounts. Second, that the Danish industry more effectively accommodated the new trade regime than the nominally protected British fishing industry.

Global Fisheries History: International Perspectives on Fisheries Markets, c. 1850-2005

The papers in this forum have been written by members of the Global Fisheries History Network (GFHN), an internet community that brings together scholars working on historical issues related to the fisheries. While recent historiography has challenged existing regional and national traditions, there has been less emphasis on international perspectives that might help explain the foundations of the globalization of fish markets. International exchange, through trade and technology transfers, has been a characteristic feature of fisheries development and has become especially apparent with the growth of aquaculture since the 1970s. While such exchanges have acted as engines of growth, they are often regarded as exogenous influences which are less important than domestic perturbations in patterns of consumption, labour relations or regulatory conflict. A key objective of the GFHN, as demonstrated in this forum, is to foster greater attention to developments and themes that transcend national boundaries. Because this objective can only be realized incrementally, these essays do not attempt to offer overarching narratives of global fisheries history. Instead, they are examples of the ways in which the authors have reflected upon extant historigraphical trends in light of transnational perspectives. As the following papers demonstrate, this process of reflection has been conducted within the realms of very different case studies which nonetheless provide significant insights arising from an outward-looking perspective. In the opening paper, Olivier Levasseur and Darin Kinsey examine the promotion of oyster culture by France from the 1850s to 1900. It explains how a programme introduced during the Second Empire laid the groundwork for the industry to expand from a traditional coastal activity into Europes largest producer and exporter in the twentieth century. More significantly, it explains how the international diffusion of French expertise exerted a powerful influence upon the development of mariculture in Europe and North America. In doing this, Levasseur and Kinsey illustrate a central theme within global fisheries development: the significance of knowledge as a global public good. Nobutake Koiwas contribution reflects upon the transformation of Japans fisheries in the latter half of the twentieth century. It explains how events exogenous to the Japanese fishing industry adjustments in the international