Håkan Eggert

The Fishery Performance Indicators: A Management Tool for Triple Bottom Line Outcomes

Pursuit of the triple bottom line of economic, community and ecological sustainability has increased the complexity of fishery management; fisheries assessments require new types of data and analysis to guide science-based policy in addition to traditional biological information and modeling. We introduce the Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs), a broadly applicable and flexible tool for assessing performance in individual fisheries, and for establishing cross-sectional links between enabling conditions, management strategies and triple bottom line outcomes. Conceptually separating measures of performance, the FPIs use 68 individual outcome metrics—coded on a 1 to 5 scale based on expert assessment to facilitate application to data poor fisheries and sectors—that can be partitioned into sector-based or triple-bottom-line sustainability-based interpretative indicators. Variation among outcomes is explained with 54 similarly structured metrics of inputs, management approaches and enabling conditions. Using 61 initial fishery case studies drawn from industrial and developing countries around the world, we demonstrate the inferential importance of tracking economic and community outcomes, in addition to resource status.

Are Commercial Fishers Risk-Lovers?

Fishers are risk-averse according to most empirical studies, while expected-utility theory predicts risk neutrality even for sizable stakes. We test this prediction using data from a stated-choice experiment with Swedish commercial fishers. Our results show that only 48% of the fishers can be broadly characterized as risk-neutral, while 26% are modestly risk-averse, and 26% are strongly risk-averse. Fishers are more risk-neutral the higher the fraction of their household’s income comes from fishing. Sensitivity testing implies that modest stake decisions like a few days of fishing are not influenced by wealth level. (JEL D81; Q22)

Regulatory Compliance in Lake Victoria Fisheries

This paper analyzes the causes for regulatory compliance using traditional deterrence variables and potential moral and social variables. We used self-reported data from Tanzanian artisanal fishers in Lake Victoria. The results indicated that the decision to be a non-violator or to be a violator—as well as the violation rate—are influenced by changes in deterrence variables (such as the probability of detection and punishment), but with respect to legitimacy and social variables. We also identified a small group of fishers that reacted neither to normative aspects nor to traditional deterrence variables, but persistently violated the regulation and used bribes to avoid punishment.

Fishery control and regulation compliance: a case for co-management in Swedish commercial fisheries☆

The results from a survey of Swedish commercial fishers on regulation compliance and attitudes to control and restrictions are reported. According to the responding fishers, 90% of all Swedish catches are reported, in spite of limited control efforts. From an economic perspective we would expect substantially lower levels of compliance. The results also show that the majority of Swedish fishers are in favour of co-management on a regional basis. However, on this and other management issues opinions divert significantly between large vessel operators and small vessel operators, which reveals conflicting interests for such and similar changes in Swedish management of fisheries.

Economic Valuation for Sustainable Development in the Swedish Coastal Zone

Abstract The Swedish coastal zone is a scene of conflicting interests about various goods and services provided by nature. Open-access conditions and the public nature of many services increase the difficulty in resolving these conflicts. “Sustainability” is a vague but widely accepted guideline for finding reasonable trade-offs between different interests. The UN view of sustainable development suggests that coastal zone management should aim at a sustainable ecological, economic, and social-cultural development. Looking closer at economic sustainability, it is observed that economic analyses about whether changes in society imply a gain or a loss should take into account the economic value of the environment. Methods used for making such economic valuation in the context of the Swedish coastal zone are briefly reviewed. It is noted that the property rights context matters for the results of a valuation study. This general background is followed by a concise presentation of the design and results of four valuation studies on Swedish coastal zone issues. One study is on the economic value of an improved bathing water quality in the Stockholm archipelago. The other studies are a travel cost study about the economic value of improved recreational fisheries in the Stockholm archipelago, a replacement cost study on the value of restoring habitats for sea trout, and a choice experiment study on the economic value of improved water quality along the Swedish westcoast.

Small-scale Fishermen and Risk Preferences

Using an experimental approach, we investigate the risk preferences of artisanal fishermen in Tanzania waters of Lake Victoria. The experiment concerns pairwise comparisons of hypothetical fishing trips that vary in expected mean and spread of the net revenue. The results show that about 34% of the fishermen can be considered as risk neutral, 32% as risk averse, and 34% as risk seekers. Econometric analysis indicates that the likelihood of belonging to the risk-seeking group increases if motorboats are used, if fishing is the main source of household income, and if the fisherman is targeting Nile perch. Asset ownership and perhaps socioeconomic variables influence risk preferences.

Bioeconomic Analysis and Management

This article discusses bioeconomic analysis and different management strategies in fisheries. It reviews recent developments, which show the need to expand the analysis to multispecies fisheries and management. Significant gains can be made if the interdependencies between species and/or jointness in inputs for many fisheries are identified. Both common property resource management and individual transferable quotas (ITQs) can be fruitful strategies in different settings. The article suggests that there is scope for the development of a multiple use management approach of marine resources. Besides the aim of an efficient use of fish stocks, equal attention should be given to other values from aquatic ecosystems, like ecological services, biodiversity and recreation possibilities.

What do respondents bring to contingent valuation? A comparison of monetary and labour payment vehicles

In the contingent valuation method, both the goods being valued and the payment vehicles used to value them are mostly hypothetical. However, although numerous studies have examined the impact of experience with the good on the willingness to pay, less attention has been given to experience with the payment vehicles. This paper examines how experience with payment vehicles influence responses to a contingent valuation scenario on maintaining irrigation canals in a developing country. Specifically, the paper uses a split-sample survey to investigate the effects of experience with monetary and labour payment vehicles on the acceptance of a contingent valuation scenario, protest bids and mean willingness to pay. Using convergent validity tests, we found that the experience acquired from using both monetary and labour payment vehicles reduces the asymmetries in acceptance rates. These findings suggest that experience with payment vehicles reduces time/money response asymmetries in the contingent valuation method.

Reference-dependent behaviour of paua (abalone) divers in New Zealand

We study dynamic labour supply using data on paua (abalone) divers in New Zealand. The divers face stable, flat prices per kilogram after each catch, but experience transitory wage changes due to varying weather and water conditions, and are free to vary their daily working hours and display an intermittent working pattern. We find nonlinear wage elasticities, rejecting the standard neo-classical prediction that these divers should work long hours during days when wages are high and quit early during days when hourly wages are low. We explore potentially distorting factors, but find little evidence. Applying Kőszegi and Rabins (2006) theory where workers have both income and hours targets could explain our result. In particular, our divers appear to be primarily guided by the hours target.

Trade Policies for Biofuels

The purpose of the present article is to consider optimal trade policies for biofuels, taking into account the potential for carbon leakage and the complex set of policies used or discussed for biofuels. First, the authors consider the case of optimal trade policies and find that the combination of an import standard and a border carbon adjustment welfare dominates using only a border carbon adjustment (BCA). The import standard should be set such that the emissions per unit of output is as if the foreign biofuels industry were subject to the globally optimal green house gas (GHG) emission tax. Second, the authors study the same trade policies in the context of a blending mandate, which significantly alters the way the market works. Given the suboptimal implementation of a blending mandate, the optimal BCA depends on the domestic subsidy to biofuels production. High levels of subsidies may in fact imply a negative BCA; that is, the optimal policy would be to subsidize imports.