Sean Pascoe

Individual transferable quotas in multispecies fisheries

Dale Squires and Samuel F. Herrick, Jr are at the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, P.O. Box 271, La Jolla, California 92038-0271, USA. Harry Campbell is at the University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Stephen Cunningham and Sean Pascoe are at the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK. Christopher Dewees is at the University of California, Davis, Davis USA. R. Quentin Grafton is at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa Canada. James Kirkley is at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester, VA, USA. Sean Pascoe is also at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Canberra, Australia. Kjell Salvanes is at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Bergen, Norway. Bruce Shallard can be contacted at Bruce Shallard and Associates, New Zealand. Bruce Turris is at the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Vancouver, Canada. Niels Vestergaard is at the Danish Institute for Fisheries Economics Research, Esbjerg, Denmark.

On implementing maximum economic yield in commercial fisheries

Economists have long argued that a fishery that maximizes its economic potential usually will also satisfy its conservation objectives. Recently, maximum economic yield (MEY) has been identified as a primary management objective for Australian fisheries and is under consideration elsewhere. However, first attempts at estimating MEY as an actual management target for a real fishery (rather than a conceptual or theoretical exercise) have highlighted some substantial complexities generally unconsidered by fisheries economists. Here, we highlight some of the main issues encountered in our experience and their implications for estimating and transitioning to MEY. Using a bioeconomic model of an Australian fishery for which MEY is the management target, we note that unconstrained optimization may result in effort trajectories that would not be acceptable to industry or managers. Different assumptions regarding appropriate constraints result in different outcomes, each of which may be considered a valid MEY. Similarly, alternative treatments of prices and costs may result in differing estimates of MEY and their associated effort trajectories. To develop an implementable management strategy in an adaptive management framework, a set of assumptions must be agreed among scientists, economists, and industry and managers, indicating that operationalizing MEY is not simply a matter of estimating the numbers but requires strong industry commitment and involvement.

A Review of Applications of Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making Techniques to Fisheries

Management of public resources, such as fisheries, is a complex task. Society, in general, has a number of goals that it hopes to achieve from the use of public resources. These include conservation, economic, and social objectives. However, these objectives often conflict, due to the varying opinions of the many stakeholders. It would appear that the techniques available in the field of multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) are well suited to the analysis and determination of fisheries management regimes. However, to date, relatively few publications exist using such MCDM methods compared to other applicational fields, such as forestry, agriculture, and finance. This paper reviews MCDM applied to fishery management by providing an overview of the research published to date. Conclusions are drawn regarding the success and applicability of these techniques to analyzing fisheries management problems.

The Contribution of Unmeasurable Inputs to Fisheries Production: An Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Fishing Vessels in the English Channel

Variations in the efficiency of demersal trawlers operating in the English Channel were examined through the estimation of a stochastic frontier production function. The most important measurable factor affecting efficiency was the age of the vessel. However, unmeasurable factors accounted for about 65% of the variation in efficiency, and as much as 9% of the total variation in catches between boats. It is postulated that most of this variation was due to differences in skipper and crew skill. In contrast, “luck” accounted for around 11% of the variation in catches between boats. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.

Integrating indigenous livelihood and lifestyle objectives in managing a natural resource

Evaluating the success of natural resource management approaches requires methods to measure performance against biological, economic, social, and governance objectives. In fisheries, most research has focused on industrial sectors, with the contributions to global resource use by small-scale and indigenous hunters and fishers undervalued. Globally, the small-scale fisheries sector alone employs some 38 million people who share common challenges in balancing livelihood and lifestyle choices. We used as a case study a fishery with both traditional indigenous and commercial sectors to develop a framework to bridge the gap between quantitative bio-economic models and more qualitative social analyses. For many indigenous communities, communalism rather than capitalism underlies fishers’ perspectives and aspirations, and we find there are complicated and often unanticipated trade-offs between economic and social objectives. Our results highlight that market-based management options might score highly in a capitalistic society, but have negative repercussions on community coherence and equity in societies with a strong communal ethic. There are complex trade-offs between economic indicators, such as profit, and social indicators, such as lifestyle preferences. Our approach makes explicit the “triple bottom line” sustainability objectives involving trade-offs between economic, social, and biological performance, and is thus directly applicable to most natural resource management decision-making situations.

Objectives of fisheries management: case studies from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark

The main objectives of fisheries management are generally similar throughout the world. These are often stated in policy documents such as the Common Fisheries Policy and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. However, at the local level often the key objectives of management are more detailed, characterised by both the overriding management structure and the status and type of fishery concerned. In this paper, we consider case study fisheries from the UK, France, Spain and Denmark to compare some of the various types of fisheries and fisheries management systems that exist in the European Union. From this, we define the key objectives for each management system.

Long run price flexibilities for high valued UK fish species: a cointegration systems approach

In this paper, the own and cross-price flexibilities for four high valued species (bass, lobster, sole and turbot) landed in the UK are estimated. System of equation models were developed using the vector error correction model (VECM) approach. Johansens multivariate approach was used to obtain estimates of the long run steady state relationship (vectors) between fish prices and landings. To find unique vectors (i.e. no interdependent vectors) zero restrictions on the coefficients of the price variables were applied so that the model effectively contained quantity independent variables only. The resulting vectors were four unique cointegration long run relationships of monthly fish prices and landings. Various tests suggested that the variables were I (1) nonstationary variables. The model also suggested that there are more than one cointegration vectors (relationships) between the variables. It was found that bass has the largest absolute long run own price flexibility. Bass and lobster were found to be weak substitutes while sole and turbot were found to be substitutes. The results suggest, however, that the relationship is not symmetrical, with the quantity of sole having a greater effect on the price of turbot than turbot on sole.

Price interactions between salmon and wild caught fish species on the Spanish market

Abstract The introduction and rapid expansion of farmed salmon production in the mid 1980s has transformed the international market for salmon. Spain is one of the most important markets for fish within Europe and the world, and has seen a substantial increase in its demand for salmon. As in other European countries, this has raised concerns that the increased supply of salmon to Spain may have detrimental effects on the market prices of traditional (wild‐caught) species. In this paper, the extent to which salmon competes with the main traditional fish species in the Spanish market is examined using market delineation methodologies. In particular, the potential interactions between species is examined in a multivariate cointegration framework. The results suggest that salmon is at best only a weak substitute for tuna, hake and whiting, but no significant interaction could be found.

Estimating capacity utilisation in multi-purpose, multi-métier fisheries

Abstract To manage fishing capacity, fisheries managers must be able to assess both the current and desired levels of capacity. An approach for estimating levels of capacity that has recently gained increased attention in fisheries economic research is Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). This can be used to estimate capacity output for individual fishing boats based on the level of inputs used and outputs produced, relative to other boats operating under similar conditions in the time frame being considered, i.e. those participating in similar activities. An analytical limitation arises when boats under consideration undertake more than one activity in the time period being analysed, e.g. by operating in more than one area or by using different gears. Ignoring these additional activities may result in capacity utilisation (CU) being underestimated for that time period. Further, the need to compare boats operating under similar conditions in the same time frame requires data to be used at a highly disaggregated level, possibly resulting in a relatively small pool of boats against which capacity can be assessed. This may further distort estimates of CU. In this paper, a method for incorporating ‘other’ activities and the implications of small sets of observations for the measurement of CU, is examined based on the multi-metier, multi-purpose UK fleet operating in the English Channel.

Implications of differences in technical efficiency of fishing boats for capacity measurement and reduction

Capacity measurement and reduction is a major international issue to emerge in the new millennium. However, there has been limited assessment of the success of capacity reduction schemes (CRS). In this paper, the success of a CRS is assessed for a European fishery characterised by differences in efficiency levels of individual boats. In such a fishery, given it is assumed that the least efficient producers are the first to exit through a CRS, the reduction in harvesting capacity is less than the nominal reduction in physical fleet capacity. Further, there is potential for harvesting capacity to increase if remaining vessels improve their efficiency.