Fisheries Management: Principal Methods, Advantages and Disadvantages

1. Fisheries Management: Principal Methods, Advantages and Disadvantages Fridrik M. BaldurssonInstitute of Economic Studies University of Iceland Presentation at information seminar held by the Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries Kopavogur, Iceland September 6, 2002

2. Why manage a commercially valuable fish stock? • Open access: • No incentives among producers to conserve the resource for future use • Leads to competition among producers to catch fish before others do • Overinvestment and overfishing • At best, fishery is run with zero profits, at worst the stock collapses • Managing necessary, economically and biologically!

5. Challenges • Fluctuations, uncertainty and imperfect information • Multispecies fisheries, by-catches and discards • Monitoring and enforcement • Incomplete and multiple jurisdiction • Socio-economic issues

6. Management measures • Output constraints • Input constraints • Technical measures

7. Output regulation • Total allowable catch (TAC) • Individual fishing quotas • Vessel catch limits

8. Input regulation • Individual effort quotas (e.g. no. of days at sea ) • Limited licenses (e.g. number of boats) • Other gear and vessel restrictions (e.g. size of boats)

9. Technical measures • Time and area closures • Size and sex selectivity • Neither effective nor efficient on their own • Necessary side measures within other management regimes • Not discussed further

10. Comments • Measures of different types can be (and are) used jointly • Individual concessions may be tradable or non-tradable • Choice of management regime should take account of a number of features • characteristics of fisheries (biological , economic, social, institutional) • goals of government (economic efficiency, biological conservation, social/regional patterns)

11. Input regulation in theory and practice • Operators have strong incentives to invest in new and more productive boats and equipment to increase productivity  overinvestment • In principle, biological targets achieved • In practice • impossible to control all inputs • difficult to reduce no. of boats / effort when needed • Usually results in inefficient fisheries and fishing in excess of goals

14. TAC only • “Olympic fishing” • In theory: inefficient, but can conserve stocks • Experience: bad on both counts • race-to-fish • overinvestment • higher fishing and processing costs

15. Source: “Sharing the Fish: Toward a National Policy on Fishing Quotas.” National Academy Press 1999

16. Source: “Sharing the Fish: Toward a National Policy on Fishing Quotas.” National Academy Press 1999

17. TAC + IFQs • Advantages • can achieve TAC • leads to efficient fisheries (fishing and processing), especially with tradability • Necessary conditions: • Stock can be measured with reasonable accuracy • TACs are set for efficiency and conservation • Cost effective monitoring and enforcement possible • Stakeholder support and participation (as in all regimes!)

21. Disadvantages • Socio-economic issues • Allocation; distribution of resource rent • Regional impacts • Entry • Biological issues • high-grading and discarding • bycatches • Questions: • to what extent are these issues more difficult in IQ system that other systems? • To what extent can they be mitigated?

22. Conclusion • No “one-size fits all” solution • TAC+ITQ system is a good solution, given the right circumstances • Problems are often an inevitable consequence given the goal of sustainable management • Ongoing process - must constantly take improved knowledge into account