Fisheries Policy


Progress, but a long way to go





Background: Wikimedia, 2010

First, a few points about fisheries:

  • Fisheries is plural
    • Think about specific fishery depletion, not depletion in general
  • Only some fisheries are open access
  • Fisheries are always a form of rival good
    • Remember, rival goods are goods in which someone's consumption prevents the consumption of others

What is overfishing?

  • Overfishing occurs when more fish are taken than is consistent with a particular target
    • Economic overfishing: more fish are taken than is consistent with maximum profits (usually maximum sustainable yield)
    • Recruitment overfishing: too many fish are taken to allow for reproduction of new fish, known as recruitment
    • Growth overfishing: young fish are caught while still growing, lowering potential biomass of the take


What makes fisheries a renewable resource?


What makes fisheries a commons?

Technology and overfishing


  • Some overfishing, even to extinction, prior to 19th century


  • Increasing overfishing problems following technological developments in 19th century







Explosion Harpoons

Background: Sauber, Wikimedia, 2009

Longline fishing










Background: NOAA Library Archives, Wikimedia, 2012

Trawling










Background: NOAA, Wikimedia, 2005

Larger ships










Background: Wikimedia, 2005



So how might we try to

 avoid a tragedy of the

commons in fisheries?



Regulation:

The Eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery






Background: Blindheim, Wikimedia, 2011

Monitoring


  • About 100 boats


  • Two observers placed on 16 largest and 80% of smaller boats to monitor catch, discard, and bycatch



Regulation and Enforcement

  • Cap set on allowable catch for ecosystem by the National Marine Fisheries Service
  • Cap is based on fish abundance determined by observers
  • Observers ensure catch limits are followed
  • Most other fisheries only have about 10-20% observer coverage, if any at all



Market I: Privatization:

Alaska Pacific Halibut Fishery





Background: Miller, Wikimedia, Circa 1927

Individual Fisherman's Quota

(IFQ) System

  • Pre-1995: open access fishery, catch regulated by season length
  • By early 1990s, season as short as a day in some places
    • Derby fishery
  • IFQ: share of the total allowable catch
    • Apportioned based on previous catch shares
    • Individual transferrable quotas (ITQs): can be sold to other boats



How might IFQs and ITQs

 change incentives from the

 incentives under the open

access system?




Market II: Certification:

The Marine Stewardship Council

Marine Stewardship Council

  • NGO originally founded by WWF and Unilever
  • Investigates the fishing practices of entire fisheries
  • Certifies sustainable yields
  • Monitors fisheries and reports annually

Image source: WWF Australia

Certification Expansion

  • In 2011, 102 fish stocks certified under MSC, 12% of world's catch
  • Numbers continue to grow
  • Wal-Mart required all seafood sources to be seeking MSC or similar certification as of June 2012
  • Whole Foods uses MSC and Blue Ocean Institute/Monterray Bay Aquarium
  • MSC certification concentrated in European and North American far-north fisheries




How does fishing certification

 reflect the Coase theorem?




Common Property

 Management:

Chilean caletas



Background: Wikimedia, 2013

Chilean Abalone Fishing

  • 400+ caletas along Chilean coast
  • Harvest many different species
  • Chilean abalone major source of income
    • Stocks collapsing from overfishing in late 1980s
    • Largely sedentary
    • Population dynamics very local
  • 1991: New Chilean law allows cooperatives of fishers from caletas to apply for exclusive access to fishing territories
    • Cooperatives manage stocks collectively
    • 547 currently registered
    • Higher abalone stocks within registered areas
Background: Wikimedia, 2009

The Status of Fisheries Today

  • Estimates that 30% of world catch is illegal
  • About 1.6% of national exclusive economic zones in marine protected areas
  • Bycatch in shrimp fisheries up to 5X catch
  • 2008 FAO estimate that 32% of global fish stocks overfished
  • < 1% of global fish species are formally assessed




Background: Jan van Kessel, Wikimedia, 1660











Background: Rothstein, Farm Security Administration, Circa 1935, Wikimedia

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