Spatial dynamics of the South Australian rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) fishery under a quota‐based system

The southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, is South Australia's most valuable fisheries resource, with an annual landed value of c. AU$100 million. Approximately 80% of this revenue comes from the southern zone (SZ) rock lobster fishery, which has been managed under an individual transferable quota system since 1993. The total allowable commercial catch is currently set at 1900 tonnes. Long‐term spatial trends in catch and effort were analysed over the period 1970–2005 to investigate possible changes in the spatial dynamics of the fleets as a result of quota introduction. Data indicate that the fishery contracted into three main Marine Fishing Areas (MFAs) after 1993. In particular, the long‐term catch average in MFA 51 decreased from 185.4 tonnes pre‐quota to 59.8 tonnes post quota. This MFA is located in the northern region of the SZ and is one of the furthest MFAs from the main fishing ports in the region. The fishery is also spatially contracted within MFAs. Approximately 80% of the annual catch comes from <60m depth despite catch rates being 2–3 times greater in offshore sites as evidenced from both fishery‐dependent and independent sources. Such trends appear driven by recent market preferences that select for small (<1 kg), red‐coloured lobster that are primarily located on inshore grounds. As a result, fishers now target inshore sites to maximise returns under the quota‐based system. The observed shift in the spatial dynamics of the SZ has clear implications for the biological performance indicators on which the fishery is managed. Specifically, the results highlight the need for a fishery‐independent assessment of the resource that provides estimates of catch rate and biomass independent of current harvest strategies. Preliminary results from a trial survey undertaken in 2005/06 and 2006/07 show higher lobster abundance in lowly exploited offshore sites compared with inshore areas. These trends highlight the need for refined spatial management of the resource, which is the focus of the new management plan for the fishery.     

Quota concentration in the New Zealand fishery: Annual catch entitlement and the small fisher

New Zealand's quota management system (QMS) was introduced in 1986 to enhance the sustainability of New Zealand's fishery. This paper examines trends in quota and catch share concentration across a range of important fish stocks. It demonstrates that continuing concentration is occurring in the ownership of quota for deepwater species. At the same time there has been an increase in participation by small scale fishers in the inshore fishery. This appears to be driven by the introduction of the Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE) regime, allowing annual catch shares to be accessed at reduced transaction cost.     

Can vessel buybacks pay off: An evaluation of an industry funded fishing vessel buyback

Fishing vessel and permit buyback programs have been implemented to reduce excess capacity and improve profitability in a number of fisheries around the world. These programs are generally publicly funded, but in a few cases they have been financed by loans to be paid back by the remaining fleet. In 2003, a buyback permanently removed 91 vessels and 239 fishing permits from the Pacific groundfish trawl fishery and associated corollary fisheries of Dungeness crab and pink shrimp. The buyback was financed with $10 million in public funding and a $36 million loan to be repaid over 30 years with fees on landings. In the same year, a control date was set for catch share program in the groundfish trawl fishery. When the catch share program was implemented in 2011, the permit owners that remained in the fishery after the buyback were allocated the quota shares that would otherwise have been issued to the permits bought back in 2003. Estimates of the annual profits generated by this quota are compared to the cost of servicing the buyback loan. The results provide evidence that a buyback program, when implemented in conjunction with catch shares, can enable a sustained increase in profitability for the remaining vessels sufficient to justify its cost. However, using landings taxes as the mechanism to repay the loan may result in a mismatch between those who benefit from and pay for the buyback.     

南海北部金线鱼最大可持续产量和总可捕量的研究

限额捕捞试点工作逐步展开,预示着我国海洋渔业管理进入全面有序的管理时代。文章根据2008—2017年南海北部渔港渔业生产抽样调查数据,统计出南海北部金线鱼的产量主要来自刺网,占累计总产量的72.90%。剩余产量模型分析认为南海北部金线鱼的最大可持续产量在168 632.99~31 0518.85 t,平均为251 765.59 t。2017年实施最严格的休渔制度后,当年的捕捞努力量投入和渔业产量均未超过最适值,当前总可捕量可设为158 515 t。文章研究结果可为该鱼种限额捕捞政策实施提供参考。     

Micro-economic drivers of profitability in an ITQ-managed fishery: An analysis of the Queensland Coral Reef Fin-Fish Fishery

An economic survey of the commercial operators currently active in the Queensland Coral Reef Fin-Fish Fishery has been carried out, as part of a research project aimed at evaluating alternative management options for this fishery. This paper presents the background analysis used as a basis to develop the sampling design for this survey. The background analysis focuses on activity patterns of the fleet based on effort and catch information, as well as patterns of quota ownership. Based on this information, a fishing business profile describing the micro-economic structure of fishing operations is developed. This profile, in conjunction with the qualitative information gained in undertaking the economic surveys, allows preliminary understanding of the key drivers of profitability in the CRFFF, and possible impacts of external factors on fishing operations.     

Considering community allocations: Power and the politics of enclosure in the Gulf of Alaska

In 2012, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council initiated the process of designing a new management structure for the Gulf of Alaska trawl groundfish fleet. The new program is currently structured as a catch share program and driven by the need to end the ‘race for fish’ and provide the trawl fleet with the tools to reduce bycatch. To date much of the discussion among policy makers and stakeholders has centered on community protection measures and how best to avoid the negative social and economic impacts of catch share programs including impacts to crew, consolidation and the flight of quota and resource wealth from Gulf of Alaska fishery dependent communities. This paper examines how community protection measures related to the distribution of benefits and access to fishery resources are considered and challenged in the North Pacific today. Special attention is given to the ongoing debate surrounding the potential inclusion of an initial allocation to place-based Gulf of Alaska communities via a Community Fishing Association. As part of this effort, this paper examines the political space and underlying power dynamics in which consideration of alternatives to the commodification of fishing rights occurs.     

Changes in fishing behaviour of two fleets under fully documented catch quota management: Same rules,different outcomes

A Dutch pilot study of fully documented fisheries provided the opportunity to observe actual changes in fishing behaviour under catch quota management (CQM). Interviews with fishers in the pilot study aided in interpreting the results and giving insight in the decision making process and reasoning of fishers. The CQM pilot study entailed a fleet of small and large demersal vessels. For these vessels, all cod catches were counted against quota, including catches of individuals below minimum landings size. To obtain reliable catch data all vessels were equipped with electronic monitoring (EM) systems. These systems recorded videos of all fishing and processing activities on board. In return, fishers received a 30% quota bonus for cod and were compensated with more flexibility on effort regulations. It was hypothesized that vessels in the CQM will (i) increase their landings by 30% according to their quota bonus, (ii) increase the use of gear with large mesh size, and (iii) change effort towards fishing locations with high catch rates of large cod and avoid areas with high catch rates of undersized cod. The results showed that CQM had no effect on fishing behaviour of the small vessels. In contrast, large vessels significantly increased their cod landings (216%) and avoided undersized cod. This difference in response of different fleets suggested that implementation of CQM, for instance in the context of the European Common Fisheries Policy, should consider fleet characteristics. It seemed that larger vessels in this study more easily adapted their behaviour to new management regimes and that the quota bonus opened up new fishing strategies, that were not envisaged during the implementation.     

Lessons for fisheries management from the EU cod recovery plan

The performance of the EU long-term management plan for cod stocks, in force since 2009, is analysed focusing on the human and institutional factors. The plan operates through landings quotas (TACs) and effort restrictions following a Harvest Control Rule, and deploys a novel instrument allowing Member States to ‘buy back’ or increase fishing effort for fleet segments engaged in cod-avoidance measures. The stipulated fishing mortality reductions have not been achieved. On the positive side, the ‘buy-back’ instrument has led to increased uptake of selective gear and implementation of permanent and real-time temporary closures. On the negative side, ignoring the dimension of fishers as reactive agents in the design, the impact assessment, and the annual implementation of the measures has contributed to the failure to adequately implement the plan and achieve its objectives. The main problem is that the landings quotas taken in a mixed fishery did not limit catches because fishers were incentivised to continue fishing and discard overquota catch while quota for other species was available. The effort limitations intended to reduce this effect were insufficient to adequately limit fishing mortality in targeted fisheries, although fishers experienced them as prohibiting the full uptake of other quotas. Recommendations for future plans include (i) management through catch rather than landings quotas, (ii) the internalisation of the costs of exceeding quotas, (iii) use of more selective gear types, (iv) the development of appropriate metrics as a basis for regulatory measures and for evaluations, (v) participatory governance, (vi) fishery-based management, (vii) flexibility in fishing strategy at vessel level.     

Catch shares have not led to catch-quota balancing in two North American multispecies trawl fisheries

Catch shares, where annual catch limits are divided among individuals, communities or cooperatives, are a commonly used fisheries management strategy to increase profits and reduce overcapitalization. Usually these quota shares can be sold or leased, which is theorized to allow for greater utilization of fleet-wide quota. However, this catch-quota balancing may not be achieved in multispecies trawl fisheries where it is difficult to selectively target valuable species while avoiding overfished species. Two similar catch-share-managed, multispecies trawl fisheries were compared to evaluate whether catch shares lead to catch-quota balancing. The U.S. West Coast Groundfish fishery has several species with low total allowable catches (TACs) while the Canadian British Columbia Trawl fishery has comparatively higher TACs. Results indicate that the West Coast fishery had a statistically significant decrease in catch-quota ratios from 0.41 in the three years before catch shares to 0.29 in the three years after catch shares. In contrast, the BC fishery experience no statistically significant change in fishery-wide average catch-quota ratios, which were 0.70 in the three years before and 0.62 in the three years after catch shares. In the West Coast fishery, the risk of exceeding quotas for some species may be so high that fishers are unable to achieve high degrees of catch-quota balancing and instead focus on species that can be easily selected with changes in fishing behavior. Multispecies fisheries management has direct tradeoffs between maximizing yield and achieving conservation goals, and these results may highlight the tradeoff between rebuilding overfished species by reducing TACs, and the achievement of catch-quota balancing.     

The elephant in the room: The hidden costs of leasing individual transferable fishing quotas

Despite the increasingly positive reviews of individual transferable quotas (ITQs), few studies have considered how quota leasing activities can reduce the economic benefits to society and to fishermen operating under the ITQ fisheries system. This analysis reveals negative economic impacts of ITQs previously overlooked by examining the extent of quota leasing and the relationship between the catch value, the cost of fishing, and the quota lease price in the BC halibut fishery, long considered a poster child for ITQs. Findings challenge assumptions of economic theory used to promote the benefits of ITQs.     

Enhancing the performance of quota managed fisheries using seasonality information: The case of the Portuguese artisanal dredge fleet

Several fisheries across the world are managed by a quota regime. These quotas can be set yearly, monthly, weekly or daily. However, for some fish species demand seasonality may occur, which should be taken into consideration in the establishment of the quota (especially in those fisheries managed by daily or monthly quotas). This would allow fishermen to catch more fish at times of the year with higher demand in detriment of periods when demand is low. The present work investigates the existence of demand seasonality for bivalves from the artisanal dredge fleet. This fleet operates along the entire coast of the Portugal mainland. The analysis of fleets' revenue efficiency is assessed with Data Envelopment Analysis models, and the monthly seasonality effects on the revenue efficiency were tested using a Tobit regression. The results revealed that on the South coast there is a strong demand in the summer whereas on the western coast (northwest and southwest fishing areas) demand increases during Christmas and New Year festivities. Since this fishery is managed by weekly/daily quotas, it is proposed that these quotas should be redistributed in order to adjust them to periods of higher demand, thereby increasing the profitability of the vessels. The approach followed could be applied to similar fisheries worldwide.     

Transferable quotas,efficiency and crew ownership in Whalsay,Shetland

The resource economic theory tells us that individual transferable quotas (ITQs) improve efficiency in the fishing industry by removing the least efficient actors from a fishery and allowing ownership to concentrate in the hands of the most efficient operators. Assertions about the nature of this allocative efficiency are, however, often based on purely theoretical assumptions. This paper presents a case study of the efficient operators remaining in the UK pelagic fishing fleet. After over 30 years of rights-based management (RBM) and 12 years of ITQs, the UK pelagic fleet numbers only 31 large-scale boats. Seven of these operate from the island of Whalsay in Shetland, which, with a population of approximately 1000 people (0.000016% of the population of the UK), is entitled to land around 22% of the UK pelagic catch. A key characteristic of the economically efficient Whalsay fleet is a crew ownership structure. This is now under threat from the long-term dynamics of the UK's ITQ system, as the high price of quota prevents the renewal of the fishery through new entrants. In the majority of global fisheries, where vessel ownership structures do not follow an assumed economic norm, fully marketised transferable rights may not be the most efficient method of management.     

ITQs under illegal fishing: An application to the red shrimp fishery in Chile

We study an individual transferable quota system with imperfect enforcement. We apply a model of individual fisherman behavior to the red shrimp (Pleuroncodes monodon) fishery in central-southern Chile. Simulation results suggest that illegal fishing could generate a 21% increase in fishing effort, resulting in a 13% increase in catch and a 2% lower quota price in comparison with the results of a system that operates under perfect compliance. The results are sensitive to changes in the level of fish abundance, total allowable catch, and the design of enforcement to induce compliance.     

Using fine‐scale catch predictions to examine spatial variation in growth and catchability of Panulirus cygnus along the west coast of Australia

Puerulus settlement has been monitored throughout the western rock lobster Panulirus cygnus fishery for nearly 40 years. These data, in combination with indices of effort and water temperature, were used to produce recruitment‐catch relationships for each 1° transect of latitude in the coastal part of this fishery from Kalbarri to Cape Leeuwin, as well as at the offshore Abrolhos Islands (total of eight transects). The fine spatial scales of these models provided estimates of certain life history traits that are known to affect lobster catches between adjacent fishing ports. This catch modelling showed that the proportions of 3‐ and 4‐year‐old post‐settlement lobsters contributing to the catches varied markedly from the southern to northern transects, suggesting that juvenile lobsters grow substantially faster in the warmer northern and offshore waters of this fishery. These proportions provide accurate estimates of juvenile growth rates, which are vital in the construction of location‐specific growth algorithms required by the age‐structured models used in the management of this fishery. Model estimates of density‐dependent mortality were greater in the more densely populated centre of the fishery and markedly lower at the northern and southern limits of this species distribution. Annual increases in fishing efficiency were also found to be lowest at the northern and southern extremes of the fishery and greatest in the centre of the fishery, where technology advances and increased fleet mobility have enabled the fleet to increase efficiency by 1–3% each year. Catchability (q) was found to be most influenced by water temperatures in the cooler southern transects, whereas at the Abrolhos Islands, changes in water temperature produced almost no discernable change in q. The catch modelling was also used to quantify the impact of management changes introduced in the 1993/94 fishing season. Increased protection of female lobsters and an 18% pot reduction resulted in a 3–4% permanent reduction in the catch rates of lobsters throughout most of the coastal fishery, whereas at the offshore Abrolhos Islands, catch rates increased by c. 20%, presumably owing to a reduction in the level of pot saturation.     

Bluefin tuna fishery policy in Malta: The plight of artisanal fishermen caught in the capitalist net

The bluefin tuna fishery has undergone a major shift in Malta, moving from an open access artisanal nature to a privatized and industrialized activity dominated by the purse seining fleet and the BFT ranching industry. The shift has been exacerbated by the national implementation of an individual transferable quota system, which has enabled the concertation of quotas into fewer hands. The main objective of this article is to understand how privatization has evolved within the sector and the way the Maltese artisanal fishermen are experiencing the shift. This study takes an exploratory mixed-method approach to quantitatively and qualitatively understand how policy underpinnings interplay with the sustainability dimension of the small-scale fishing sector. Results show that the transition of the bluefin tuna fishery from artisanal to industrial has generated a legitimacy crisis over fishing rights, decreased profitability amongst most of the artisanal fleet, and led to a series of socio-ecological impacts on the artisanal fisheries system at large. It is concluded that the neo-liberal trajectories of industrialization have directly undermined the continued sustainability of artisanal fishing communities.     

Spatial management of small-scale fisheries on the west coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico

To understand small-scale fisheries in Mexico, the spatial and temporal distribution of the landed catch of several species was analyzed, including abalone, clams, snails, octopus, squids, lobsters, shrimps, blue crabs, sharks, rays and finfish along the 349 km of the Gulf of Ulloa coast. Data reported by fishers from 1998 to 2009 on catch volume and value per group of species and per fishing locality, together with the number of landing events, were used to define fishing zones and the relative importance of each fishery. Finfish turned out the primary fishery in the region, but the other fisheries showed relevant spatial changes that should be considered when establishing management goals and fishing regulations according to resource availability, fleet efficiency, processing capacity, commercialization of fishing products and profit distribution.     

History,effort distribution and landings in an artisanal bottom longline fishery: An empirical study from the North Atlantic Ocean

Commercial fishing data were used to reconstruct historical spatio-temporal patterns of fishing effort and landings in the bottom longline fishery of the Azores. Key events during an important 15-year period were charted, through fisher interviews together with GIS analysis. While effort distribution varied over time, the prevailing pattern was a shift in focus from eastern to western areas and from shelf/slope to offshore banks and seamounts in response to policy measures (e.g. banning bottom longline inside 3 NM, public aids for modernization of the fleet) and reduced fishing yields. Areas 12–50 NM from shore represented the most vital fishing grounds in terms of fishing effort and production. Declining landings of the major demersal species, in recent years, indicate that present catch levels are not sustainable and further measures need to be taken in order to sustain fisheries resources. Knowledge of fleet behavior and the distribution of fishing effort, particularly in patchy environments, provide valuable insights into the impacts of past management decisions and help predict the outcome of new policies both in this region and elsewhere.     

Catch share programs in the Western Pacific—A solution in search of a problem?

The movement toward catch shares by NOAA Fisheries and fisheries managers worldwide responds to dysfunctional fisheries plagued by a host of interrelated problems including radically shortened seasons, a race to fish, supply gluts, lowered product quality, increased bycatch, safety issues, excess capacity, and lack of profitability. However, the NOAA Catch Shares Policy recognizes that catch shares are not appropriate for every fishery, and others have agreed that the success of catch shares programs depends on their fit with ecological, economic, and social characteristics. This article describes the characteristics of the Hawaii-based deep-set longline fleet, identified by NOAA Fisheries as a possible candidate for catch shares because it operates under a bigeye tuna quota instituted by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. One of the main concerns in the fishery is the potential for closing during the holiday season, a culturally important time for fish consumption in Hawaii. An evaluation of the fishery suggests that many of the problems leading to development of catch shares programs in other fisheries are not present, but that some warning signs exist which could be addressed by catch share programs or other management alternatives.     

Determining primary and companion species in a multi-species fishery: Implications for TAC setting

The use of ITQ management in multi-species fisheries has been the subject of much debate and the complexities and difficulties of managing multi-species fisheries are well known. A major problem is that the species mix in fishery catches may not necessarily match the mix in combined TACs or in quota holdings. While a number of solutions have been proposed or implemented to improve transferability of quota and other incentives to reduce over-quota fishing and discarding, it is surprising that there has been little focus on TAC-setting itself and coordinating this across multiple species/stocks as a means of dealing with some of these issues. In this paper, data were analysed from the trawl sector of the Australian Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery to determine the relationship between primary species and companion species and the implications this has for TAC setting. The primary species is the species being considered when setting an individual species TAC. The companion species are ones that should also be considered when setting the TAC of the primary species, because a considerable proportion of the primary species catch is taken as a companion species non-target catch. The target species in each fishing operation was determined and was used to characterize recent multi-species catch data into primary and companion components. This approach provides an empirical means to examine the impact of individual species TAC decisions across all of the quota species in a fishery.     

IFQs and total factor productivity changes: The case of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery

This study investigates changes in the total factor productivity (TFP) and identifies the main sources of TFP growth following the adoption of an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program in the Gulf of Mexico red snapper commercial fishery. Utilizing an unbalanced panel of 722 vertical line vessels Malmquist indices were derived from an output-oriented stochastic distance frontier. The analysis shows that the IFQ program had a positive impact on the productivity of the fleet and that most of the productivity gains were due to improvements in technical efficiency. The study also finds that changes in technical efficiency were time variant suggesting that the exit of the less efficient vessels and easing of command and control regulations such as trip limits and short fishing seasons were responsible for most of these gains. Changes in the exploitable biomass of red snapper were found to have a moderate impact on productivity growth whereas the impact of technological progress was minimal.