How subsidies affect the economic viability of small-scale fisheries

This article presents the first bottom-up analysis of the proportion of global marine fisheries subsidies to small-scale fisheries (SSF). Using existing data, the reported national subsidy amounts are split into the fraction that goes to small- and large-scale fishing sectors. Results reveal a major imbalance in subsidy distribution, with SSF receiving only about 16% of the total global fisheries subsidy amount of $35 billion in 2009. To bring this into perspective, a person engaged in large-scale fishing received around 4 times the amount of subsidies received by their SSF counterparts. Furthermore, almost 90% of capacity-enhancing subsidies, which are known to exacerbate overfishing go to large-scale fisheries, thus increasing the unfair competitive advantage that large-scale fisheries already have. The developmental, economic and social consequences of this inequity are huge and impair the economic viability of the already vulnerable small-scale fishing sector. Conclusions indicate that taxpayers' money should be used to support sustainable fishing practices and in turn ocean conservation, and not to foster the degradation of marine ecosystems, often a result of capacity-enhancing subsidies. Reducing capacity-enhancing subsidies will have minimal negative effects on SSF communities since they receive very little of these subsidies to begin with. Instead, it will help correct the existing inequality, enhance SSF economic viability, and promote global fisheries sustainability.     

The discard ban policy,economic trends and opportunities for the Portuguese fisheries sector

In this paper the discard ban policy within the Portuguese fisheries sector is discussed and the opportunities and impact in the fisheries economy that arise from sales of unwanted fish under the new landing obligation are evaluated. The decadal mean price of fish (€/kg, adjusted for inflation) rose from the 1940s until the 1970s, dropping thereafter. The yearly averaged economic income estimated for discards sales between 1969 and 2009 ranged from 419345€ to 2164379€. Discard ban sales could contribute from 10% to 53% of the total landed value and 9–34% of the total catches (landings + discards). Under a discard ban policy, the fishing sector with the largest economic contribution for total discards sales would be multispecies (54%), followed by trawl (26%) and seine (20%). On average, fishing sales contributed with 0.63% to gross domestic production (GDP) between 1938 and 2009. Discard sales can increase 1.07–1.46 times more than the fish landing contribution to GDP. After 1983 the average landings/imports economic ratio was 0.28:1, which means that fish imports surpassed landings economic value 3.57 fold. The discard ban policy can create economic opportunities in the national context thus helping to revitalize some specific fisheries sectors.     

Communicating research on the economic valuation of coastal and marine ecosystem services

Quantifying the monetary value of ecosystem services (ES) provided by coastal and marine resources can help policy makers assess the trade-offs and synergies inherent in ecosystem-based management of marine and coastal environments, thus increasing the social efficiency of decision-making processes. As shown by the valuation literature, the number of coastal and marine management settings where valuation researchers have attempted to make a contribution is rising fast. However, this rise in research activity has not been matched by the increase in the use of economic valuation (EV) in the actual management of coastal and marine resources. This raises an interesting question: is EV responding to the needs of policy makers? This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the knowledge base regarding the economic values for coastal and marine ecosystems. It then discusses how to improve the uptake of ES valuation research by focussing on two core issues which are thought to be essential for more effective communication with the policy community.     

Social and economic consequences of 40 years of Dutch quota management

The Netherlands was one of the first nations to introduce ITQs in their fisheries to manage national yearly Total Allowable Catches (TACs). These ITQs have gradually developed from an individual quota system in 1976 to an ITQ system in the 1980s. In 1993 the system was reformed into a co-management system. In this paper it is argued that many of the usual negative socio-economic consequences of ITQs mentioned in the literature have been largely absent, due to the embeddedness of ITQs in co-management arrangements. However, cracks have appeared lately in this combined management system, allowing an identification of its vulnerabilities. These findings show that the social and economic structure of Dutch fisheries is changing from a rather cooperative to a more competitive and exclusive system, more like conventional ITQs.     

海洋产业结构变动对海洋经济效率影响研究

产业结构变动对经济增长影响已经得到了现代经济增长理论的肯定,但是产业结构变动对经济增长效率的影响一直是学术界没有解决的问题。目前中国已经进入了中等收入国家,粗放式增长逐渐结束,集约式增长越来越受到重视。文章基于海洋产业,研究了海洋产业结构变动对经济增长效率的影响,将海洋产业结构变动具体量化,分为海洋产业结构高级化和合理化;其次运用海洋产业全要素生产率来衡量海洋经济增长效率,通过从海洋生产函数中剔除初级要素带来的海洋经济增长效率得出海洋产业全要素生产率;同时计算出海洋产业劳动和资本的生产效率;最后收集了1996—2015年全国沿海11个省、市、自治区的数据,运用混合面板数据模型来研究海洋产业结构高级化和合理化对海洋经济增长效率的影响。研究发现海洋产业结构合理化和高级化对海洋经济增长具有正面影响,对于未来发展海洋经济提出了提高海洋产业技术来提高海洋产业结构优化,从而使得海洋经济发展走上集约式增长之路。     

丝绸之路经济带交通运输的时空演化特征及对经济发展的影响

采用交通网络维数法、相关系数法和格兰杰因果检验分析法等定量统计方法,系统分析了自1998-2015年丝绸之路经济带九省区交通运输投资额、交通网络发育程度、交通运输能力的时空变化特征及对国民经济发展的影响。结果表明：丝绸之路经济带九省区交通运输投资额总体呈增长趋势,交通网络密度明显低于全国平均水平;交通网络发育程度不高,但增长发育速度较快,道路密度和网络维数均有很大幅度的提升,公路网的通达性水平及增速明显优于铁路网;交通设施建设对经济发展的影响显著,对国民生产总值的促进作用时滞长度为两年左右,但各省区之间的交通基础设施建设造成了不明显的空间溢出效应,体现出丝绸之路经济带各省区之间的经济联系尚处薄弱阶段。     

库布齐沙漠3种沙产业模式的经济效益评价

库布齐沙漠是中国第七大沙漠,2000-2015年沙产业发展迅速,规模较大。库布齐模式在国内外影响力很大,实现了防沙治沙和生态经济的双赢。但库布齐模式在科学界也存在较大争议,主要表现在库布齐模式的水资源承载力和沙产业的效益评价方面。运用数据包络分析方法（DEA法）评价了库布齐模式中3种沙产业模式2015年的经济效益。结果表明：在3种沙产业模式中,光伏发电综合利用模式和生态旅游模式投入产出综合效率最高,达到1.000,高于生态饲料加工模式的综合效率且3种沙产业模式的纯技术效率均实现DEA有效;3种沙产业模式投入产出规模效率均较高,均值为0.978,最优为光伏发电综合利用模式和生态旅游模式。在此基础上,提出了库布齐模式存在的问题、沙产业今后发展的方向与对策建议。     

Progress in the Research on Benefit-sharing and Ecological Compensation Mechanisms for Transboundary Rivers

Transboundary rivers have important geopolitical and geo-economic connotations, but riparian states of transboundary rivers are often driven by their own rapid population growth and economic development to be-come involved in regional conflicts about the development and use of water resources. Therefore, finding a balance between the need for fair and reasonable development of water resources and the effective protection of environment from an ecological perspective has become a major problem faced by the international community. This paper begins with consideration of international water laws related to transboundary rivers and then reviews advances in the research on benefit-sharing, ecological compensation mechanisms, and adaptive management systems. We believe that existing international water laws form a complete legal system and that more attention needs to be paid to transboundary cooperation and sustainable water resource use. With respect to how transboundary water conflicts are resolved, there is a trend to move away from single water resource allocation (a zero-sum game) to benefit-sharing in order to achieve a win-win situation for riparian states, but there are still some difficulties in transboundary ecological compensation. In China, the central government has paid attention to horizontal ecological compensation between upstream and downstream, offering guidance to promote establishment of inter-province ecological compensation. Based on existing practice, horizontal ecological compensations are still in their infancy, small in scale, supported by a weak legal system, lacking market mechanisms to encourage their use and relying on fiscal transfers as the method of payment. In the future, China will need to intensify its research on legal system development, international cooperation, and benefit-sharing as these impact transboundary water resources. Because government can be seen as a management department with multiple identities (enabler, regulator and buyer), to improve adaptive transboundary ecological compensation mechanisms, government must develop as soon as possible data sharing platforms, standards of water consumption behaviors and intergovernmental policies (or ordinances).     

长江经济带建设的若干问题与建议

建设长江经济带是现阶段、新常态下推进中国经济持续、稳定增长的重大战略举措之一。作为全国国土开发的一级轴线,长江经济带具有显著的区位优势、航运优势和相对完善的产业体系,2014年其经济总量占全国的45%左右。但与此同时,也面临着一些跨区域的重大问题,制约着长江经济带的未来发展。通过系统梳理改革开放以来长江经济带发展的主要特征,对长江轴线发展过程中面临的主要问题进行深入解剖,从经济增长、国土空间开发、航运建设、产业发展、资源环境、城镇化和体制机制等7个方面,提出了近期建设长江经济带的若干建议,供政府及学术界参考与讨论。     

长江经济带开发与保护空间格局构建及其分析路径

长江流域经济—社会—生态系统完整,是中国国土空间开发最重要的东西轴线,在区域发展总体格局中具有重要战略地位。当下,为应对全球经贸格局重组、国家与区域经济社会转型以及资源环境约束趋紧等新形势,国家提出依托长江黄金水道,构建横贯东西、辐射南北、通江达海、经济高效、生态良好的中国经济新支撑带,这就要求长江经济带形成人口资源环境协调的均衡化开发与保护格局。本文基于“点—轴”、分区式与多中心网络式等空间组织结构,明确空间格局的推演逻辑与思路。进而,在区域差异性分析与空间开发适宜性评价基础上,认为长江经济带需重点构建以“一轴两翼,三区六廊”为主体的开发格局、以“六大片区”为主体的农业发展格局、以“五大屏障”为主体的生态安全格局,并提出不同区域差异化发展导向、路径与制度建议,以及今后长江经济带空间结构需进一步研究的主要科学问题。