Technical change in fisheries

Technical change in fisheries is an under-researched area in resource economics and management. This is surprising, because technical progress is the main driver of the development in fishing power and capacity. This article reviews the recent research and development in technology that have occurred in fisheries. New policy implications of introducing technical change into the standard bioeconomic model are illustrated. Bycatch saving technical change is critical to bycatch reduction and ecosystem based fisheries management, and optimal policies cost-effectively reduce bycatch, create incentives to induce bycatch saving technical change, and establish technology policy for research and development.     

An economic valuation of the Namibian recreational shore-angling fishery

A roving creel survey of recreational shore-anglers in Namibia was used to determine catch and effort of line-fishing. A stratified sample of 240 anglers was surveyed to determine expenditures. Results showed that, between October 1996 and September 1997, some 8 800 anglers spent around 173 000 days angling and had direct expenditures of N$29.7 million. In all, 93% of angling took place in the West Coast Recreational Area. Some 44% of anglers were foreign visitors who contributed 55% of the expenditures. Value added to gross national income within the shore-angling fishery was N$14 million, equivalent to 3.6% of the value of the whole fisheries sector. The expenditures ultimately amounted (through a multiplier) to a gross national income of N$3 069 per angler, or N$27 million in aggregate. These amounts could be sustainable if policies to reduce fish mortality without affecting angler numbers are implemented.     

Marine protected areas in Australia: Towards a coordinated rock lobster industry position

Plans by government to accelerate the establishment of a national representative system of marine protected areas (NRSMPAs) in Australia have caused increasing disquiet within the fishing industry. Rock lobster fishers have raised concerns regarding plans to establish large “multiple‐use” MPAs that may or may not contain a substantial no‐take component in the continental shelf waters adjacent to the coast. Key industry concerns including the potential impacts on present and future harvest rates are examined. The industry response to government MPA policy in each of the major jurisdictions is outlined. An industry position developed at the National Rock Lobster Congress in Perth, Western Australia (September 2003) is put forward. The position advocates the need for an adjustment scheme to account for displaced effort, the need for government commitment to the development of management plans that include the long‐term monitoring of all MPAs, and the need for a thorough risk assessment process to be conducted before the establishment of an MPA. The issues raised in this paper should be relevant to the establishment of MPAs in an international context.     

Tackling illegal, unregulated, and unreported trade towards Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) recovery in Sabah, Malaysia

The live reef food fish trade (LRFFT) has caused severe depletion of the Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) populations globally, a species considered endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 2010, signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora recognized that illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) activities in the LRFFT were undermining the efforts to protect this species. Management recommendations have yet to be effectively implemented at national and local levels where the fish is harvested. This paper analyzes the threats to, and socio-economic impacts of, Humphead wrasse recovery in Sabah, Malaysia, and offers both short- and longer-term recommendations for the local recovery of the species. Key issues addressed centre around understanding the threats to recovery, specifically the role of IUU and the context-specific considerations, including the socio-economic aspects of the IUU trade in Sabah. The analysis confirms that deliberate management planning and action at multiple levels are required to prevent local-scale extinction. Lessons for other species and countries involved in the LRFFT suggest that to be effective, broad management frameworks must be tailored to local situations and must focus on gaining support and participation of fish harvesters if the recovery and long-term sustainability of both the Humphead wrasse and the LRFFT are to be achieved.     

A tool for site prioritisation of marine protected areas under data poor conditions

A challenge of managing data poor fisheries lies in overcoming uncertainties associated with a lack of information on biological and socio-economic conditions. This paper focuses on site prioritisation for marine protected areas, a process that usually imposes moderate to heavy demands on data, time, local expertise, and funds. A fuzzy logic decision support tool for zoning marine areas that is suitable for use in data poor conditions is developed. This tool, the Protected Area Suitability Index (PASI), assesses the suitability of sites for protection based on fishers’ preferences for that site and the site’s conservation value. Only eight input attributes are required to run the PASI, which operates on a series of heuristic rules to estimate a site suitability score that ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates that a site is highly suitable for being protected from fishing. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the PASI is relatively robust, and produces reliable results even as the system is degraded by the loss of data. Eighteen actively fished sites and 11 sites that are closed to fishing are assessed to evaluate how well the PASI is able to distinguish differences between sites. The estimated scores are significantly different (p<0.05), whereby non-fished sites are scored as being more suitable for protection than fished sites. The PASI can be used as a decision support tool to facilitate systematic marine spatial management under data poor conditions, especially in the task of identifying suitable sites for protection.     

A software tool for monitoring legal minimum length of landings: Case study of a fishery in southern Spain

The regulation of minimum legal size (MLS) of catches is a tool widely applied in the management of fisheries resources, although the MLS does not always coincide with the length at first maturity (LFM). The optimization of this management tool requires a series of quality control in fish markets and transportation. A software application has been developed to make the control of the landings of several target species easier and faster. In order to test and make this tool operational, six species of commercial interest were selected: four species of fish and two species of bivalves. It is proposed to estimate the proportion of illegal specimens in the studied lot from the proportion of illegal individuals found in the samples taken from this lot. The input data for the application are the minimum legal size (MLS) of the species and the total length (TL) of each specimen sampled. The output data is a statistical summary of the percentage of specimens of size less than the legal minimum (TL≤MLS) within different confidence intervals (90%, 95% and 99%). The software developed will serve as a fast, efficient and easy to manage tool that allows inspectors to determine the degree of compliance on MLS control and to make a decision supported by statistical proof on fishing goods.     

First steps towards a quota allocation system in the Indian Ocean

In response to recommendations made by a recent performance review, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is attempting to develop a quota allocation system (QAS) for management of the tuna and tuna-like species of the Indian Ocean. As “first-movers” in the process, Indonesia, the Seychelles, the European Union, Iran, and the Republic of Korea made contrasting proposals to the IOTC in March 2011 on possible QAS form and structure. Structure (the factors to be taken into account in determining allocation) is critical as it will determine on a long term basis the share accruing to each IOTC member state of the estimated USD 2-3 billion worth of tuna caught in the Indian Ocean each year. This article records and discusses the content of these first steps towards QAS formulation by placing them in the context of rights-based management as applied to the offshore areas falling under tuna RFMO management. The options proposed in March (which the IOTC is still considering) all have a similar architecture but result in sharply divergent allocation outcomes. Despite the sophistication of some of the proposals, the recent IOTC review suggests that the regulatory and management capacity of the IOTC does not match the science and enforcement requirements appropriate to these recent proposals. Perhaps efforts to improve IOTC performance need to be made in parallel with discussions on QAS definition and implementation. To further advance the debate and also concretely demonstrate likely economic outcomes, the article provides indicative monetary valuations of quota allocations proposed. It uses a range of potential historical reference periods (5, 10, 15, and 20 years).     

Calibrating a FDR sensor for soil moisture monitoring in a wetland in Central Kenya

The recent transformation of wetlands into farmland in East Africa is accelerating due to growing food-demand, land shortages, and an increasing unpredictability of climatic conditions for crop production in uplands. However, the conversion of pristine wetlands into sites of production may alter hydrological attributes with negative effects on production potential. Particularly the amount and the dynamics of plant available soil moisture in the rooting zone of crops determine to a large extent the agricultural production potential of wetlands. Various methods exist to assess soil moisture dynamics with Frequency Domain Reflectometry (FDR) being among the most prominent. However, the suitability of FDR sensors for assessing plant available soil moisture has to date not been confirmed for wetland soils in the region. We monitored the seasonal and spatial dynamics of water availability for crop growth in an inland valley wetland of the Kenyan highlands using a FDR sensor which was site-specifically calibrated. Access tubes were installed within different wetland use types and hydrological situations along valley transects and soil properties affecting soil moisture (organic C, texture, and bulk density) were investigated. There was little variation in soil attributes between physical positions in the valley, and also between topsoil and subsoil attributes with the exception of organic C contents. With a root mean squared error of 0.073 m³/m³, the developed calibration function of the FDR sensor allows for reasonably accurate soil moisture prediction for both within-site comparisons and the monitoring of temporal soil moisture variations. Applying the calibration equation to a time series of profile probe readings over a period of one year illustrated not only the temporal variation of soil moisture, but also effects of land use.     

Testing resilience thinking in a poverty context: Experience from the Niger River basin

Resilience thinking is an important addition to the range of frameworks and approaches that can be used to understand and manage complex social–ecological systems like small-scale fisheries. However, it is yet to lead to better environmental or development outcomes for fisheries stakeholders in terms of food security, improved livelihoods and ecological sustainability. This paper takes an empirical approach by focusing on the fundamentals of resilience thinking to evaluate its usefulness in developing relevant management interventions in small-scale fisheries in the Niger River Basin in West Africa. The paper presents the outputs of a participatory assessment exercise where both fishery communities and local experts were involved at two different scales. The resilience frame used was designed to facilitate the identification of socially defined thresholds that help delineate the desirability of the current system configuration and provides a diagnosis framework that tailors management solutions to problems in local context. The analysis highlights some key contributions from resilience thinking to the challenge of diagnosis in small-scale fisheries management in developing countries, as well as important contributions that emerge from taking a pragmatic and critical approach to its application.     

More than just access to fish: The pros and cons of fisher participation in a customary marine tenure (Padu) system under pressure

The Padu system of South Asia has received growing attention as an example of customary marine tenure that has survived despite rapid development and change throughout the region’s fisheries. This paper describes the Padu system as it functions at Pulicat lagoon, India, where it has enjoyed decades of legitimacy amongst its members, and has contributed to sustainable fishing. Recently, however, the Padu system has become unstable, driven by pressures of an expanding fishing population, reduced access to fishing grounds and a growing ‘shared poverty’. In spite of this, fisher loyalty to uphold the Padu system remains strong. This raises questions about the broader social, political and cultural meanings of Padu, which extend beyond access to a lucrative fishery. The paper highlights a trade-off between the benefits received through Padu membership at a societal level through collective action, and the individual costs of partaking in ‘shared poverty’, which is inherently distributed unequally amongst fishing families. The paper concludes with a discussion on the future of the Padu system in Pulicat, drawing from evolutionary pathways of other Padu systems in the region. It is suggested that, in the Pulicat case, the high social values attributed to the Padu system, alongside complex power structures, may hinder institutional adaptation.