Distributional Implications of Extended Fisheries Jurisdiction: Some Policy and Research Issues and Policy: Discussion

Abstract

Bromley's paper draws attention to the importance of distributional considerations in fishery management decisions (as in Bromley and Bishop), and he suggests these implications be identified before such decisions are made. Bromley also attempts to demonstrate how distributional considerations can be used to evaluate policy questions arising from extended fisheries jurisdiction in international and domestic settings. While these points are important, he has not clarified these concepts sufficiently for them to be useful in identifying policy and research issues. The general equilibrium analysis of international fisheries is confusing. It is difficult to understand the interdependent production possibility curves presented in his figure 1. The production possibility frontiers of countries A and B without extended jurisdiction are given by PLA and PLB, respectively. His presentation seems to indicate that complete specialization in fisheries by both countries would produce more fish than it is possible to produce (i.e., the width of the box). If it is intended that movements along a frontier (PLA, for instance) shift B's frontier, this would, in turn, shift A's frontier and, thus, PLA becomes meaningless except for point D; that is, if there is interdependency as he indicates, PLA and PLB cannot simultaneously hold.