Evolution of fishing capacity in a Mediterranean fishery in the first two decades of the 21st c.

Francesc Maynou

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105190

Abstract

The viability of Mediterranean marine fisheries is increasingly under threat due to the low biological productivity of overexploited stocks, low economic performance of the fishing units, and offer of unattractive jobs, among other. This has resulted in a decrease of 30% in the number of fishing units active in European Union Mediterranean fisheries over the period 1995–2016. The detailed causes for this decline are investigated here based on an analysis of the entry/exit dynamics of the entire fleet having operated in Catalonia (NW Mediterranean) as a case study. The decision made by owner-operators, in terms of entering, remaining or exiting the fishery, of 1195 fishing units in the period 2000–2018 was analysed. The results show that fishing vessels have a high probability (95%) of remaining in the fishery and very low probability of entering (<1%). The exit rate was estimated at 4.5% annually, resulting in a reduction of 42% of the fleet size over the study period, from 894 active vessels at the beginning of 2000 to 518 at the end of 2018. A statistical analysis of the factors conditioning the entry/exit dynamics by means of a multinomial choice model showed that the age of the vessel, the value of landings, the amount of decommission aid offered by the local fisheries management administration and a proxy variable for fuel costs were significant explanatory variables. The study concludes that the fleet is likely to continue to shrink, without immediate stock or ecosystem conservation benefits, unless bold steps to reformulate fisheries management in the Mediterranean are taken.

Highlights

Classical fisheries bioeconomic models show that, under an open access regime, aggregate fishing effort will tend to overshoot the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) that the fishery can produce and reach a bioeconomic equilibrium (Clark, 1990; Walters and Martell, 2004)
The analysis of the decisions taken by 1195 vessels having operated in Catalonia marine fisheries over the period 2000–2018 showed that overall the units have a high probability of remaining in the fishery
The high probability of remaining in the fishery can be explained because this is the main economic activity and, often only source of income, of these mostly owner operated fishing vessels

Summary

Introduction

Classical fisheries bioeconomic models show that, under an open access regime, aggregate fishing effort will tend to overshoot the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) that the fishery can produce and reach a bioeconomic equilibrium (Clark, 1990; Walters and Martell, 2004). In practice it is difficult to estimate the MSY level and the point of bioeconomic equilibrium, in input-regulated fisheries such as Mediterranean fisheries where heavy overfishing is diagnosed (Col loca et al, 2013), managers have sought to implement effort-reducing policies in order to better align fishing capacity with the resource base, with questionable success (Cardinale et al, 2017). The size and fishing power of Mediterranean fishing fleets grew progressively and reached maximum values at the end of the 1980s or mid 1990s, depending on the area (Franquesa et al, 2008), often encouraged by public administrations and in the absence of rigorous scientific advice, resulting in the expan sion of fisheries exploitation and the depletion of marine living re sources (Coll et al, 2014; Colloca et al, 2013). Excessive fishing pressure is often cited as the main cause for the decline of fishery resources, other impacts such as sea warming, pollution or invasive species are contributing to reduce the resilience of already overfished stocks (Colloca et al, 2017).Mediterra nean fisheries suffer from low economic performance (Colloca et al, 2013; Sabatella et al, 2017; DG MARE, 2017) due to a wide range of

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion