Fishery Management Problems Research Articles

Problems of Fisheries Management in Northern Quebec

The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, signed in 1975, was designed to protect native culture and allow the Cree and Inuit to pursue their subsistence fishing and hunting almost free from government regulations. The land has been zoned: native owned, exclusive areas for native hunting and fishing, with the remaining land also available for traditional activities. Conservation is a theme of the agreement. It is the responsibility of committees with Cree, Inuit and government representatives to monitor environmental and social conditions. The Cree believe their ‘Tally-man’ system is sufficiently sensitive to ensure conservation of fish and game populations. Most fish populations are presently unex- ploited with a predominance of large old fish. These are ideal for subsistence fishing and the native peoples would like to maintain this situation. A native harvest study has revealed some unexpectedly high yields. Conflicts are possible between sports fishing and native fisheries. The agreement may serve as a model for settlements with other native groups, but it is still too early to know whether the integrity of the northern environment can be protected by such legislation.

Options and limitations in fisheries management

As a final thought, I want to conclude with the cliche that a “problem recognized is half solved.” Certainly, I cannot be accused of laying out a solution to solving the major fisheries management problems, but it is hoped that the problems managers face are now clearer. The complexity of fisheries assystems to be managed is clear to even the most casual observer. The second point, a broad “theory of fisheries management,” should provide a framework to categorize all of the disjointed activities that we associate with management of our fisheries resources.

The Application of a Simple Economic Technique to Fisheries Management Problems

In the field of fisheries management workers are often confronted with a choice of management methods. For example, should annual requirements for fish for stocking purposes be purchased from external suppliers or should the manager invest in a fish farm and raise his own fish; should chemicals be used to control weed growth or should an investment be made in a mechanized weed cutter? The final decision, after impractical alternatives have been eliminated, is often an economic one and a basic economic technique is described here which allows the manager to make an economically sound decision. The technique involves the application of a discounting method (the particular one described is the Net Present Value method) which has the advantage of taking into consideration the timings of the cash outflows of the alternative projects thus bringing the two projects to a common baseline (their NPV's) for comparison. Two examples are given which show the application of the method to fisheries management. It is emphasized that the selection of an appropriate interest rate is important since the choice indicated by the results is sensitive to changes in interest rate.

A classification of fishery management problems to aid in the analysis and proper formulation of management problems

Abstract One of the most important reasons for regulating fisheries is the misallocation of resources caused by common property. Perhaps one explanation for the disagreement about what constitutes proper fisheries management is the fact that no distinction has been made between the common property problem that is somewhat unique to fisheries,’ and others, such as monopoly, monopsony, manpower training, etc., that are common to most other industries as well. It is here proposed that fisheries management be broken down, at least “conceptually, into common property management and special problem management. In this way the interrelationships between the two can be highlighted and at the same time special problem management can be viewed against the common background of the entire economy.

Technocrats and the management of international fisheries

The paper examines the role of the world's fishery technocrats and experts in international fisheries management. The system of management provided by the regionally based international fisheries commissions is organized on transgovern-mental and transnational lines. Political delegates to the commissions are usually government technocrats, suggesting that the system is basically transgovernmental. However, the role of scientific advisers to the commissions is studied, since the group may preempt political control through its control on expertise. Results of a questionnaire sent to 900 scientists throughout the world are given, using the data from a structured sample of 84 scientists. Most were found to be trained as natural scientists, and most were employed directly by national governments or through government reseaich institutes. “Elite” scientists in the group, and some executive heads of commissions were also analyzed, and found to have a generally cautious approach to problems of fishery ownership and management. In sum, the transgovernmental system itself was found to allow yet set the limits of transnational role playing by fishery experts.

Questions of Strategy in Fishery Management and Development

Fishery management draws on the fields of management in general, development, and fishery management. To make significant advancements in fishery management we need to invest in institutions that are capable of asking the right questions, to develop efficient means of making the proper decisions in respect to these questions, and most importantly, to develop the capability to effect actions which will facilitate these decisions.We need to consider the complexity of the decision environment, and to have techniques for handling this complexity by insisting on analysis rather than intuition and on treating the fishery development problem as a system. The multiple-objectives problem needs to be grasped, and the questions of population dynamics need to be recast to explain departures from the existing simple models. We should consider in more detail the mathematics of programming theory. The most striking concept offered in this paper is that fishery management and development seem to be more preoccupied with tactics than with strategy.The first concept of fishery management involves the complexity of the decision environment, resulting from increasing technological capability, the rising number of international differences, increasing communication among states, and the aspirations of developing countries.The second is that because of these complexities more careful judgements must be made, and the scientific method employed more rigorously, including the use of systems analysis.This requires that we view fisheries as systems, with resource problems separate from biological problems.The fourth concept is that a broader view must be taken of the management process itself, which must be reviewed as a system. Further, management must appreciate biological, social, economic, and political objectives, and their complex interrelations. Many fisheries are said to be overcapitalized, but there have been few if any computations of optimal capital budgets, and little practical advice on strategies that can be followed by entrepreneurs. Economic objectives must be integrated into all the other objectives.Biological questions relate to stock and recruitment, yield per recruit, and relation between catch and effort. The phenomena related to these processes are not sufficiently understood to produce predictions useful for management purposes. Some of the models used up to now are outmoded, mostly because they tell us how much can be caught from a single stock, while many stocks may be under exploitation simultaneously. Further, they do not face the major problem in fishery management — that of dividing the catch among those who wish to participate in the harvest. Divisions currently made do not always make sense from the economic or social point of view, and sometimes do not make biological sense. As an index of "sense" we might consider the benefits that could be accrued from a resource if it were owned by a single individual.The mathematics of modelling for allocation of the catch is easy but the philosophical question of how to evaluate the various elements of the fishing process is not clear. Yet mathematical treatment allows a sharper focus of the problems, and allows us to look at a broader set of decision questions.The sixth concept is that we need to achieve a simplification of our system. The most important simplification is to partition the problems into those that involve strategy, those that involve tactics, and those that involve operations. For development we wish to maximize the efficiency with which we transform resources into utility. There has been a general disappointment in the performance of development in recent years, and it is clear that economic criteria alone are not suitable for guiding development policy. Social welfare must also be integrated into the system.To create a favorable environment for strategic decision-making it is necessary to have institutions that consider this problem in an explicit way; of particular relevance is the applied research institution to develop strategy.

Salmon Management in the United States

The salmon fishery of the United States illustrates the major principles and problems of fishery management: regulation of the fishery, maintenance of the environment, and artificial augmentation of the stocks. It also includes controls both in fresh water and on the high seas. The industry has experienced the age-old conflicts between large- and small-scale fisheries, and administrators have had to wrestle with the problem of allocating the catch among various contenders. This problem has been confused with that of conservation. Prohibition of salmon traps, restrictions on size and mode of operation of purse seines, and prohibition of monofilament gillnets are examples of the kinds of compromises made between allocation and conservation.Dams, pollution, and other modifications of the freshwater environment have endangered salmon stocks. An early response was to raise salmon artificially and release them. For many years this technique was unsuccessful, and when it was evaluated most hatcheries were closed. In recent years the preservation of the genetic identity of the stock and improved diets and schedules of release have resulted in greater success of hatcheries. Spawning channels show promise of additional success. Another practice of value has been development of devices to pass fish over dams, both upstream and down.Control of fishing to provide adequate spawning has concentrated on manipulation of individual population units, an enormously complicated task since the number of these in United States streams is in the order of 10,000. Of these about 100 major ones are under separate control. Regulations depend on forecasts, since fishing takes place before the salmon reach spawning grounds. Forecasts have improved greatly in recent years, although much remains to be done.Among problems on which no great progress has been made are: extent and consequences of genetic change produced by selective fishing; causes of cycles, and alterations in these; effects of changing environment, especially subtle ones of temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pollution; control of recruitment, including release of hardy young. Difficult economic problems include: the tendency for regulations to favor inefficient operators; high costs of research and regulation, borne not by users but by public funds.Administrative achievements include: a high degree of environmental protection; remarkably parallel regulations in the three States principally involved, Alaska, Washington, and Oregon; successful joint regulation of international fisheries in cooperation with Canada and Japan.Problems which will continue to exist and increase in difficulty include protection of the environment of the salmon, rivalries between many diverse interest groups, and improvement in culture operations. The major step of restricting entry into the commercial salmon fishery is being contemplated in several locations.

Application of the Bertalanffy Growth Equation to Problems of Fisheries Management: A Review

The development of large modern fisheries has led to the overexploitation, with resulting less than optimal production, of many of our fish stocks. A need to develop management techniques which would make it possible to hold stocks and exploitation rates more nearly at optimal levels has led to the development and extensive study of mathematical theory relating to fishing. An essential feature of this theory is the yield equation which relates the obtainable yield to such stock parameters as the number of recruits, rate of growth at various stages of life, natural mortality rate, and intensity of fishing. A widely used form of the yield equation is that developed by Beverton and Holt (U.K. Min. Agr. Fish. Food, Fish. Invest. 19: 1–533, 1957). In this equation the growth component is represented by the well-known Bertalanffy growth equation (Bertalanffy, Human Biol. 10: 181–213, 1938):[Formula: see text]It is not possible, however, to represent the growth of all fish satisfactorily by this equation, and where this is not possible, the Beverton and Holt yield equation also does not give satisfactory results. This situation calls for the need to develop a more generalized equation, using a more widely applicable form of the growth curve. As Bertalanffy (Helgolaender Wiss. Meeresuntersuch. 9: 5–37, 1964) has pointed out, the original equation assumes that catabolic processes are proportional to the weight of the animal, whereas anabolic processes are assumed to be proportional to the surface area or to the 2/3 power of the weight, but in practice at least the latter relationship frequently does not hold. The present paper examines the effect of different values of the exponent in the catabolic and anabolic components of the growth equation upon the shape of the growth curve and particularly upon the proportion of final size at which the point of inflection occurs. The modified yield equation embodying the generalized growth equation can be solved by means of tables of the incomplete beta-function by an extension of the method of Jones (Joint Meeting ICNAF/ICES/FAO, Lisbon, Doc. P21, 1957).

Fishery Management Problems as Related to Marine Seismic Surveys During Petroleum Explorations: ABSTRACT

Points to be covered: 1. Fisheries Department responsibility for protection of fishery resources in the state and contiguous waters extending seaward over the O.C.S. area. 2. The relative position of the fishing industry within the economic structure of Washington State and the importance of coastal fish stocks in the local, regional, and world food picture: the relative importance of anadromous, pelagic, and demersal fish stocks locally; and how values are established as the result of fish kills during seismic programs. 3. Fishing methods and areas where conflict is apt to be encountered with seismic exploration. 4. Permit provisions and requirements. 5. The problem of allowing seismic fleets to operate on a reasonable basis and to the fullest extent possible consistent with protection of fishery resources. 6. Public relations and what local reaction can do to your program. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1763------------

An Economic Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Fishery Regulation

Previous articleNext article No AccessAn Economic Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Fishery RegulationJames A. CrutchfieldJames A. Crutchfield Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Law and Economics Volume 4Oct., 1961 Sponsored by The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and The University of Chicago Law School Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/466575 Views: 14Total views on this site Citations: 17Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1963 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Gardner M. Brown, V. Kerry Smith, Gordon R. Munro, Richard Bishop Early Pioneers in Natural Resource Economics, Annual Review of Resource Economics 8, no.11 (Oct 2016): 25–42.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-100815-095243Lee G. Anderson Tribute to James Arthur Crutchfield, Marine Resource Economics 30, no.44 (Sep 2015): 435–437.https://doi.org/10.1086/683056Corbett A. Grainger, Dominic P. Parker The Political Economy of Fishery Reform, Annual Review of Resource Economics 5, no.11 (Jun 2013): 369–386.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-091912-151838Terry Anderson, Ragnar Arnason, Gary D. Libecap Efficiency Advantages of Grandfathering in Rights-Based Fisheries Management, Annual Review of Resource Economics 3, no.11 (Oct 2011): 159–179.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-083110-120056Gary D. Libecap, Ragnar Arnason, Terry L. Anderson Efficiency Advantages of Grandfathering in Rights-Based Fisheries Management, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2010).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1740455M. B. Strydom, W. L. Nieuwoudt AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF RESTRUCTURING THE SOUTH AFRICAN HAKE QUOTA MARKET, Agrekon 37, no.33 (Sep 1998): 281–295.https://doi.org/10.1080/03031853.1998.9523509 R. H. Coase Law and Economics at Chicago, The Journal of Law and Economics 36, no.1, Part 21, Part 2 (Oct 2015): 239–254.https://doi.org/10.1086/467274Ronald N Johnson Commercial wild species rearing: Competing groups and regulation, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 19, no.22 (Sep 1990): 127–142.https://doi.org/10.1016/0095-0696(90)90064-6Eric E. Anderson Factors Affecting Welfare Gains From Fishing Gear Restrictions, Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 17, no.22 (May 2017): 156–166.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0899367X00001793Robert McKelvey ECONOMIC REGULATION OF TARGETING BEHAVIOR IN MULTISPECIES FISHERY, Natural Resource Modeling 1, no.11 (Jun 2017): 171–189.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-7445.1986.tb00009.xBiliana Cicin‐Sain, Robert W. Knecht The problem of governance of U.S. ocean resources and the new exclusive economic zone, Ocean Development & International Law 15, no.3-43-4 (Nov 2009): 289–320.https://doi.org/10.1080/00908328509545780Lee G. Anderson Economics and the Fisheries Management Development Process, (Jan 1983): 211–228.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5467-6_10Stephen Cunningham THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF ECONOMICS IN FISHERIES REGULATION, Journal of Agricultural Economics 34, no.11 (Jan 1983): 69–78.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.1983.tb00976.xHarvey J. Levin Orbit and spectrum resource strategies, Telecommunications Policy 5, no.22 (Jun 1981): 102–110.https://doi.org/10.1016/0308-5961(81)90052-5Melvin L. Cross The behavior of licensed fishing firms: A contrast with sole ownership, Ocean Development & International Law 8, no.33 (Nov 2009): 201–222.https://doi.org/10.1080/00908328009545649B. Cicin-Sain, J.E. Moore, A.J. Wyner Limiting entry to commercial fisheries: Some worldwide comparisons, Ocean Management 4, no.11 (Sep 1978): 21–49.https://doi.org/10.1016/0302-184X(78)90013-6Lee G. Anderson A classification of fishery management problems to aid in the analysis and proper formulation of management problems, Ocean Development & International Law 4, no.22 (Nov 2009): 113–120.https://doi.org/10.1080/00908327709545585

Fishery Management Problems and Possibilities on Large Southeastern Reservoirs

Principal problems concerning the fisheries of large reservoirs in the Southeast are: inefficient and highly selective exploitation of fish stocks, and protection and reclamation of damaged or threatened fisheries in tailwaters and tributary streams. Seven mainstream reservoirs on which data are available support an average angling pressure of 4.9 trips per acre per year and an average catch of 16 pounds of sport fish and 6 pounds of food fish. Commercial take is 7 pounds per acre. The rate of catch of sport fish, based upon tag returns, is only 3 percent. Sixteen storage reservoirs support an average angling pressure of 5.0 trips per acre per year and an average catch of 13 pounds of sport fish and 1 pound of food fish. Commercial catch is of no significance. Average rate of catch of sport fish is 17 percent of the catchable population. Fish population studies indicate that there are twice as many sport fish and four times as many food fish in mainstream than there are in storage reservoirs. Some reservoirs produce harmful effects downstream. Discharges of cold water may seriously reduce fishery values in tailwaters and downstream impoundments. Furthermore, migration of non-sport fish from reservoirs into tributary streams may reduce fishery values there. In recognition of these problems, the development and application of sound management procedures may be accomplished by controlling species composition and availability of fish through water level control, timber clearing, application of selective toxicants, commercial fishing, introduction of new fish species, and the management of tailwaters and tributaries. Extended research and interagency cooperation are necessary to properly develop and apply sound management. Promotion of angling and regulation of the fishery may best be realized by providing adequate fishing facilities, elimination of certain restricted areas, and in some cases revision of laws and regulations. Biologists must not only meet the present demands for improved sport fishing but must also balance fish yield by increasing the use of food fish by sport and commercial operations.

Problems of Reservoir Management

Abstract The reservoir construction program during the last few years in Oklahoma has effected a tremendous increase in fishing opportunities. The answers to many fishery management problems arising out of the reservoir construction have been answered through cooperative endeavor of Federal agencies, state agencies, and schools of higher learning. Artificial reservoirs are so prolific in fish production that overpopulation is the main problem. Much more efficient commercial fish and sport fish harvest programs are needed, however, public resistance is at present the principal impediment to better management.

Fishery Geography of the North Pacific Ocean

Yj QOU seem to think that salmon have the United States flag painted on each side of their backs. Such was the taunting response of a Japanese visitor to this country in the I930'S, the period of Japan's militaristic arrogance, to a protest against the invasion of Alaska's coastal salmon fisheries by Japanese fishing boats. These fisheries had been the subject of intensive scientific research. American fishermen were being compelled to conform to drastic governmental conservation regulation, but Japanese fishing completely disregarded any thought of conservation. In November, I951, the Japanese government invited United States and Canadian delegations to meet with a Japanese delegation in Tokyo to formulate a North Pacific fisheries treaty. The meeting was preceded by a friendly exchange of letters earlier in the year between Mr. John Foster Dulles and Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida. In contrast with the incident first related, the visitors were shown every courtesy, and the basic principle of the treaty draft that resulted from the negotiations was sound conservation. Conservation of ocean fisheries is not merely a case of applied biology. Where fish are to be found may be due to elements of physical geography; who is to catch them may involve questions of rights and boundaries established by man. Problems of ocean fishery management, therefore, almost inevitably require some kind of geographical consideration. And perhaps it is not impertinent to note that the solution of some of these problems is of acute importance, not only in the matter of augmenting food production to meet the hunger cries of increasing populations, but also in the elimination of international irritations.

The Pacific Coast Blackcod, Anoplopoma fimbria

LITERATURE CITED GRAHAM, MICHAEL 1938a Growth of cod in the North Sea and use of the information. Rapp. et Proces-Verb. Conseil Expl. Mer, 108(10): 58-66. 1938b Rates of fishing and natural mortality from the data of marking experiments. Journ. Conseil Expl. Mer, 13: 76-90. HERRINGTON, WILLIAM C. 1944 Some methods of fishery management and their usefulness in a management program. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scientific Report, 18: 3-22, 54-58 (mimeographed). NESBIT, ROBERT A. 1944 Biological and economic problems of fishery management. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scientific Report, 18: 23-53, 59-66 (mimeographed). RICKER, W. E. 1942 The rate of growth of bluegill sunfish in lakes of northern Indiana. Invest. Ind. Lakes and Streams, 2(11): 161-214. 1944 Further notes on fishing mortality and effort. COPEIA, 1944(1): 23-44. 1945 Abundance, exploitation and mortality of the fishes in two lakes. Invest. Ind. Lakes and Streams, 2(17). In press. SILLIMAN, RALPH P. 1943 Studies on the Pacific pilchard or sardine (Sardinops coerulea). 5. A method of computing mortalities and replacements. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scientific Report, 24: 1-10. (Mimeographed.) THOMPSON, W. F., and W. C. HERRINGTON 1930 Life history of the Pacific halibut. (1) Marking experiments. Rept. Intern. Fish. Comm. 2: 1-137.