International Fisheries Research Articles

Standard for assessing transparency in information on compliance with obligations of regional fisheries management organizations: Validation through assessment of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

We developed a standard against which to assess transparency in information on basic governance elements that provides the ability to determine compliance with obligations under regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs). The performance of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), one of five global tuna RFMOs, was made against the standard. RFMOs play a critical role in global fisheries governance by providing a formal mechanism for fishing States and States in whose jurisdiction straddling and highly migratory fishery resources occur to cooperate to pursue the implementation of agreed measures to achieve sustainable international fisheries. Transparency in information on elements of RFMO governance enables public evaluation of compliance by Members and Cooperating Non-members and their vessels, creating an incentive for compliance due to a desire to avoid adverse reputational and economic repercussions of non-compliance. The standard is comprised of criteria assessing open access to information on: (i) compliance with monitoring requirements, (ii) research-grade observer program data, (iii) domestic legislation and regulations to implement binding controls, (iv) surveillance, (v) identified infractions, (vi) enforcement actions, and (vii) outcomes of enforcement actions. The standard further assesses transparency in information on compliance with RFMO obligations of: (viii) payment of assessed financial obligations; (ix) observer data reporting; and (x) reporting information on national implementation and compliance. And, the standard assesses transparency in information on: (xi) RFMO employment of powers in response to Member and Cooperating Non-member non-compliance; and (xii) whether all States and entities conducting fishing activities under the RFMO's mandate are Members or Cooperating Non-members. WCPFC had a lack of transparency for 36% of the elements composing the standard, partial transparency for 36%, and full transparency for the remainder. The lack of a WCPFC process to respond to non-compliance by Members and Cooperating Non-members, a prohibition on States from using information on non-compliance with WCPFC obligations unilaterally, in combination with a substantial lack of transparency in information on compliance, including due to lax reporting, collectively are inadequate incentives for compliance. This new tool provides a standardized method to compare RFMO transparency in compliance information and to establish benchmarks against which to track changes in transparency.

Assessment of eco-labelling schemes for Pacific tuna fisheries

Developments in fisheries governance in recent decades—notably the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and its implementing agreements—have established a framework of principles, standards, institutions and regulations that is broader and more complex than traditional fisheries management, which has generally focused on individual target species. As this framework has evolved, a number of seafood eco-labelling schemes have also developed. These schemes aim to identify well-managed fisheries and give competitive advantage to their products, thus translating the environmental awareness of consumers into direct support for sustainable fishing practices. This paper evaluates a number of these schemes in the context of international fisheries governance principles and considers the conservation benefits that may result from sustainability certification of Pacific tuna fisheries. The paper briefly summarises developments in eco-labeling of Pacific tuna fisheries in relation to the evolution of fisheries management, where focus has shifted from the maximum sustainable yield of individual tuna species to ecosystem-based approaches that directly consider the broader environmental impacts of fishing. The paper discusses two different ‘Dolphin Safe’ eco-labels, the third-party scheme of the Earth Island Institute and the intergovernmental scheme of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program, and two broader eco-labels offering sustainability certification of fisheries, ‘Friend of the Sea’ and the ‘Marine Stewardship Council’. The role played by seafood-industry associations with sustainability claims, such as the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, is also considered.

The role of CITES in the conservation of marine fishes subject to international trade

AbstractAll possible tools need to be marshalled for marine fish conservation. Yet controversy has swirled around what role, if any, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) should play for marine fishes. This paper analyses the relevance and applicability of CITES as a complementary tool for fisheries management. CITES currently regulates the international trade of very few marine fish species, by listing them in its Appendices. After the first meeting of the Parties (member countries) in 1976, no new marine fish taxa were added to the CITES Appendices until 2002, when Parties agreed to act to ensure sustainable and legal international trade in seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) and two species of sharks. Progress has continued haltingly, adding only one more shark, humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) and sawfishes by 2012. Parties voice concerns that may include inadequate data, applicability of CITES listing criteria, roles of national fisheries agencies, enforcement challenges, CITES' lack of experience with marine fishes, and/or identification and by‐catch problems. A common query is the relationship between CITES and other international agreements. Yet all these arguments can be countered, revealing CITES to be a relevant and appropriate instrument for promoting sound marine fisheries management. In reality, Parties that cannot implement CITES effectively for marine fishes will also need help to manage their fisheries sustainably. CITES action complements and supports other international fisheries management measures. As CITES engages with more marine fish listings, there will be greater scope to analyse its effectiveness in supporting different taxa in different contexts.

JESS international fisheries: conclusion

The six papers presented here all point out the grave difficulties associated with the management of international fisheries. Each also provides some perspective on the potential for change in the system. Webster recommends that proponents of ecosystem-based management need to propose specific measures that may appeal to powerful fishing countries rather than broad goals that are difficult to implement. Kalfagianni and Pattberg propose that the Marine Stewardship Council could substantially improve its impact on global fisheries management by paying attention to structural effects, particularly trade barriers that may exacerbate the North–South divide. Sakaguchi similarly sees NGO involvement in fisheries regulation as a double-edged sword and warns about the potential for alienation of societies that resist the forceful imposition of new norms. In contrast, both Schiffman and Tiller show how domestic interests can shape new and future regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) into more effective regimes. Finally, Barkin and DeSombre propose that a new, global RFMO could reduce fishing capacity around the world, thereby bursting the balloon problem.

International fisheries: assessing the potential for ecosystem management

Single-stock management dominates the international regulation of marine fisheries. Indeed, the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) rubric is used in 10 of 16 marine regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs). Early on, MSY was the best, and often only, scientific benchmark available. Now, scientists know much more about ecosystem interactions and have the tools to implement multi-species management, but RFMOs continue to manage stocks and species separately. This article explores the reasons for this continuity and the potential for change in the system. In it, I propose that a focus on allocation rather than conservation generates preferences for MSY over the lower, more precautionary, catch limits that would result from an ecosystem approach. I test this hypothesis using RFMO data. I then move on to discuss the results and propose that strategic considerations should be taken into account when advocating for ecosystem-based management.

EFFICIENCY OF RESOURCE USE AMONG POND FISH FARMERS IN CENTRAL UGANDA: A STOCHASTIC FRONTIER PRODUCTION FUNCTION APPROACH

This article presents the use of a stochastic frontier production function to examine the efficiency of resource utilization in pond fish farming in Uganda. The study draws on data from a field survey administered to 200 small-scale fish farmers in three major fish farming districts in Central Uganda: Mukono, Mpigi and Wakiso. The districts were part of a large aquaculture development project funded by the United States Agency for International Development-Aquaculture and Fisheries Collaborative Research Support Program. Productive efficiency was analyzed using stochastic frontier analysis with a translog production function while assuming a truncated-normal distribution for the inefficiency term. The output variable was total quantity of fish produced, while input variables were quantity or value of inputs used in the production process, namely labor, pond size, stocking density, capital and feeds. The estimated index of resource-use efficiency revealed that small-scale farmers were inefficient in resource allocation by over-utilizing labor with an estimated allocative efficiency index of −0.94 and grossly under-utilized pond size, feeds and fingerlings with allocative efficient indices of 1.15, 1.64, 3.71, respectively. The results suggest that there is considerable scope to expand output and also productivity by increasing production efficiency at the relatively inefficient farms and sustaining the efficiency of those operating at or closer to the frontier.

Do we need a global fisheries management organization?

Global fisheries are increasingly overfished. The existing international regulatory structure, a set of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), has failed to prevent overfishing. Regulatory problems exist because of the common pool resource character of fisheries and the fishing overcapacity that results from short-term planning and the political power of domestic fishing constituencies. But the regulatory problem comes from the region and species focus of RFMOs (micro-regulation), which creates what we refer to as a “balloon problem.” Even when RFMO regulations restrict access to a particular species or region, fishers move to another region to fish or target different species to maintain their fishing effort. We argue that in order to address these issues successfully and create more effective international fisheries governance, we need to begin a focus on macro-regulation, the creation of rules that address the amount of total fishing industry capacity in the overall system.

Why International Catch Shares Won't Save Ocean Biodiversity

Skepticism about the efficacy and efficiency of regulatory approaches has produced a wave of enthusiasm for market-based strategies for dealing with environmental conflicts. In the fisheries context, the most prominent of these strategies is the use of “catch shares,” which assign specific proportions of the total allowable catch to individuals who are then free to trade them with others. Catch shares are now in wide use domestically within many nations, and there are increasing calls for implementation of internationally tradable catch shares. Based on a review of theory, empirical evidence, and two contexts in which catch shares have been proposed, this Article explains why international catch shares are not likely to arrest the decline of ocean biodiversity. Catch shares were developed to promote greater economic efficiency and profitability in the fishing industry. They have proven capable of doing so at the domestic level, although their effects on wealth distribution have frequently been controversial. Theoretical and empirical support for the proposition that catch shares promote conservation, especially of non-target resources, is thinner. Furthermore, in the international context catch shares face special challenges. Catch shares cannot resolve the value differences that underlie the most intractable disagreements about international fisheries management. They are less likely to reduce conflicts over total allowable catch in the international than in the domestic context, because distrust of managers and competitors runs deeper. Finally, catch share strategies require effective enforcement, which is both institutionally and practically difficult to provide for many international fisheries. In general, catch shares are not a promising route to improving international fisheries management, and pursuing them could distract the international community from more important steps toward improving conservation of global ocean resources.

Book Reviews: Darren S. Calley, Market Denial and International Fisheries Regulation: The Targeted and Effective Use of Trade Measures Against the Flag of Convenience Fishing Industry (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2011), 286 pp.

Book Reviews: Darren S. Calley, Market Denial and International Fisheries Regulation: The Targeted and Effective Use of Trade Measures Against the Flag of Convenience Fishing Industry (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2011), 286 pp.

Western and Central Pacific Ocean fisheries and the opportunities for transnational organised crime: Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Operation Kurukuru

The article highlights the complex nature of organised crime in fisheries and elaborates on the various measures that enforcement authorities may use collaboratively to address specific concerns, such as transhipment activities at sea and irregular vessel tracking patterns. This article reports on international fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance under ‘Operation Kurukuru’ in the vast area of the Pacific Ocean in 2012.

How to make progress in disciplining overfishing subsidies

Abstract Sumaila, U. R. 2013. How to make progress in disciplining overfishing subsidies. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 251–258. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been working for more than seven years now to discipline overfishing subsidies, as mandated by the global community, without success. I argue that this failure is partly because WTO negotiators aim for an all-inclusive deal, i.e. negotiations are conducted as a “single undertaking”, whereby results must be achieved in all areas. Negotiators are required to broker an all-inclusive deal for all maritime WTO member countries and for all fisheries, whether domestic or international; small or large scale; developing or developed country fisheries. It is argued here that this commitment to a “single undertaking” does not align the incentive to remove subsidies with national interests, and therefore needs to be changed by splitting the world's fisheries into domestic and international fisheries. In this way, the battle for eliminating overfishing subsidies for some stocks would shift to home countries, and for others this would still rest with the international community. This split, it is argued, would align the incentives and improve the chances of eliminating overfishing subsidies.

Migration and Fisheries of North East Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) in Autumn and Winter

It has been suggested that observed spatial variation in mackerel fisheries, extending over several hundreds of kilometers, is reflective of climate-driven changes in mackerel migration patterns. Previous studies have been unable to clearly demonstrate this link. In this paper we demonstrate correlation between temperature and mackerel migration/distribution as proxied by mackerel catch data from both scientific bottom trawl surveys and commercial fisheries. We show that mackerel aggregate and migrate distances of up to 500 km along the continental shelf edge from mid-November to early March. The path of this migration coincides with the location of the relatively warm shelf edge current and, as a consequence of this affinity, mackerel are guided towards the main spawning area in the south. Using a simulated time series of temperature of the shelf edge current we show that variations in the timing of the migration are significantly correlated to temperature fluctuations within the current. The proposed proxies for mackerel distribution were found to be significantly correlated. However, the correlations were weak and only significant during periods without substantial legislative or technical developments. Substantial caution should therefore be exercised when using such data as proxies for mackerel distribution. Our results include a new temperature record for the shelf edge current obtained by embedding the available hydrographic observations within a statistical model needed to understand the migration through large parts of the life of adult mackerel and for the management of this major international fishery.

News from the International Fisheries Section

News from the International Fisheries Section

Allocation and sharing in international fisheries agreements

Abstract This paper provides an introduction to the allocation and sharing of benefits in international fisheries agreements. The reader is introduced to the concept of sharing the benefits from cooperative fisheries agreements and to several different sharing imputations. The paper summarises the lessons learned from the literature. In the literature review, several policy-relevant issues emerging from game theory and fisheries literature on the topic are identified.

Overfishing: what everyone needs to know

Overfishing: what everyone needs to know

China's distant water fishing industry: Evolving policies and implications

This article examines China's distant water fishing industry, with a focus on China's bilateral fisheries access agreements in Africa. The article argues that China largely conforms to international norms and rules on sustainable fisheries, but that challenges remain in efforts to work with China on the sustainable management of fish stocks. Developed countries contribute to China's policies and behavior in international fisheries in both positive and negative ways.

Management Implications of the Biodiversity and Socio-Economic Impacts of Shrimp Trawler By-Catch in Bahía de Kino, Sonora, México

The shrimp fishery is the most economically important fishery in Mexico. The trawler-based portion of this fishery results in high rates of by-catch. This study quantifies and describes the biodiversity of by-catch associated with trawling in the Bahía de Kino region of Sonora, Mexico. Data were collected from 55 trawls, on six boats, over 14 nights, during November of 2003, 2004, 2006–2009. By-catch rates within trawl samples averaged 85.9% measured by weight. A total of 183 by-catch species were identified during the course of this study, including 97 species of bony fish from 43 families, 19 species of elasmobranchs from 12 families, 66 species of invertebrates from eight phyla, and one species of marine turtle; seven of the documented by-catch species are listed on the IUCN Red List, CITES, or the Mexican NOM-059-ECOL-2010; 35 species documented in the by-catch are also targeted by local artisanal fishers. Some of the species frequently captured as juveniles in the by-catch are economically important to small-scale fishers in the region, and are particularly sensitive to overexploitation due to their life histories. This study highlights the need for further research quantifying the impacts of high levels of by-catch upon small-scale fishing economies in the region and presents strong ecological and economic rationale for by-catch management within the shrimp fishery of the Gulf of California. Site-specific by-catch management plans should be piloted in the Bahía de Kino region to address the growing momentum in national and international fisheries policy regimes toward the reduction of by-catch in shrimp fisheries.

Exploring concepts of fisheries ‘dependency’ and ‘community’ in Scotland

Abstract There is a growing argument that the biological priorities of Europe's Common Fisheries Policy – to halt the depletion of commercial fish stocks – are not a straightforward solution to the problems currently facing international fisheries management and that social objectives need to be incorporated into policy. However, existing notions of fisheries ‘dependency’ and ‘community’ remain poorly understood and leave decision-makers struggling to address social and cultural issues. By investigating further concepts of ‘dependency’, ‘community’ and some of the social issues facing Fisheries Dependent Areas in Scotland, this research explores the complex shape of coastal fishing communities and the conditions of dependency on fishing that coastal areas face. In this paper preliminary findings from an in-depth case study of Fraserburgh in the north east of Scotland are presented to explore the potential meaning and justification of social objectives in fisheries policy.

Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Trade Complementarity between India-ASEAN Trade: A Study with Reference to Fisheries Sector

India and ASEAN signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in trade in goods which came to effect from 1st January 2010. There were apprehensions on the likely impact of this RTA on some sensitive sectors of India such as agriculture, fisheries and plantation crop as large number of people depend on these sectors for their livelihood. India is a large consumer of marine products and export also export part of the catch to international markets (1.7 percent in total world export in 2007). Some of the ASEAN partners of India namely Thailand (5.82%), Vietnam (3.86) and Indonesia (2.14%) have larger presence in international fisheries trade and there is a possibility that they can export these products in to India in the post FTA period. In this context the paper looked in to the various provisions of India ASEAN FTA on fisheries sector and calculated trade complementarity and similarity using different trade indices. The paper found that India has taken adequate precaution to protect its marine sector from large scale dumping. The apprehension that India-ASEAN FTA will lead to substantial import of marine products in to India is unfounded.

International Agreements and the Salience of Domestic Politics: Locus, Focus and Gradus. The Case of Fisheries Policy Reforms in China and Senegal

International environmental agreements aim at orienting national policies towards the promotion of more sustainable behaviors by national actors. However, international agreements can affect national policies only if states are willing and capable of incorporating international obligations into their national legislations (enactment) and ensuring their application (or execution) and enforcement. The article analyzes the domestic implementation of international fisheries agreements along their enactment, execution, and enforcement in China and Senegal. The comparison reveals the political complexity that accompanies national fisheries policy reforms promoted by international agreements in developing countries.