Fishery Participants Research Articles

How constrained? Entry into the French Atlantic fishery through second-hand vessel purchase

Over the past decades fisheries policies have been mainly aimed at encouraging capacity reduction in over-exploited fisheries. Correspondingly, research has focused on developing incentives to exit fisheries rather than investigating entry behaviour. However, with ageing and also fewer fishery participants, concern regarding sectoral renewal is increasing. The second-hand market is an important entry point for first-time owners because it potentially reduces capital constraints by supplying cheaper vessels than newly built ones. The aim of this study is to test whether new fishers entering the industry face greater capital constraints than fishers already in the industry, taking the second-hand market as our population of interest. We model new entry into the fishing sector using 18 years of French Atlantic fleet data with a logit model. We incorporate trade network variables and family connections indicative of the relationship and connections between market traders potentially reducing capital constraints. As expected, we find that first entry is more likely by younger owners for older and cheaper vessels. This suggests that first-time owners are more capital constrained than fishers already trading on the second-hand market. Capital constraints are reduced by geographical proximity and increased integration into a trading network.

Enforcement and compliance trends under IFQ management in the Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery

United States fisheries are increasingly relying on catch share programs for fisheries management, but the relationship of these programs with compliance and enforcement behavior is not well understood. This study uses historical enforcement records and surveys of fishery participants to investigate how imposition of catch share management in the Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery has altered patterns of fisheries violations and fisher perceptions of changes in compliance. This fishery has been partially managed under individual fishing quotas (IFQs) since 2007, allowing for comparison of compliance and enforcement prior to and after introduction of catch share management. The shift to catch shares in this fishery has yielded minor but expected changes in enforcement activity. The overall number of cases declined, and the mix of cases shifted: enforcement incidents related to reporting and recordkeeping became more common and catch limit and permit cases declined. These changes are consistent with expectations about the effects of catch shares. However, confidence in these results is limited by the low number of applicable cases, the effects of enforcement effort on case frequency, and the effects of other management system changes during the study—most notably, new vessel monitoring system (VMS) and observer program requirements. Limitations in the enforcement data and survey data both suggest that noncompliance in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery is higher than suggested by the low number of relevant records in the federal enforcement database, but that compliance has improved in the sector under catch share management. The study concludes that increased enforcement resources may be justified to ensure continued compliance benefits and to ensure the accuracy of landings records.

Bycatch risk pools for the US West Coast Groundfish Fishery

Individual transferable quotas (ITQs) in multispecies fisheries create incentives for fishermen to avoid bycatch of species for which quota is scarce. However, when bycatch is highly uncertain, individual quota demand and prices may be volatile creating substantial financial risk for fishermen. The US Pacific Groundfish fishery recently introduced an ITQ system with low quotas for several overfished species with highly uncertain bycatch rates. Some fishery participants formed risk pools where bycatch quota is pooled and available to all pool members. Risk pools can reduce financial risk and transactions costs for individuals, but they also create moral hazard and adverse selection problems. We present an empirical analysis of bycatch risk that informs several issues of risk pool design including which bycatch species to include, pools size, and how to evaluate and mitigate adverse selection and moral hazard problems.

Trolling May Intensify Exploitation in Crappie Fisheries

In some parts of the USA, anglers targeting crappies Pomoxis spp. are transitioning from mostly stationary angling with a single pole around submerged structures to using multiple poles while drifting with the wind or under power. This shift in fishing methods could result in a change in catch efficiency, possibly increasing exploitation rates to levels that would be of concern to managers. We studied the catch statistics of anglers fishing while trolling with multiple poles (trollers) and those fishing with single poles (polers) in Mississippi reservoirs. Specifically, we tested whether (1) various catch statistics differed between trollers and polers, (2) catch rates of trollers were related to the number of poles fished, and (3) trollers could raise exploitation rates to potentially unsustainable levels. Results showed that participation in the crappie fisheries was about equally split between polers and trollers. In spring, 90% of crappie anglers were polers; in summer, 85% of crappie anglers were trollers. The size of harvested crappies was similar for the two angler groups, but the catch per hour was almost three times higher for trollers than for polers. Catch rates by trollers were directly correlated to the number of poles fished, although the relationship flattened as the number of poles increased. The average harvest rate for one troller fishing with three poles was similar to the harvest rate obtained by one poler. Simulations predicted that at the existing mix of about 50% polers and 50% trollers and with no restrictions on the number of poles used by trollers, exploitation of crappies is about 1.3 times higher than that in a polers-only fishery; under a scenario in which 100% of crappie anglers were trollers, exploitation was forecasted to increase to about 1.7 times the polers-only rate. The efficiency of trolling for crappies should be of concern to fishery managers because crappie fisheries are mostly consumptive and may increase exploitation rates to unsustainable levels. Received August 24, 2011; accepted January 11, 2012

Balancing indigenous and non-indigenous commercial objectives in a coral reef finfish fishery

Abstract Williams, A. J., Little, L. R., and Begg, G. A. 2011. Balancing indigenous and non-indigenous commercial objectives in a coral reef finfish fishery. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 834–847. Indigenous participation in commercial fisheries is poorly established in Australia, except in Torres Strait where indigenous and non-indigenous commercial fishers participate in the Torres Strait Finfish Fishery (TSFF). TSFF stakeholders helped identify specific objectives and alternative management strategies for the fishery at a time when new management strategies were under consideration. A metapopulation and fishing simulation model was used to evaluate alternative management strategies related to harvest and conservation of coral trout (Plectropomus spp.), the main target species. Stakeholders identified objectives relating to conservation of unfished populations, maintenance of harvestable stock, and economic performance. In terms of management options, spatial closures decreased the prospects of meeting nearly all stakeholder objectives. A seasonal closure and larger minimum capture size increased the probability of meeting conservation and harvest objectives, but decreased the probability of meeting most economic objectives for both sectors. Increasing fishing effort increased harvest but decreased the catch rates for both sectors, so had varied effects on the probability of achieving harvest objectives. The research provides a case study of productive engagement with indigenous and non-indigenous stakeholders to address fisheries management needs and provides a framework for impartial evaluation of performance of alternative management strategies against stakeholder objectives.

FishSmart: An Innovative Role for Science in Stakeholder‐Centered Approaches to Fisheries Management

Until recently, marine fisheries managers have predominately interacted with a single user group—commercial fisheries. However, changes in participation in fisheries and progress toward ecosystem‐based approaches have introduced new stakeholders into the management process. Yet, there are few examples of successful approaches of how to engage the spectrum of stakeholders interested in management policy and decisions. Here we describe one such approach that was used in the fisheries for king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) along the U.S. southeast coast. The approach combined consensus building in facilitated workshops and decision analysis in which stakeholders could compare the consequences of alternative management options on trends in the king mackerel population and the fisheries it supports. The process resulted in a workgroup of stakeholders that developed a clear vision for its desired future of king mackerel fisheries and several alternative management options. Decision analysis was used to select the best options that were then recommended to the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC). These options were more conservative than the council's own recommendations. Additional benefits of the process included stakeholder education, both in stock assessment methodology and in an understanding other stakeholder positions, and the development of closer cooperation among stakeholders and managers.

Fishing rights and small communities: Alaska halibut IFQ transfer patterns

In the Alaska halibut individual fishing quota (IFQ) fishery, small remote fishing communities (SRFCs) have disproportionately lost fishing rights. Our analysis of quota market participation from 1995 to 1999 confirms that SRFC residents are more likely to sell than buy quota. Alaska Native heritage is another important predictor of quota market behavior. Residents of Alaska Native villages have an increased likelihood of selling quota. Loss of fisheries participation in small indigenous communities can be an unintended consequence of quota systems. Mitigation measures should take into account the social factors that can lead to such a redistribution of fishing rights in privatized access fisheries.

Cumulative effects, creeping enclosure, and the marine commons of New Jersey

In response to declining fish stocks and increased societal concern, the marine ‘commons’ of New Jersey is no longer freely available to commercial and recreational fisheries. We discuss the concept of ‘creeping’ enclosure in relation to New Jersey’s marine fisheries and suggest that reduced access can be a cumulative process and function of multiple events and processes and need not be the result of a single regulatory moment. We begin with a short review of the ‘expected’ effects of enclosure, including loss of flexibility, erosion of community, proletarianization of fishermen, and corporatization of the fishery. We then present some findings of our research and discuss how the signs of enclosure are visible in fisheries that do not feature explicitly privatized property or access rights. We rely on an oral history approach and the rich detail that emerges from attention to the lived experiences of fish harvesters to provide a framework for understanding the range of cumulative effects that have resulted from this process of creeping enclosure. We conclude with a discussion of how the gradual process of enclosure has affected the flows of information between the bio-physical environment and fish harvesters, managers and scientists by reducing both participation in fisheries and the accumulation of knowledge itself.

Hierarchical analysis of a remote, Arctic, artisanal longline fishery

Abstract Dennard, S. T., MacNeil, M. A., Treble, M. A., Campana, S., and Fisk, A. T. 2010. Hierarchical analysis of a remote, Arctic, artisanal longline fishery. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 41–51. This is the first paper to explore trends in catch per unit effort (cpue) through time of a Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides stock targeted by an artisanal, winter fishery in Cumberland Sound on southern Baffin Island, Canada. We modelled cpue data from 1987 to 2003, looking at two questions: what factors have driven cpue trends, and is cpue an accurate index of a stock's abundance? In the context of limited data availability, we used generalized linear models (GLMs) and hierarchical models to assess important predictors of cpue. Hierarchical models with multiple fixed environmental effects contained fishing location or individual fisher as random effects. A month effect showed greatest catch rates during February and March; the monthly North Atlantic Oscillation index was positively associated with catch rates; and a change from decreasing to increasing cpue after 1996 was linked to reduced fishery participation following a large storm. The best Akaike's information criterion-ranked GLM identified a negative relationship of cpue with shark bycatch. Although data limitations precluded conventional stock assessment, our models implicated the environment and fisher behaviour as drivers of cpue trends. Additionally, using multiple hierarchical models to predict cpue provided a more informative analysis for understanding trends in cpue than a GLM alone.

Fishing Revenue, Productivity and Product Choice in the Alaskan Pollock Fishery

A key element in evaluating fishery management strategies is examining their effects on the economic performance of fishery participants, yet nearly all empirical studies of fisheries focus exclusively on the amount of fish harvested. The economic benefits derived from fish stocks involve the amount of revenue generated from fish processing, which is linked to both the way fish are harvested and the products produced from the fish. In this study we econometrically estimate a flexible revenue function for catcher-processor vessels operating in the Alaskan pollock fishery, recognizing potential endogeneity and a variety of fishing inputs and conditions. We find significant own-price supply responses and product substitutability, and enhanced revenues from increased fishing days and tow duration after a regulatory change introduced property rights through a new fishing cooperative. We also find significant growth in economic productivity, or higher revenues over time after controlling for observed productive factors and price changes, which exceeds that attributable to increased harvest. These patterns suggest that the move to rights-based management has contributed significantly to economic performance in the pollock fishery.

Examining changes in participation in recreational fisheries in England and Wales

Abstract Inland fisheries in England and Wales have high economic and social values. Managing participation to maximise fishery performance is key to maintaining this status. The capital value of fishing rights for migratory salmonid fisheries is €165 million. Coarse fisheries contribute €1030 million to the economy. The central tenet to increasing participation in recreational salmonid fisheries is that an increase in stock size will result in more anglers accessing the fishery. This was examined for salmon on the rivers Usk and Lune where exploitation restrictions increased the number of salmon available to anglers. On the River Lune, the number of salmon available post-intervention increased by 66%. There was no significant increase in catch while the number of anglers decreased by 16.3%. On the River Usk, the closure of the net fishery potentially resulted in an additional ∼1200 salmon being available. Following closure, there was no significant change in rod catch or in the number of anglers. Increased participation is dependent less upon stock manipulation for coarse fisheries and more upon facilitating the activity. In recent years, urban fishery development programmes have provided improved access to local fishing opportunity. Also, new anglers have been targeted through campaigns such as Get Hooked on Fishing and the Scout Angler Badge.

Measuring management success: Experience with United States fisheries

Abstract Many articles have been published in recent years criticizing the management of living marine resources based solely on biological stock conservation criteria. In the United States and in many parts of the rest of the world, multiple management objectives and goals in addition to stock conservation must be met by fishery managers responsible for the marine resources under their control. An alternative management metric, conservation efficiency, is recommended based instead on a multi-disciplinary scientific framework that captures these different goals and the behavior of participants in the fishery. On the basis of the constraints facing managers, resources can be conserved and the quality of life of consumptive and nonconsumptive fishery participants improved.

Stakeholder participation in ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management: A synthesis from European research projects

Abstract In this synthesis article, we claim that institutional innovation is required for ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management (EBAFM), and that such innovation can best be achieved by engaging in a delicate process of societal decision making. Current instances of participation in fisheries shed light on the societal processes required for such institutional innovation. We apply the IBEFish analytical frame to examine findings from recent European research on participation in fisheries management at different jurisdictional levels. We distil several issues of major concern for institutional innovation towards EBAFM. These concern information management, legitimacy, social dynamics and costs, as well as aspects of cross-scale and cross-sector integration of fisheries governance.

Life on the Water: A Historical‐Cultural Model of African American Fishermen on the Georgia Coast (USA)

A challenge in fisheries research is development of a rigorous and reliable method for representing local fishing knowledge. One solution is to elicit knowledge initially in semistructured interviews and then to model information held in common among groups of fishermen. Content analysis of interviews using keywords, the terms by which fishermen talk about and organize their knowledge topically and thematically, allows for the identification of discourse content and for its hierarchical organization in the form of cultural models. Cultural model analysis shows how fishermen construct and organize the central components of their lives as fishers. Results of a case study are reported here, based on interviews conducted in 1999 with elderly African American fisherman on the coast of Georgia, focusing on the history of their participation in coastal fisheries. Keyword analysis showed that the basic cultural model of the African Americans was of life on the water, which contains a number of submodels that elaborate the content and meaning of life on the water. The cultural model shows that the way of life based on making a living from fishing has become increasingly difficult and may be nearing an end. The loss of means of livelihood raises ethical considerations about access to natural resources.

Escape ring selectivity, bycatch, and discard survivability in the New England fishery for deep-water red crab, Chaceon quinquedens

Abstract Tallack, S. M. L. 2007. Escape ring selectivity, bycatch, and discard survivability in the New England fishery for deep-water red crab, Chaceon quinquedens. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1579–1586. The trap fishery for red crab, Chaceon quinquedens, occurs at depths of 600–800 m along the continental slope of New England. The target product is a male crab with a carapace width of ∼105 mm or greater. Selectivity was tested at two discrete depths (600 and 800 m), for four different escape ring scenarios: control trap with no escape rings, and escape rings with internal diameters of 9, 10, and 11 cm. Proportions of non-marketable C. quinquedens were large (71–100%) at both depths for all traps, but were smallest in traps with escape rings. Discard mortality was estimated at ∼5% through caging experiments across three haul frequency conditions (every 24 h, every 4 d, and after 8 d), which represented the likely reality of multiple recaptures during a commercial trip. The impact of discarding techniques (low and high impact) was also assessed. If discard proportion estimates of >71% are realistic, and if an estimated ∼5% of these discards die, the recommendation must be made for fishery participants to improve gear selectivity, and thereby to minimize discard mortality rates. On the management side, stock assessments will be more accurate if estimates of discard mortality are incorporated.

Toward Mitigating Problems at the Fisheries-Oil Development Interface: The Case of the Salmon Drift Gillnet Fishery in Cook Inlet, Alaska

Participants in the drift gillnet fishery in Cook Inlet, Alaska deploy long nets from small boats in treacherous rip zones where salmon tend to congregate. Cook Inlet is also rich in petroleum resources, and oil and natural gas firms active in the region may eventually be permitted to emplace drilling platforms in the fishing grounds to extract such resources. But fishermen express concerns about potential net “wrapping,” disruptions to established patterns of navigation, oil spills, and protracted spill litigation. But fishing and oil and gas production have developed in tandem here, with many actors involved in or appreciative of both forms of enterprise. A model of clearly dichotomized or antagonistic relations between local fishing and global-corporate oil interests is confounded in this region. Moreover, fishery participants deal with a range of more immediately cogent challenges. Thus, while the potential for spatial conflict certainly exists, the social and economic context as described herein may ...

The Impact of the U.N. Fish Stocks Agreement on Taiwan's Participation in International Fisheries Fora

This article discusses Taiwan's participation in various international fisheries fora before and after the adoption of the U.N. Fish Stocks Agreement, emphasizing the pragmatic approach taken by Taiwan in gaining recognition in a number of tuna management organizations as a Commission Member.

Fishermen's Interests and Cooperation: Preconditions for Joint Management of Swedish Coastal Fisheries

The participation of fishermen in fisheries management is discussed with varying ideas under the notions of "co-management", "participatory management" or "local management". Empirical studies within Swedish fishery have thrown new light on the preconditions for fishermen's participation in fisheries management. Among the important factors influencing failure or success are the two which we discuss here: the question of articulation, organization and representation of interests of fishermen and the question of trust between the groups that are usually cooperating in resource management, fishermen, governmental administrators and researchers. The research summarized has addressed the interests of fishermen with regard to resource management, local fisheries management, and participation of fishermen. The overarching question connecting the three themes is: How can the interests of fishermen be represented better within fisheries management? Interests and trust, "soft facts", can be as important for the success or failure of fisheries management and participation as can "hard facts" such as ownership rights, quantity and quality of resources or monetary value of resources.

Socioeconomics of Individual Transferable Quotas and Community-Based Fishery Management

In many fisheries around the world, the failures of centralized, top-down management have produced a shift toward co-management—collaboration and sharing of decision making between government and stakeholders. This trend has led to a major debate between two very different co-management approaches—community-based fishery management and market-based individual transferable quota management. This paper examines the debate over the relative merits of these models and undertakes a socioeconomic analysis of the two approaches. The paper includes (1) an analysis of differences in the structure, philosophical nature, and underlying value systems of each, including a discussion of their treatment of property rights; (2) a socioeconomic evaluation of the impacts of each system on boat owners, fishers, crew members, other fishery participants, and coastal communities, as well as the distribution of benefits and costs among fishery participants; and (3) examination of indirect economic effects that can occur through impacts on conservation and fishery sustainability. The latter relate to (a) the conservation ethic, (b) the flexibility of management, (c) the avoidance of waste, and (d) the efficiency of enforcement. The paper emphasizes the need for a broader approach to analyzing fishery management options, one that recognizes and properly assesses the diversity of choices, and that takes into account the interaction of the fishery with broader community and regional realities.

Sociocultural Effects of a Market-Based Fishery Management Program in the Florida Keys

Spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) represents one of the most lucrative fisheries in the State of Florida, and a majority of the catch is landed in the Florida Keys. Over the past three decades, the industry grew significantly, and by the end of the 1980s, state fishery managers agreed that the fishery was overextended. In 1991, the Florida Legislature passed the Spiny Lobster Trap Certificate Program (LTC), created to stabilize the industry by reducing the total number of traps while allowing fishers to transfer trap certificates in a market-based system akin to individual transferable quotas. Data from a survey study suggest that a majority of the respondents are dissatisfied with the LTC, which they view as transitory and unsustainable. The fishers' negative views are motivated by sociocultural changes in the fishing community. Managers need to consider modifications to the LTC and other such marketbased programs to minimize sociocultural impacts and retain small-scale fisher participation in such fisheries.