Research

Fisheries Management

As with similar environmental problems, there are multiple ways to manage a fishery. The objective of management in general is to conserve the resource while maximizing efficiency. To achieve efficiency, management policies should minimize the costs to the industry and the fishermen themselves. In the U.S., the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is regarded as the authority for fisheries management within the nation's borders.

From a theoretical perspective, management based purely on economics is the most efficient method. A government can impose a tax, requiring fishermen to bear the costs of not fishing sustainably. An alternative approach with the same outcome is subsidizing sustainable fishing.

Another form of fisheries management is regulatory system, which, if imposed, would require all members of the fishing industry to adhere to a set of law. Economic sanctions would be issued in the case of noncompliance.

A regulatory system can have a set of input controls, which would dictate what technology can be used, where and when fishermen can fish, and how much they are allowed to take out. This would include establishing closed areas and quotas. Setting up a system purely regulated by input controls would be ineffective, because companies merely have to comply with the laws, and there is little incentive for them to actually work towards a sustainable fishery.
Another method of regulation would be uniform performance standards, or setting output controls. This method sets a target - for example, a fishery must be maintained at the level of the Maximum Sustainable Yield - for a fishery, and it is up to the fishery to decide how to reach that target.

References

Perruso, L. & Larkin, S. "A Dual Production Analysis of a Multispecies Fishery: The Case of the U.S. Atlantic Longline Fleet." http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st5/documents/A_dual_production_analysis_of_a_multispecies_fishery.pdf

Jenkins, G. & Lamech, R. (1994). Green Taxes and Incentive Policies. San Francisco, CA: ICS Press.

Fishing Quotas

Total Allowable Catch
The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is the number of fish that is deemed appropriate to remove from a fishery in a given time frame. In assigning a Total Allowable Catch, the fishery can manage precisely how many fish are caught. Establishing a TAC, which is essentially a quota on the fishery as a whole, is not a management tool that can be used alone; in 1996, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development declared that 16 of the 22 fisheries managed by TAC had failed. Studies have shown that upon realizing that there was only a limited number of fish available to catch, fishermen became competitive and raced to claim as large of a portion of the TAC as possible.

A general problem with setting a TAC is it's inflexibility. If the TAC is set too high, as is the case in many countries, the fishery temporarily undergoes a stock decline. This is largely due to insufficient information about the resources available in the fishery. It is essential that the TAC be set by an authority that involves both the government, which provides the legislative power, and the industry, which has the appropriate knowledge about the fisheries.

The implementation of a TAC poses another issue. Using TAC works well in single-species fisheries with simple fishing technology, but given the complexity of many fisheries, particularly ones in Europe, that call for the management of multiple species and thus multiple TACs, it is difficult to monitor illegal landings and bycatch.

Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQ)
Many countries use a system in which the TAC is divided into Individual Transfer Quotas for each fishing vessel operator. ITQs assign property rights to fishing companies so that fishermen have ownership to certain parts of the ocean and thus have a greater incentive to take care of it and engage in sustainable fishing.

This ownership can be bought and traded, which means fishermen new to the industry would have to buy their way in.

This is advantageous for larger fishing companies, which have high profits and can afford to purchase more ITQs; critics say this will lead to monopolies in the industry, but it may be a good thing for the environment, since owning more of the "ocean" leads to more efforts to keep fishing sustainable. On the other hand, large fishing companies tend to be more destructive and produce more pollution and damage with their large fleet than local fishermen, who tend to be more sustainable but will not be able to compete with the larger companies.

Problems with ITQs

discourages local sustainable fishermen
companies still more focused on the short term profits instead of long term consequences
quota is for one year, so if companies overfish, instead of stopping, they try to buy more quotas
companies tend to throw away unwanted fish
ITQs are used in New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Canada and the U.S.

References

http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1995/04/mm0495_04.html
(second article)

Morgan, G. (1997). "Individual Quota Management in Fisheries - Methodologies for Determining Catch Quotas and Initial Quota Allocation." FAO Fisheries Technical Papers.

International Agreements and Bodies

UN-based organizations
United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea
UNCLOS was held in December 1982. The full contents of the convention can be found here: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm

One of its main accomplishments was the establishment of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), a line 200 mile offshore that set the boundaries for waters open to a country's jurisdiction. An immediate result of this was a decline in the number of Distant Water Fleets (DWFs) because of the complexity involved in obtaining licenses to fish in another country's waters. Of the total amount of fish caught worldwide, the amount caught by DWFs has usually around 5 percent since 1993, as opposed to a rate of 15.5 percent in 1972.

FAO International Plans of Action
IPOAs are outlines, or Codes of Conduct, for how countries should approach specific problems related to fisheries. Currently there are four established IPOAs: reducing seabird bycatch, managing sharks, reducing the fishing capacity, and managing Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) fishing.

Regional Fishery Bodies
A list can be found here: http://www.fao.org/fi/body/rfb/chooserfb.htm

References

Yumiko Kura, Carmen Revenga, Eriko Hoshino, and Greg Mock. Fishing For Answers: Making Sense of the Global Fishing Crisis. Full text can be downloaded http://www.wri.org/biodiv/pubs_description.cfm?pid=3866

Parallel to Forests

In an attempt to better understand how to regulate a common good, we decided to evaluate a current common good that is being controlled: forests. We have just begun to research this topic. However, it seems as if the forests are being managed relatively well, according to an excerpt below taken from one of the articles found. It is interesting to note that after researching this aspect of regulation, we should be able to draw a parallel to the fishing industry. The main considerations are that fishes repopulate much quicker than trees, which would make the policies even more effective. On the other hand, it is important to recognize that fish are mobile and that forests are not. Also, the policies would have to be implemented on an international scale, which has not yet happened for forests. Even so, this is a good start to begin evaluating forestry standards. The groups of interest we should research are the SFI, the FSC, and the ATFS (as seen below in the article). The FSC is actually a nonprofit organization that issues certificates for well-managed forests. Below is the excerpt with facts.

• The United States ranks fourth on the list of most forest-rich countries, following the Russian Federation, Brazil, and Canada, with 8% of the world's primary forest.

• The number of acres of forestland in the United States has remained essentially the same during the past century.

• On average, 11% of the world's forests benefit from some type of conservation effort. In the United States, 20% are protected by conservation initiatives.

• Assessments of biodiversity on the nation's forests have found that the annual rate at which species are listed as threatened or endangered has declined fivefold.

• Historical trends indicate that the standing inventory (the volume of growing stock) of hardwood and softwood tree species in US forests has grown by 49% between 1953 and 2006.

• Forest management also has been recognized as an effective means of sequestering carbon over the long term. In the United States, the total amount of carbon sequestered by forests and the creation of wood products during the 1990s was estimated at almost 200 megatons per year, an amount equal to approximately 10% of US carbon dioxide emissions.

• An estimated 25% of US private forestland is managed in accordance with one of the three major forest certification schemes (the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Forest Stewardship Council, or the American Tree Farm System), and conservation initiatives on private land, such as easements, are becoming increasingly common.

Most encouraging of all, perhaps, is not what has already been accomplished, but what is likely to be achieved by forestry and natural resources professionals in the future. New scientific discoveries occur almost every day and these advances are leading to developments in biofuels, forest conservation, tree farming and production, environmentally sound building materials, fire management, better controls for insect and disease outbreaks, and greater biodiversity - successes that will enhance our efforts to conserve, regrow, and use the forest more effectively than we do today.

References

Goergen, M. (2007, Jul/Aug). Journal of Forestry www document (Vol. 105, Iss. 5). Proquest (visited 2007, November 8).

Raising Awareness Through Media

One possible method for raising public awareness of the issue of the world's fisheries is to follow the example of other promoters of global issues. One instance that comes to mind is that of Al Gore's film 'An Inconvenient Truth', a documentary designed to frighten the public out of it's apathy regarding climate change. Gore succeeded in executing a "multimedia plan for informing the public about the dangers of global warming" (Koeppel, 2007). What if Gore's tactic was applied to raising awareness about global fisheries?

The commercial success of Gore's film is quite apparent-it has become the fourth highest grossing documentary in history (Wray, 2006) and earned two Oscars at the 2006 Academy Awards (Koeppel, 2007). Even more impressive is that the film earned half of its gross outside the United States (boxofficemojo.com). This success proves that there are many more people in the world now who have a clear idea of the devastating effects that global warning will have on our planet and perhaps more motivation to do something about mitigating those effects. It also suggests that there is an appetite among the public for information about what is happening to our planet. If we appeal to that appetite by presenting the facts of a global issue in a format that is interesting, entertaining, and easily accessible, we can reach a wide audience with our message, both domestically and abroad.

Several factors other than pure entertainment value contributed to the popularity of 'An Inconvenient Truth". One of these factors was the identity of the narrator: a former presidential candidate who is a memorable and controversial topic in and of himself. Another factor is the widespread knowledge about global warming that already exists in popular culture. So in order for a film about the plight of global fisheries reach a sizable audience, we would have to have similar assets on our side: both a well-known figure (or several figures) presenting the message and educational campaigns to raise awareness about the problem that are separate from promotion of the film itself. However, with the proper approach, film and media could be powerful tools in the fight to save the fish.

References

An inconvenient truth. (2007). Retrieved 11/9/2007, 2007, from http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=inconvenienttruth.htm

Koeppel, P. (2007). The marketing of an inconvenient truth. Ezine, 11/9/2007.

Wray, L., & Flanagan, C. (2006). An inconvenient truth about youth. Electronic version. Washington Post, pp. A17. Retrieved 11/9/2007.

Subsidies in Fisheries

Fisheries sector plays an important role in food supply. Apart from that, it is also a source of livelihood for many people, especially those in developing countries. Therefore, many countries subsidize their fishing industries to protect their food supply. In the world, the annual subsidies are $10 to $15 billion - possibly more than 25 percent of the annual $56 billion trade in fish. Hence, we can realize how prevalent subsidizing fishing industry is in the world.

There are many forms of subsidies:

Direct government payments to the industry

a diverse range of subsidies as grants made for the purchase of new fishing vessels, vessel decommissioning payments (buybacks), fishermen's unemployment insurance, compensation for closed seasons, equity infusions, and price support programmes (Schrank, 2003)
"Grants for the purchase of new fishing vessels might be introduced to aid in the development of an indigenous fishing industry. Vessel decommissioning payments may be introduced to stimulate a process of reducing excess capacity. Fishermen's unemployment insurance may be introduced to stimulate fishermen to enter or remain in the industry. Compensation for closed seasons may be introduced to permit fishermen to remain in the industry when their incomes are unexpectedly cut because of measures introduced by governments to protect declining fish stocks. Equity infusions may be made to avoid the bankruptcy of fishing firms when the bankruptcy would have catastrophic effects on the employment of a region, particularly when the bankruptcy is caused by a temporary economic occurrence such as the decline of markets during a severe business recession. Price support programmes, whereby government pays producers the difference between market price and an administratively set target price, may be introduced to support fishermen's incomes." (Schrank, 2003)
Tax waivers and deferrals
Government loans and loan guarantees, and insurance
Implicit payments to, or charge against the industry
General programs that affect fisheries
Case Study:

United States of America's and Canada's fisheries are highly subsidized for many years. Most of the subsidies are generated by the government and monopoly. The main aim of their subsidies is to develop their domestic fisheries. Apart from that, they have also used approximately US$3,000,000,000 on income maintenance for unemployed fishermen and fish plant workers and improving fisheries science. In 1990s, when people start to realize the problem of overfishing, both countries started to subsidize to develop technologies, new fishing vessels, to alleviate the over-fishing pressure.(Schrank, 2003)

Norway, one of the largest cod-catching countries, grants loans to their fishing industries to protect its domestic fish production. They also grant loans to vessel arrangements, price support, insurance subsidies, operating subsidies, minimum income guarantees, vacation support and unemployment insurance, bait subsidies, gear subisidies and damage compensation) (Schrank, 2003)

Some are harmful; some may help to solve the problem of overfishing. In view of this, World Trade Organization advised on restricting subsidies designed to promote export and establish controls over other form of subsidies. However, Canada,Japan, and other countries with large fishery industry, endorses the "no-need approach" in which no restriction of subsidies should be imposed as they dispute the casual link between subsidies and overexploitation of fish resources. They propose fisheries management regimes deal with catch controls (quotas), effort controls (restrictions on boat size, engine power and days at sea, etc.) and right-based structures (permits, individual transferable quotas, etc.). Therefore, in Japan's view, it would be unfair if these varying situations are ignored and certain fisheries subsidies automatically prohibited. (Benitah, 2004)

Other countries propose the Traffic Light approach: red (forbidden subsidies), green (permitted subsidies), amber (slow down, which means that subsidies may be subjected to a complaint on the basis of their adverse trade effects). By this approach, desirable subsidies will be maintained while direct payment to promote export would be banned or discouraged.
This measure has been supported by countries like Norway. (Benitah, 2004)

However, difficulties exist in the elimination of subsidies. As subsidies are regarded as one of the invisible protectionist measures, it is almost impossible to measure the amount of subsidies that a country provides to is fishing industry.

References

Milazzo, M. (2000). The World Bank: Subsidies in World Fisheries: A Re-examination. Technical Paper, No. 406, 4-6.
Benitah, M. (June 2004). Ongoing WTO Negotiations on Fisheries SUbsidies. ASIL Insights, 1-3.
Schrank, W. (2003). Introducing Fisheries Subsidies. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, 437, 1-5.

Additional Sources

(2005). Fisheries. Retrieved November 9, 2007, from European Commission Web site: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/management_resources/conservation_measures/fishing_effort_en.htm

This document includes evidence of the success of restrictions on the size of the fleet in Europe. It includes data such as the total catch by nation of nations including China, India, and European states. It also includes details about failures of the Common Fisheries Policy such as anger by fishermen thatthey were not included more in the decision process, supporting the need to work directly with those whom we are regulating. In response, the EC created Regional Advisory Councils which we have used as a model for our integration of fishermen into our plan.

(2004, June 14). Economy and Environment Program to Southeast Asia. Retrieved November 9, 2007, from International Development Research Center Web site: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-61204-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

This page includes a study in which although fishermen supported regulations and believe they were working in the southeastern region of Asia, the majority of those surveyed were actually not registered. This supports the need for education and active patrolling of the fleet (registered and not).

Colson, David A. (1995, January, 25). Current issues in international fishery conservation and management - David A. Colson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1584/is_n7_v6/ai_16848376/pg_1

This page discusses an earlier attempt by the United States at fisheries management and High Seas Fisheries Licensing Act. It also includes evidence that every country must be involved because 90% of world catch occurs within EEZs. This bill was approved by the full House.

(2007, January). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved November 9, 2007, from The Federal Register Web site: http://www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2007-03-05-E7-3776

This proposed legislation served as a sample template for our own proposal.

(2006, June). ICES Symposium. from Marine Institute Web site: http://www.ices06sfms.com/presentations/index.shtml

This page included a lot of research and presentations that highlighted many of our concerns about fisheries, including how to regulate them and proposed solutions. We worked on figuring out how to implement them and improve them.

Proposed Solutions

GPS tracking

Establishing a law that requires all fishing vessels to have a GPS tracking device on board will make the regulation of fishermen and fishing companies much simpler and more effective. It will allow regulating bodies to know which fleets are in the water and whether or not they are within legal boundaries. For fishermen, it is an simple way to determine which closed areas are in effect, and the device could keep a tally on the amount of fish caught by that particular vessel and how much of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) has been caught. For all fishing vessels currently in operation, the cost of the tracking devices can be subsidized.

Excise tax on fish

Establishing a fish tax will put the cost of depleting fisheries on the consumer. Similar to gasoline tax and cigarette taxes, a fish tax will increase the cost of any fish products sold on the market. Currently there is a very high demand for fish, and if we are to keep a sustainable global fish population, we cannot catch the number of fish needed to meet this demand. An increase in fish prices will not only discourage consumers from buying more fish, thus lowering the demand, but it will make them aware of the crisis in our oceans today. Though this will make it so the lower class will have difficulty affording fish, in America and other developed countries, there are other protein options available, and fish prices will have little negative effect on public health.

Elimination of Subsidies

Currently subsidies are costing the governments around the world billions of dollars and only harming the state of fisheries by increasing the fishing effort and making it easier for us to deplete the fishing stock. Money is directed to lower the costs of shipbuilding, to compensate fishermen, and to establish joint fishermen, among other things. Studies show that fishing subsidies for the Distant Water Fleets of developed nations are harming the economy and growth of developing nations. Fishing subsidies should be eliminated and the money should instead be directed to conservation programs.

Tiered licensing

Developing nations often declare open access to their fisheries in order to attract foreign fishing companies, which try to minimize their costs by flag hopping to waters with the least regulation. Developing nations have little motivation to regulate their fisheries because doing so would only drive away business. Since their ultimate goal is economic growth and development, a solution would have to reach these goals more effectively than open access.
One such solution may be a tiered licensing system. (This can also be applied to developed nations, which also often grant foreign access to their fisheries.) Since a fishing vessel needs a license from a country to fish in its waters, the price of the license could vary depending on the vessel:
*Native fishermen who are not part of a large fishing company and who have limited technology and fish using basic methods should have the lowest license fee.
*Small fleet operators should be charged a moderate license fee.
*In order to discourage a monopoly, large fishing companies with advanced/disruptive fishing gear should be charged a percentage of their profits. Currently developed countries subsidize their Distant Water Fleets so the cost the foreign ships bear is only 1/3 what is offered for compensation to the host country, and this compensation can amount to as little as 1% of the fishing fleet's profits.
The more countries that follow this licensing system, the more each country gains from it, because it means there are fewer fisheries for large companies to exploit. This price discrimination brings in more money from foreign fleets and promotes the developing nation's own fishing industry, and while our goal is to reduce the amount of fish caught, urging countries to take control of their own fisheries instead of letting foreign fleets exploit their resources is the first step.
Another incentive for following this system is an access to the "whitelist" of fishing vessels, so the government can find out which boats use sustainable practices.

Bycatch plan

Quotas are often used to limit the amount of fish that can be taken out of a fishery, but a side effect of implementing quotas is the amount of bycatch that results from fishermen trying to avoid the penalties of bringing in too much fish. Instead of penalizing fishermen, the regulation should just state that fishermen cannot profit from any fish they catch that is beyond their quota. This extra fish should be collected and sold, instead of being cast back into the sea as dead and decaying fish, and the proceeds should go towards a local fisheries council or the appropriate regional fishery body (http://www.fao.org/fi/body/rfb/chooserfb.htm). Part of this money should fund a program that provides fishermen with representation in government, since a major obstacle in the way of a body that will give fishermen lobbying power is lack of funding. The fishermen will thus be motivated to not throw out their bycatch, but since they cannot make monetary profit off catching beyond the quota, there will be no incentive to overfish either. There needs to be strict supervision when measuring the fish, however, because if the price of fish goes up, a fishing blackmarket could develop.

Research as a priority + employing fishermen

Further research is undoubtably needed to effectively monitor and evaluate fisheries. The establishment of more research groups, particularly international research collaborations, dedicated to fisheries management and the state of the global fish stock will attract public attention and help bring awareness to this problem. A key step would be to incorporate local fishermen, many of whom are fishing fewer and fewer days of the year, in the research process through data collection and analysis. Understanding between the fishermen, the scientists, and the policymakers will accelerate the establishment of a sustainable system.

Market for "fair trade" fish

When trying to create awareness about the importance of sustainable fisheries in developed countries, tying this into economic markets might be the best idea: we can create an ecolabel that is stamped onto fish that has been harvested from a fishery with good practices. As of right now there are three groups that put a label on sustainable fish, but the process needs staffing and funding. Also, if producers want to have their fish evaluated and certified, there is a cost barrier that bars out small fishing companies who cannot afford to apply for certification. Since a substantial portion of the fish sold in the U.S. canned tuna, perhaps focusing on labeling tuna that is caught in sustainable fisheries is the first step.

Other ideas:

*set international standards for nitrates/phosphates to evaluate bodies of water and determine which ones need remediation
*set a buffer zone beyond the 200-mile EEZ where no fishing can occur