Fisheries Management Systems: Objectives and Performance A Guest Lecture Prepared for the United Nations University Fisheries Training Program Reykjavik, Iceland Gunnar Knapp Professor of Economics Institute of Social and Economic Research Anchorage, Alaska USA January 2013

One of the major inherent challenges of fisheries management is multiple and often conflicting objectives. What do YOU PERSONALLY consider to be the most important objectives of fisheries management? (to get reelected)do do things the public approves of... (short time horizon) Create jobs; maintain employment Sustain the fishery Wealth generation Feed the population Maximum economic benefit Environmental/ Effiiency

Here are some fishery management objectives which I consider important, and which other people also describe as important ObjectiveQuestions we could ask to evaluate performance Resource protection How well does the system protect fish resources and the environment? How effective is it at preventing overfishing? How well does it promote sustainability of fish and other resources for current and future generations? Economic efficiency How well does the system promote economic efficiency in the utilization of fish resources? How well does it keep costs low and the value of fish products high? How successful is it at generating economic benefits from fish resources? FairnessHow fair is the management system? To what extent does it promote communities and cultural traditions? SimplicityHow easy is the management system to understand and to implement? How much does it cost to administer? How effectively can it be enforced?

How important do YOU consider resource protection as a fisheries management objective? A.Very important B.Somewhat important C.Not very important

How important do YOU consider economic efficiency as a fisheries management objective? A.Very important B.Somewhat important C.Not very important

How important do YOU consider fairness as a fisheries management objective? A.Very important B.Somewhat important C.Not very important

How important do YOU consider simplicity as a fisheries management objective? A.Very important B.Somewhat important C.Not very important

MY HYPOTHESIS: There is no perfect fishery management system No system performs best with respect to all objectives Systems that perform well with respect to some objectives may perform poorly with respect to other objectives

Lets find out if YOU agree with my hypothesis. We will describe and discuss (up to) six types of fishery management systems. For each management system, I will briefly describe the system Then I will ask YOU to discuss how well or poorly you think the system performs with respect to each fishery management objective Then I will ask YOU to use your clickers to rank the performance of each system with respect to each management objective At the end of the lecture, we will review how YOU ranked the performance of these management systems –Do YOU think any system is best for all objectives? –Do YOU think that systems that perform well with respect to some objectives perform poorly with respect to other objectives?

Some challenges we face in our discussion... We are talking about a very big set of questions! You may have limited familiarity with some of these management systems For any given type of management system, there is a very wide range in the specific ways they work and how they perform –The devil in the details –Clearly, we are over-generalizing! We dont have much time

If we really wish to seriously evaluate the performance of different kinds of fisheries management systems, we would need to: Divide management systems into a greater range of types of systems Systematically gather evidence about their actual performance This would be a major and challenging research task So our discussion today is only a simple exercise to get you to begin to think about different management systems and how you might evaluate their performance.

Six broad types of fisheries management systems I HOPE WE CAN AT LEAST DISCUSS THESE FOUR SYSTEMS Unregulated open access Regulated open access Limited entry Individual catch shares IF WE HAVE TIME WE CAN ALSO DISCUSS THESE SYSTEMS: Group catch shares Fisheries self-governance

Please use a piece of paper to keep a record of your scores Make a table with 5 rows and 7 columns, like this: Your name (or alias) ________________________ 1 Unregul- ated open access 2 Regul- ated open access 3 Limited entry 4 Individual catch shares 5 Group catch shares 7 Self- govern- ance A. Resource protection B. Economic efficiency C. Fairness D. Simplicity If you wish you can just label the columns with the numbers and the rows with the letters.

Unregulated Open Access

QuestionsAnswers Who can fish?Anyone When, where and how can they fish? Any time, anywhere, any way they wish How much can an individual fisherman catch? As much as he can What limits the total catch? When fishermen stop fishingwhich is driven by resource and economic conditions. Typically, they keep fishing until its no longer profitable. Real-world fishery examples? Notes and comments? UNREGULATED OPEN ACCESS

UNREGULATED OPEN ACCESS What is good or bad about this fishery management system? Evaluation criteriaWhat is good or bad about this system? Resource protectionShaking head Formerly like this in Iceland Mortality Depends on the level of technology; depends on environment Depends on the species Devil is in the details! Economic efficiencyPoor; inefficient; FairnessTotally fairequal for all Totally unfairpoverty trap SimplicityVery simple and easy OTHER:

UNREGULATED OPEN ACCESS How good or bad do YOU think this fishery management system is? For each evaluation criterion, what score would YOU give it? Evaluation criteria 1 = very good 2 = somewhat good 3 = somewhat poor 4 = very poor Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to resource protection? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 3.62

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to economic efficiency? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 3.46

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to fairness? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.38

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to simplicity? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 1.40

Regulated Open Access

QuestionsAnswers Who can fish?Anyone When, where and how can they fish? Only when, where and how managers allow fishing How much can an individual fisherman catch? As much as he can, given management regulations What limits the total catch? Area limits, gear limits, season limits, & other types of restrictions. Managers may close the fishery after a Total Allowable Effort (TAE) or Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is reached. Real-world fishery examples? Notes and comments? REGULATED OPEN ACCESS

REGULATED OPEN ACCESS What is good or bad about this fishery management system? Evaluation criteriaWhat is good or bad about this system? Resource protectionSomewhat better; some biological controls, You can control the timing, you can protect juveniles; system isnt enforceable Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity OTHER:Costs higher than benefits, almost all fisheries in developing countries, they seem not to be very good at resource proteciton, economic efficiency, fairness, or simplicity: a disaster

REGULATED OPEN ACCESS How good or bad do YOU think this fishery management system is? For each evaluation criterion, what score would YOU give it? Evaluation criteria 1 = very good 2 = somewhat good 3 = somewhat poor 4 = very poor Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to resource protection? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.27

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to economic efficiency? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 3.30

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to fairness? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.15

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to simplicity? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.62

Limited Entry

QuestionsAnswers Who can fish?Only holders of limited entry permits When, where and how can they fish? Only when, where and how managers allow fishing How much can an individual fisherman catch? As much as he can, given management regulations What limits the total catch? Area limits, gear limits, season limits, & other types of restrictions. Managers may close the fishery after a Total Allowable Effort (TAE) or Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is reached. Real-world fishery examples? Notes and comments? LIMITED ENTRY

LIMITED ENTRY What is good or bad about this fishery management system? Evaluation criteriaWhat is good or bad about this system? Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity OTHER:Many countries have licensing systems; it depends on the fisheryif it is valuable, it depends on the value of the fishery; Can be mixed up between sysbsistence and commercial; may favor commercials; when you restric entry, you are looking for those who are fishing as a busness, you may turn away from those fishing for subsistence

LIMITED ENTRY How good or bad do YOU think this fishery management system is? For each evaluation criterion, what score would YOU give it? Evaluation criteria 1 = very good 2 = somewhat good 3 = somewhat poor 4 = very poor Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to resource protection? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 1.74

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to economic efficiency? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.32

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to fairness? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.88

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to simplicity? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.31

Individual Catch Shares

QuestionsAnswers Who can fish?Only holders of catch shares When, where and how can they fish? Only when, where and how managers allow fishing How much can an individual fisherman catch? Only as much as his individual quota (his catch share of the Total Allowable Catch) What limits the total catch? The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Real-world fishery examples? Notes and comments? INDIVIDUAL CATCH SHARES

INDIVIDUAL CATCH SHARES What is good or bad about this fishery management system? Evaluation criteriaWhat is good or bad about this system? Resource protectionDepends on well-defined the stocks are Economic efficiency Fairness SimplicityRequires a high level of monitoring and administration OTHER:

INDIVIDUAL CATCH SHARES How good or bad do YOU think this fishery management system is? For each evaluation criterion, what score would YOU give it? Evaluation criteria 1 = very good 2 = somewhat good 3 = somewhat poor 4 = very poor Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to resource protection? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 1.25

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to economic efficiency? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 1.44

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to fairness? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 3.00

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to simplicity? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor Mean = 2.67

Group Catch Shares

QuestionsAnswers Who can fish?Only those authorized by the group When, where and how can they fish? Only when, where and how managers and the Group allow fishing How much can an individual fisherman catch? Only as much as the Group allows What limits the total catch? The Total Allowable Catch (TAC). The Group enforces (for its members) the limit on the total catch of the Group to the Groups catch share of the TAC. Real-world fishery examples? Notes and comments? GROUP CATCH SHARES

GROUP CATCH SHARES What is good or bad about this fishery management system? Evaluation criteriaWhat is good or bad about this system? Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity OTHER:

GROUP CATCH SHARES How good or bad do YOU think this fishery management system is? For each evaluation criterion, what score would YOU give it? Evaluation criteria 1 = very good 2 = somewhat good 3 = somewhat poor 4 = very poor Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to resource protection? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to economic efficiency? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to fairness? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to simplicity? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

Self- Governance

QuestionsAnswers Who can fish?Only those authorized by the Group When, where and how can they fish? Only when, where and how the Group allows How much can an individual fisherman catch? Only as much as the Group allows What limits the total catch? The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) established by the Group Real-world fishery examples? Notes and comments? SELF-GOVERNANCE

SELF-GOVERNANCE What is good or bad about this fishery management system? Evaluation criteriaWhat is good or bad about this system? Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity OTHER:

SELF-GOVERNANCE How good or bad do YOU think this fishery management system is? For each evaluation criterion, what score would YOU give it? Evaluation criteria 1 = very good 2 = somewhat good 3 = somewhat poor 4 = very poor Resource protection Economic efficiency Fairness Simplicity

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to resource protection? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to economic efficiency? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to fairness? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

How would YOU rate this type of management system with respect to simplicity? A.Very good B.Somewhat good C.Somewhat poor D.Very poor

Summary of Mean Scores for Each System 1 Unregul- ated open access 2 Regul-ated open access 3 Limited entry 4 Individual catch shares A. Resource protection B. Economic efficiency C. Fairness D. Simplicity

MY HYPOTHESIS: There is no perfect fishery management system No system performs best with respect to all objectives Systems that perform well with respect to some objectives may perform poorly with respect to other objectives DID YOU AGREE?

My conclusion... For any society, the best fishery management system depends upon the societys objectives as well as the specific circumstances of the society, the fishery, markets, and technology.