Wildlife and Fisheries: A Commons to Trust Ross Saxton

The Lack of a Commons Management Agency (CMA)… Anyone with the initial necessary capital can harvest. Example: Distant water fleets (DWFs) fishing off the coast of Namibia has decreased their domestic economic rent (resource rent) by about 50% from “Slave-like” conditions for workers (The Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union)

If a CMA existed… Namibia’s economic rent would be increased short-term and long-term. -regulated catch amounts, especially for DWFs -new incentives available for sustainable harvesting -Namibian Permanent Fund? Slave-like conditions would disappear; less fierce competition for fish and more equality for all.

Those dang commercial fishers… Taxing commercial fishers does not work: Transfers all economic rent (resource rent) to the government, so harvesters will use political power to prevent the tax from being implemented. Computing the optimal tax is extremely difficult due to the complexity of the demand for wildlife and biological processes. Taxing harvesting effort can be difficult because fishers have an incentive to substitute types of effort that are taxed for types that are not taxed.

Tradable quotas… Governments and communities will sometimes freely distribute permits and licenses to pollute or gather a resource (e.g oil).  selling them for any fee will produce economic rent Every state does sells licenses and permits to hunt or fish...sometimes auction off limited licenses for the most scarce wildlife.

Botswana Hunting permit fees The more scarce the species, the more the permit costs. -Elephant, lion: $5,000 -Leopard: $2,500 -Cape Buffalo: $1,200

Botswana Additional fees collected from recreational hunters go to local communities: -Elephant: $20,000 -Lion: $30,000 -Leopard: $4,000 -Buffalo: $3,300 (per animal)

Direct Use Value Historically, poorer people generally have had a higher direct use value for wildlife than the wealthy. Recently, the direct use value of wildlife has decreased for the poor. Wildlife valued less.  Lower class living in more urban areas and the dependence on wildlife for food is diminishing.

-Economic Incentives and Wildlife Conservation. Bulte, E. H., Kootan, G. Cornelis van, and Swanson, T. -Simulation of ecological and economic impacts of distant water fleets on Namibian fisheries. Sumaila, U. R. and Vasconcellos, M.