OECD WORK MEASURING FISHERIES SUPPORT Roger Martini, Trade and Agriculture Directorate

We want to better understand what support is currently in place We want to understand how that support affects outcomes in the fishing sector We want to identify the characteristics of good support policies. Why measure policy support to fisheries?

We classify policies in different categories depending on how they are implemented The different categories capture features that are important for analysis We do not consider objectives or impacts in classification system The OECD approach is based on an economically-relevant classification The focus is on supporting economic analysis

Budgetary support information is readily available, but implementation details are harder to find The classification system is not obvious to non-specialists Fuel supports pose many challenges – Estimations of fuel consumption – Sector-specificity – Lack of common reference points Data collection is collaborative and iterative—and time consuming.

Individual transfers are received by fishers as individual agents Transfers to individuals General transfers Variable costs Fixed costs Income Capacity reduction

Fuel costs are an important part of the overall picture Support to fuel use can be made in several different dimensions that makes measurement and reporting challenging Exemptions for industry Fuel price differential Concessions to fishers Higher price for road users

General transfers support the sector as a whole General transfers Access to other EEZs Infrastructure Marketing and promotion Community support Education and training Research and Development Management of Resources

Some transfers are from fishers Cost Recovery Resource access rights Management costs Stock enhancement Capacity reduction

Labels add a second dimension to the classification Transfers to individuals Variable costs Programme duration Production- linked Thresholds Constraints Recipient

What are the expected effects of support in each category? Transfers to individuals Variable costs Fixed costs Income Capacity reduction Higher desired effort for given capital stock Different technology mix Higher capacity for given harvest level Changed entry/exit conditions Short run and long run impacts can be different

Spending on general support enables the sector Having the sector bear its operating costs helps ensure that it is a net economic contributor

Transfers to individual fishers are to achieve government objectives The scale of support can influence things like entry or exit decisions by fishers

The following logic seems to be assumed: Can support lead to overfishing? Support Higher fishing effort Overfishing But this is more likely: Management failure Opportunity to overfish Overfishing Support

1.If management is effective, support cannot lead to overfishing 2.If management is well-designed, support cannot lead to overcapacity 3.If 1 and 2 are true, support is probably unnecessary. Management problems are the main cause of overfishing

Higher energy intensity Riskier fishing practices More damaging fishing practices Perpetuate a state of crisis Reduced opportunity for developing fisheries Changed trade patterns But support can still have undesired impacts Plus, in many places, good management is not a given!

Fuel tax concessions can have big impacts on net revenues (maybe)

1.Collect information on support 2.Combine this with information on management systems to add context 3.Produce an economic model of fishing 4.Do analysis! There is still lots of work to do to understand the impact of support The OECD master plan…

Support adds capital to the sector, so is inherently expansionary – Bigger sector – More effort Support as “life support” is bad – Permanent crisis – Prevents needed adjustment Sector-based support for social objectives is usually inefficient What can we say now?

There is not much empirical work on the impact of fisheries support Measuring support levels is the first step in improving our understanding The OECD classification system is meant to help analysis Support and management of fisheries should be considered together Conclusions