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MATCHING FISHING CAPACITY TO THE CATCHES AVAILABLE: A PROBLEM IN RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Author(s) -
Shepherd J. G.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.157
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1477-9552
pISSN - 0021-857X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-9552.1981.tb01573.x
Subject(s) - fishing , business , fishery , fisheries management , enforcement , natural resource economics , capacity utilization , capital (architecture) , matching (statistics) , resource (disambiguation) , fish <actinopterygii> , economics , geography , computer science , microeconomics , ecology , computer network , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , biology
Fish populations are examples of open‐access renewable resources, and they are harvested by hunting. Fishery management is analogous to the management of the cropping of a wood, in which the trees are invisible, and keep moving around. Economic factors drive fishing fleets to a state of excess capacity and zero return to capital employed. Some form of regulation seems to be essential to enable a viable fishing industry which can regenerate its own capital to survive. The problems of management are exacerbated by excess capacity: it would be desirable if the size of the fishing fleet were matched to that required to catch the fish available. A novel method for estimating the size of fleet for which full‐time fishing opportunities exist has been developed, but no mechanism exists to stimulate the development of the fleet towards that size. This, and the absence of a proper system of enforcement of internationally agreed quotas are the principal problems of fishery management.