Abstract:
This paper analyzes optimal fishery management in the presence of an endangered predator that competes with
humans for a commercially viable prey. Because traditional predator controls are not possible when the predator is
endangered, we focus on harvest effort controls over the prey’s habitat as a means to maintain the predator-prey relationship
and sustain the economic viability of the fishery. The management model is based on optimizing fishery rents subject to
maintaining a growing predator population. We derive optimal management decisions, along a singular path, with and
without a predator constraint and demonstrate the need to consider the predator-prey relationship explicitly. In addition, we
derive an expression for the shadow value of the endangered predator, along the singular path, in terms of forgone fishery
rents. To illustrate these results, we provide an application to the contentious California sea otter-urchin system and the
related urchin fishery.
