This study compares and extends existing approaches to predict the location of fishing activities. Using data from Northeast U.S. Fisheries, we show that the traditional spatial representation of fishing activities leads to a severe misrepresentation of fishing grounds and effort. Predictions based on probability models outperform most of the simplified...
Geographers and regional scientists have long recognized that "near things are more related than distant things." Ports located far from each other may compete through use of the same fishing grounds. We describe trends in competition in the Northeast U.S Sea Scallop Fishery using a Czekanowski Index over the past...
Many fishermen diversify their income by fishing in more than one fishery which can significantly reduce year-to-year variation in income. However, opportunities to diversify have become more limited as access to fisheries has become more restricted. The implementation of catch share systems could further reduce diversification if those who remain...
This paper addresses adverse incentives built into the process of TAC setting as an instrument to prevent overfishing in multispecies fisheries. Under the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA), the primary law governing marine fisheries management in U.S. federal waters, regional Fishery Management Councils must develop a rebuilding plan for every overfished...
The recent history of fisheries management in New England has seen substantial interannual variability in total allowable catches (TACs), with stocks deemed healthy in one year retroactively identified as overfished soon thereafter. Concurrently, avenues for and examples of coordination between fishermen are increasing in the region, as exemplified by the...
Accurate cost estimation is crucial in fisheries economic analyses, but is often the least known component of many studies. For the past two decades, a systematic approach to collecting fishing cost data has been employed by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center through the sea sampling program, i.e., onboard observers collecting...