Despite substantial technological developments over the last two decades, incidental catch of charismatic species still occurs in many world fisheries. Short of ceasing fishing activity, some bycatch is inevitable. In some cases, populations of these species are at low levels, and in several instances the species have been listed as...
The International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity (IPOA-Capacity) was introduced in 1999 in response to growing concerns about excessive levels of fishing capacity and its impact on global fisheries resources. While debate in academic circles has focused on appropriate ways in which to measure capacity, the...
In the UK, individual quotas are imposed on the demersal whitefish trawl fleet. Many of the key whitefish stocks are at historically low levels, and there is pressure on the industry to adjust to remove the current excess capacity. Adjustment in the fishery is likely to favour vessels that are...
Days at sea restrictions were introduced in 2003 as part of the cod recovery strategy in the North Sea. The impact on the profitability of the fleet of the effort controls, however, is not immediately discernable, as the fishery was also subject to changes in costs, prices and stock conditions....
The Abalone Fishery is one of Victoria's most valuable commercial fisheries and almost all of the catch is exported to international markets, predominately in Asia. An outbreak of a virus called the Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) decimated one third of Australia’s abalone, starting in 2005. However, there has been little...
The Abalone Fishery in one of Victoria’s most valuable commercial fisheries and most of the catch is exported to international markets in Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China). Target species consist of blacklip abalone and greenly abalone (<1% of total catch). The fishery is quota managed, and the total allowable...
Fishers are faced with multiple risks, including unpredictability of future catch rates, prices and costs. While the latter are largely beyond the control of fisheries managers, effective fisheries management should reduce uncertainty about future catches while also enhancing profitability. Different management instruments are likely to have different impacts on the...
Spatial bio-economic models are becoming increasingly important in the attempt to offer ever more dependable advice to fisheries managers. The main reason for this is the escalating interest in marine protected areas and more precisely fishing exclusion zones. As such the key issue of fishing effort dynamics needs to be...
Technical efficiency (TE) measures the relationship between a vessel’s inputs to the fishing process and its outputs, with full efficiency being achieved when outputs are maximised from a given set of inputs. Inputs can be physical (e.g. the vessel, gear, engine, onboard equipment, etc.), flexible (time spent fishing, size of...
Economic performance of different fleet segments varies considerably from year to year, with some segments experiencing increased profitability while others experience decreased profitability. This variation is generally considered to be a consequence of the stochasticity in the industry. However, there is growing evidence that fisheries may not be as stochastic...