Managing Fishery Resourcess Essay, Research Paper

OUTLINE

Basic Overview

Types of management-

1. Input controls- “limiting the capacity of fishermen to remove fish from the stock”

Types of Input controls:

? Limited entry licensing- # of vessels

? Vessel size/power restrictions- problem- works as a challenge- not a barrier

? Gear restriction: create specifications with the goal of protecting certain size/ species or habitats

? Days at sea: controls effort and distributes

? Close times: protect during essential times, such as spawning, also as with the scallop and lobster fishery, limits conflict of gear between two important industries.

? Close areas: protect areas essential to certain stages or areas that have been over fished, etc.

2. Output controls- “limiting the amount and characteristics of organisms removed from a stock” (may be subdivided by areas).

? Trip limits: limits on how much can be landed per trip.

? Individual quotas: amount of organisms that can be removed per licensed fisherman. (May be transferable)

? Size limits: minimum size- protects juveniles; maximum size protects stock that is reproducing. (Achieve an optimum size)

( From “Developmental Potential of the Maine Scallop Industry”, submitted by Gardner Pinfold Consulting Economists Limited, Halifax. January 2000, p. 31-32)

* Emphasis needs to be placed on unity and group purpose. Resource sustainability is the bottom line.

Issue

1. Limited Entry

? Is a limited entry situation needed to protect traditional draggers?

? Should there be discrimination between full vs. part time fishermen?

A. By what criteria would a license be granted? Possible ideas include;

1. History of participation (documented)-

a. Establish a retroactive base year

? Problems: some may not have documentation, does not consider economic dependence on the resource

? Benefits: prevents opportunists from gaining access

2. Economic dependence on the resource (relative % of total income) (part-time versus full time fishermen).

? Problems: generalists versus specialists (tension), pigeonholes fishermen- prevents versatility

? Benefits: community based, prevents “cream skimmers”

3. Having met a specific standard (documented performance ex. Landings records)

? Problems: some fishermen do not keep good records; small time fishermen may suffer (economic impact)

? Benefits: maximizes harvest

4. Residency with in a specific area (localized control)

? Problems: uneven distribution of scallop beds along coast (and therefore fishermen), excludes fishermen who do not live in the area, prevents traditional “roaming” format, community level control must be initiated and maintained successfully.

? Benefits: community rights to resource, localized control

? Enforcement: can be made easy by designating areas with markings that must be present on boats allowed in certain areas.

5. Kinship

? Problems: prevents newcomers into the industry

? Benefits: slows influx into the industry, preserves tradition

6. License treatment as a commodity with intrinsic value (can be bought or sold)

? Problems: bigger business has the ability to buy licenses from smaller fishermen (out compete them financially).

? Benefits: license works as an investment that can pay off even after owner can no longer fish, may help slow rushes into the industry and even out the season if combined with other measures.

7. Completion of some type of program (apprenticeship or classes, etc.)

? Problems: does not slow down increase in number of fishermen in the long term.

? Benefits: prevents surges in fishermen entering business, can increase awareness of resource state- could be used as an educational tool. Has worked well in Japanese system.

8. Lottery (after deciding what number is appropriate # of participants)

? Problems- does not consider dependence on fishery, historical participation, etc.

? Benefits- cannot be influenced, highly equitable

9. Owner/ operator proviso

? Problems:

? Benefits: protects smaller fleets, direct accountability

? Easy to enforce if the law is written so that the owner of the license has to be aboard the boat while it is engaged in scalloping activities. The scallop industry is the only Maine fishery in which this is not a law.

B. Overall Costs

1. Someone will always be excluded by definition (the more resource productivity is considered as a factor the more individuals must be excluded). When all the variables are considered, deciding on an appropriate number would be difficult (ex. Influence of politics on who gets a license).

2. Conflict between individual profit and equal distribution

3. Makes entry into the industry more difficult

4. Increased temptation for illegal harvesting by excluded individuals

5. Difficult to pin- point number of license to distribute because of stock fluctuations.

6. The level of efficiency each individual exerts may increase amount of stock landed, upsetting the desired balance.

C. Overall Benefits

1. Most variables are easily enforced

2. High level of individual freedom

3. Fairly easily established and administered.

Enforcement: Easy to enforce at the patrol level using methods currently in place.

Administration:

? What form of management would run the programs- State? Councils? Municipal government?

? Issue of increasing entry fee-

o Could provide money that is need to fund research and project development

o Allocated at whose discretion?

Sustainability: Limited Entry programs help to meet the goal of sustainability by helping to reduce the fishing effort (the overall number of participants).

2. Trip Limits- limiting the time which an individual may spend fishing

A. Types of Limits

1. Days at Sea

? Problems:

o Can be detrimental to sales because buyers need a steady flow of product to rely upon, which means that market value can go down as buyers leave the Maine market place

o Does not work as a control on total catch unless combined with another measure (ex. Limited entry or quotas)

? Benefits:

o Choosing which days to fish has the benefit of distributing equal opportunity between individuals,

o Fishermen gain a high degree of freedom (can choose when to use their days- ex. when market value is high or the weather is good- etc.)

Enforcement: Easy to enforce

2. Season

? Problems:

o How should season be determined

o Creates “crunch times” when a lot of pressure is put on the resource

o May contribute to crowding

? Benefits:

o Helps to prevent gear conflicts

o Allows fishermen to switch between different fisheries at their will.

Enforcement: Easy to enforce

Sustainability: The goal of limiting how long/ when a fisherman can be fishing is an attempt to control the resource without limiting the number or type of participants. It is usually ineffective unless combined with another form of management (usually limited entry or quotas)

3. Closing Areas- for a designated time. Has proved to be highly effective with the scallop population in Georges Banks (a federally mandated closure).

A. Some reasons to close areas include:

1.Closing an area for research.

2. Closing an area in order to protect a species at some time- such as spawning grounds or recruitment areas.

3. Closing an area that has been over fished to allow it time to recover.

4. Closing an area to a certain type of drag, or limiting the size/ weight of the drag used to protect the benthic environment.

5. Closing an area to a certain type of harvester- such as divers or “roamers” and giving opportunity to local fishermen

6. Closing inner waters to larger draggers

B. Some costs and benefits of closures include:

Costs:

? Any research needs to be funded, and presently, no funds are available.

? There is a potential for thieves to access the area (divers)

? Other commercially valuable species may be productive within the closed area, creating a conflict of interests.

? Causes the fishing effort to be concentrated in a smaller area (localized over fishing, increased environmental damage, more gear conflicts)

? Opposition to long-term closures

? Fishermen living in closed areas experience greater hardship.

? Allocation/ Entry Issues

? In opposition to the independent style of Maine’s fishermen (do not want to be told where they can fish).

Benefits:

? Only through research can specific questions be answered, eventually leading to a management policy that has the best chance of ensuring the sustainability of the resource.

? Can control total fishing effort easily

? Creates highly profitable stock with low effort

? Protects entire ecosystem for future study, in the case that funds for research are not available in the present.

Enforcement:

? The larger the closed area is, the more easily the closure can be enforced. Boundaries of closed area are easier to enforce if they are well defined.

? If boats fishing for other species are allowed into the area, there is an issue of enforcement (example- bycatch).

? Another problem is theft prevention. It can be difficult to catch people engaged in the act of theft. To prevent theft in the closed areas, it needs to be illegal to pass through a closed area with unshucked scallops, or with scalloping gear.

Administration:

Many questions of administration-

v Who decides what areas to close?

v Who has access to these areas?

v How is the resource within the area allocated?

v What kinds of fines or penalties would be imposed to lawbreakers?

v What about people fishing for other resources in the closed area

Sustainability:

Closures can be an effective way to maintain a resource, and are economically maximized when preformed in a rotational manner.

C. Rotational Closure- concentrates fishing effort on a particular stock, usually the one that will give the maximum economic yield. Practiced in New Zealand, Japan, and on Georges Banks will a high success rate.

Costs:

? Many of the costs addressed above (especially the opposition from fishermen in support of the traditional fishery style) and in addition;

? Difficult to enforce

? Economic cost of preventing access to other resources in the closed area

? Must have stock to begin with, or be enhanced

? High costs of management for enhanced systems

Benefits:

? Increase in meat size

? Less scallops need to be harvested to attain same amount of meat

? More scallops allowed to reach maturity could sustain more fishermen.

? Additionally, the benefits associated with Closures above

Enforcement: enforcement would be costly

Administration: see administration section for “Closures” above

4. Gear Restrictions: gear restriction measures are aimed at protecting a certain size/ species as well as the benthic environment.

A. Limiting technological inputs: helps to reduce fishing effort.

May include restrictions on:

1. Sizes or Weight of Vessel

2. Engine horsepower

3. Ring size of dredge

4. Size/ Weight of dredges

5. Number of dredges

6. Dredge length and depth

7.Cable length

Problems:

? Often, gear restrictions work as a sort of challenge, and fishermen simply figure out a new way to work around the restriction and maintain (or even increase) their efficiency, at cost the natural environment and the scallop population. (Examples include allowing dredge rings to plug up with seaweed, increasing dredge weight, etc.)

? It is difficult to justify applying the same restrictions to large and small boats

? The cost of inefficient gear is reflected in the cost to the consumer

? Larger ring size may force fishermen to make more passes over one area for the same amount of product- resulting in increased habitat damage to the ocean floor.

? Limiting drag size prevents larger rigs from entering coastal waters

? There is no ring size limit for other drag fisheries (urchins, mussels), so undersized scallops are not protected

? Needs some sort of inspection of meat size to ensure that restrictions are having the desired effect, which has the potential of being very difficult or costly to administer/ enforce.

? Selectivity of dredge is not certain- undersized scallops can still be caught with 3 ?” dredge

Benefits:

? Larger ring size protects juvenile scallops (under 3”) from being harvested

? Making dredges smaller and less efficient decreases the amount of scallops landed overall, leaving more as brood stock

? Gear restrictions help even out the playing field between different fishing styles

? This style of management is usually supported by the industry (more so than others)

? Can help to reduce gear conflict issues

? Easy to enforce/ administer

? Is another way to prevent total fishing effort other than limited entry

? Can help to shift population size towards the point of maximum economic yield

? Helps to reduce fishing mortality (less scallops caught overall because they are larger)

Enforcement: would be fairly easy to enforce the outward appearances, more difficult to make sure that the system is working the way it is supposed to (example- preventing fishermen from allowing the rings to plug with seaweed). This could be prevented by mandating that gear has to be cleaned (obstructions removed) after each pass with a dredge.

Administration: would be a similar process to the present one

? Fines for breaking restrictions?

? Who gets to decide what the restrictions should be?

Sustainability: Gear restrictions are unable to maintain sustainability on their own.

5. Size Limits: helps to achieve and maintain an organism size that is both ecologically and economically beneficial.

A. Minimum size limits: currently, minimum size is 3”

? Problems:

o Some individuals may attempt to pass undersized meats off as legal by swelling them with chemicals or fresh water

o Difficult to enforce- prevention of undersized shucking

o Undersized organisms may die if caught and thrown back (survival rate?)

o Damage to undersized scallops caught in dredge

? Benefits:

o Allows scallops to survive to maturity

o Helps to ensure that optimum size/effort is achieved

o Maximum economic yield from each scallop

o Larger scallops sell for more money (3 ? – 6 inches)

Enforcement: Very difficult enforce meat size, because there are so many ways to get around the size limit- for example: mixing undersized meats with larger ones, soaking small meats in fresh water, discarding undersized shells, etc. This has been proven on a federal level as well. Shell size is much easier to enforce.

Potential methods to enhance enforcement include:

? Shucking must be done amidships to make the process more visible- although this is not really a method to prevent smaller scallops from being shucked, as often, they are just shucked first and the shells pitched overboard.

? Mandating that scallops must be culled prior to shucking.

? Mandatory shell out buckets- one issue is that shells may just be thrown over the side.

? Closing areas with a high number of small scallops until they grow past minimum size

Administration:

Define how scallops should be measured

1. “Longest diameter”-

o Allows more undersized scallops to meet the definition and be considered legal

o Results in a smaller overall scallop size but a larger number of scallop meats per drag.

2. Conservative measurement- across shell, not including hinge

o Lets smaller scallops go

o Less scallops caught per drag initially

B. Maximum Size (creation of a “slot” size)

1. For all scallopers

2. For divers only

Problems:

? Larger scallops have more market value

? Slot size range makes process of shucking more time consuming

? Increases temptation for theft (hide the large meats)

? Loss of competitiveness in the “dinner plate” scallop market

Benefits:

? Shell size is less labor intensive and more precise than meat counts

? Creates an “average” scallop size in the market (reliability)

? Allows larger scallops to work as a brood stock to maintain population

? Prevents scallop divers from taking the scallops that fishermen rely on for repopulation in an area

? Divers cannot “clean” an area of scallops (decreases their efficiency)

Enforcement:

? Easier to enforce than minimum size because larger meats do not “shrink”

? Difficult to catch offenders because there are fewer large scallops, and those that are caught could be shucked first and concealed

? The limited number of large scallops makes this a less effective method of enforcement as well.

? However, it already done in the bass and lobster fisheries, so there is a precedent for enforcement

Administration:

? Punishment for lawbreakers?

? How big should maximum size be?

? Conflict between divers and fishermen

6. Quotas- the decision to harvest a specific number of individuals from the population.

A. Common Problems of Quota systems:

? Require extensive research to determine the stock that can be harvested sustain ably

? Sustainable harvest may vary from one area to another

? Costly to monitor (landings)

? Costly to enforce (smuggling)

? Must be monitored on a season to season basis

? May cause unstable market (if quota is reached before season is closed) that would drive away buyers

? Leads to intense competition

? Difficult to allocate

? Increases potential of inaccurate record keeping (leads to a “black market”)

? Strongly opposed by Maine fishing industry- alters the traditional style of Maine fishermen

B. Common Benefits of Quota systems:

Supports long term resource sustainability

Enables fishermen to achieve maximum value from the resource

Strict control of fishing mortality

Easy way to achieve management goals

Predictability supports both strategic and tactical business planning

C. Examples of different types of Quota systems with specific problems/ benefits (subdivisions)

1. Geographic Area

? Problems:

o May be confusing if boundaries are unclear or if quota changes from year to year

o Requires a lot of time and resources to determine what the quota should be for a given area

? Benefits:

o Controls how mortality will be distributed throughout the stock areas to create a balanced population

o Takes into consideration the fact that some areas are more heavily populated than others

o Helps prevent localized over fishing

o Can be used as a tool for economic stability

2. Temporal Quotas

? Problems:

o Factors such as market value and biological factors may not coincide with when the fishery is at is strongest

o Prime times may be during the time when another fisher is operating, which causes gear conflict

o Fishermen would be unable to make a year round living off of the resource

? Benefits:

o Can take into consideration biological factors (when a species is more vulnerable)

o Market value can be a consideration

o Can prevent different fisheries from conflicting

3. Fleet Quotas- distribute quota based on components of a fleet (such as vessel size or gear types, etc.)

? Problems:

o High transactional cost

o High cost of monitoring/ enforcement in Maine because there are so many “fleets”

o Much argument over the fairness of distribution between smaller and larger fleets

? Benefits:

o Attempts to distribute quota (profit) relative to expense incurred by fleet (economic perspective).

4. Trip Limits- quota on how many fish a vessel can land during a specified length of time at sea.

? Problems:

o High costs of monitoring/enforcement

o High cost to the consumer due to regulatory inefficiency (see above)

o Need other forms of control to achieve goal of sustainability (such as limited entry or limited DAS)

? Benefits:

o Works well with other forms of management (as an additional measure of control)

o Large amounts of fishermen can participate

o Helps to even out stock landed throughout the year (season)

5. Individual Quotas

? Problems:

o Difficult to decide upon how the quota should e allocated

o Difficult to successfully take into account the needs of a variety vessels (expenditures v. income)

o High administrative costs

o Due to the high unit value of scallops- individual quotas increase the temptation to “black market” scallops

o Expensive to enforce

? Benefits:

o Using a combination of methods with quotas enables fishing effort to be held at a sustainable level.

o Fishermen can plan accordingly, producing a more balanced economy, maximizing revenues and profits

o Strong scallop economy leads to lower consumer prices

6. Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs)- quotas are doled out among members of the industry, who then have the choice to sell or keep their quota.

o Deemed inappropriate for Maine by many individuals due to intense controversy and the structure of the state industry

o Used in several scalloping nations (New Zealand, Canada)

o Large corporations with financial backing have the ability to buy quotas from smaller groups

o Can lead to a more stable industry (less competition)

o Small or individual fleets are frequently eliminated (out fished) in this system

Sustainability: Quotas are extremely effective methods of achieving and maintaining sustainability.

7. Enhancement

A. Re-seeding

? What is it?

The idea of re- seeding is that natural stock can be enhanced by collecting young scallops (referred to as “spat”) and nurturing them in an staged environment (artificial or wild) past the fragile juvenile stage, then releasing this new population to enhance the natural stock, and creating a larger population available to be fished.

? What does the process entail?

The requirements of re- seeding include collection of spat, growth of spat, and release of juveniles. A lot of manpower and is needed for successful re-seeding. A good example of this process occurring in Maine is the clam conservation program.

? Problems:

o Whether or not the program will work in Maine has yet to be determined

o Studies have not been preformed on the success rate of the released scallops.

o This program has the potential to be costly

o Many fishermen do not want to spend the time it takes to collect and release the spat.

o Spat collection is difficult because scallop reproductive habits are relatively unknown and collection attempts in the past have proved that locating spat can be difficult.

o There are many issues and arguments over who would do the work and who would have access to the resource.

o Areas would potentially be closed to other types of fishing

o High cost of enforcement and monitoring (so that no one could steal the scallops)

o Some are concerned that the program may evolve into aquaculture.

? Benefits:

o This program has been implemented successfully in many other countries.

o The potential for settlement and growth is increased

o Meat weights would be higher

o Creates sustainability in the resource

o Less competition because there is more of the resource

o Economic stability within the industry could be achieved (no more boom and bust cycles)

? Administration: A method of administration would be crucial for this programs success for several reasons:

1. Distribution of work

2. Allocation of the reseeded stock

3. Entry into the program

4. Obtaining funds

Types of management that could be implemented include regional councils (like the lobster zones), municipal government, and state government…

? Enforcement: would be expensive, because areas would have to be monitored (like clam wardens)

? Sustainability: With the cooperation of all those affected, the potential for enhancement to create sustainability is high.

B. Aquaculture:

? What is it? Involves enhancement, but is a more controlled way of harvesting the resource.

? What does it involve? Collected spat are placed in protective nets or cages, which are then placed back in the water column in areas of ideal growing conditions. Scallops are placed in ideal grow- out areas (usually protected) and predation is controlled so most scallop survive to harvestable size.

? Problems:

o Requires a lot of research and development

o Costly to startup (equipment, training)

o Unpopular because other interests (ex. property owners) do not want to see the scallop rafts

o Frequently linked in a negative manner to the term “big business”

o Is very different from the traditional style of fishery in Maine, which causes opposition.

o Much of the necessary scientific research necessary to create a successful program has not been preformed and would require extensive funding.

o Prevents other fishing interests from having access to an area

o Must be protected from thieves

o Issues of allocation/ entry abound

? Benefits:

o Can maintain a larger spawning biomass

o Increases production and ensures highest possible growth rates

o Works in many other countries

o Most efficient use of natural resource

o Provides more jobs than just the fishing industry (research and development)

o Generates more income than with traditional fishery

o Creates extremely steady and reliable market, which also has positive economic benefits

? Administration

See enhancement above

? Enforcement:

Even more difficult than enhancement because stock is not out in the wild, it is just laying there to be picked up- big temptation for anyone not involved within the scallop industry.

? Sustainability:

Has proved to be extremely sustainable in other countries, but would require a major adjustment for Maine coastal communities, one that might prove complicated in the face of tradition and private interests.

8.Regional Management:

The idea is to somehow divide the scallop population of Maine’s inner waters among several groups that would be in charge of administering policy for that area.

Problems:

? Unlike the lobster fishery, the scallop fishery is unevenly distributed along the coast; so new zones would have to be created to evenly distribute participants.

? Co- management is a labor intensive process

? The process has been proven costly and time consuming

? It is a cooperative process, and those affected by decisions must be willing to work with the management, which may require a change in attitude

? Those who choose not to participate will be excluded, and may attempt to work in opposition to the management.

? Administration of the established zones

? Access to the zones

? Roaming fishermen

? Would not help with the population of scallops unless other measures were implemented within the zones for control.

Benefits:

? Relationships between different groups become less aggressive and more cooperative

? Many different experiences and knowledge backgrounds are available to assist in creating policy that works best for the majority.

? Easily and comparatively inexpensive to enforce

? Management brought down to a community level

? Creates a sense of stewardship of the ocean environment for those involved.

Administration:

? A decision would have to be reached upon how to divide up the regions, and how the management of these regions would be organized (lobster zone councils could be referred to as a model). Other issues include voting rights, and how (and if?) those fishermen who prefer to “roam” could continue this practice. Finally, the issue of funds would need to be considered by each region (one idea to attain funds is a surcharge on the scalloping license, because it is relatively inexpensive at $89).

Enforcement:

? Each zone would be in charge of deciding which measures it wanted to adopt, and similarly, how to best enforce these measures

? As for the enforcement of zones themselves, designating symbols (letters, numbers, etc.) for each zone would enable boundaries to be enforced.