Problems in Implementing New Fishery Management Programs 



Lawrence W. Van Meir' 

 ABSTRACT 



Even though an "optimum" management program, in an economic sense, may 

 never be achievable in the management of commercial fisheries, changes can be 

 initiated which will allow individual governments to realize economic gains over 

 the status quo in harvesting common property fishery resources. These changes 

 primarily involve jurisdictional issues; country quotas for international fisheries; 

 accord between the Federal government and the states; and a within-industry 

 system for allocating fishing rights. A system of vessel licensing is described with 

 reference to the ultimate use of licenses on units of fishing effort. 



The management of fisheries is intended 

 for the benefit of man, not fish, therefore, 

 effect of management upon fish stocks cannot 

 be regarded as beneficial per se. 



Martin D. Burkenroad 



These words by Burkenroad were published 

 almost 20 years ago. This statement is a par- 

 ticularly cogent phrasing of the crux of the 

 question of fishery management for it raises 

 both the question of what benefits will be 

 sought in managing fisheries and the question 

 of to which men will these benefits accrue. 

 These are the two 64 dollar questions in the 

 area of fishery management policy. 



In spite of Burkenroad's admonition that 

 the conservation of fish stocks per se cannot 

 be regarded as beneficial, and articles and 

 studies on the economic aspects of fishery 

 management that have appeared in the last 

 decade, most fishery management programs 

 remain oriented to the conservation of fish 

 stocks with no consideration of the economic 

 results that may be obtained. We still resort 

 to practices that either encourage the ineffi- 

 cient use of vessels, gear, and labor, or that 

 limit and impede the efficient use of these 

 economic inputs as a means of conserving 

 fish stocks. This does not mean that we do 

 not advocate conservation, but rather that 



' Staff Economist, National Canners Association. 



we state more completely our objectives for 

 the conservation program. 



Time is running out on us. With technologi- 

 cal development yielding a 3.5 to 4.0% annual 

 increase in the productivity of labor in the 

 economy, the fishing industry will find itself 

 in an ever increasing economic squeeze if 

 positive steps cannot be taken to include eco- 

 nomic objectives in fishery management. We 

 may continue to conserve fish stocks but it 

 will not be for the benefit of U.S fishermen or 

 fishing communities. 



The entire problem of fishery management 

 of course stems from the common property 

 status of fishery resources. In the past, when 

 scientific evidence indicated that a particular 

 fish stock was being overfished, or in danger 

 of being ovei-fished, the solution was to place 

 a quota on the fishery and/or add regulations 

 that either impaired the efficiency of fishing 

 gear, or in some cases required the use of 

 inefficient gear and fishing methods. The con- 

 sequences of such programs have been com- 

 pletely discussed in other articles and are 

 not the purview of this paper. Instead I want 

 to concentrate on the question of what must 

 be accomplished to change the situation, and 

 how it is to be done. 



Obviously, common property status must 

 be replaced by explicit fishing rights. More- 

 over, in the process of conserving fish stocks 

 we must do so by bringing these specific fishing 

 rights in balance with the allowable yield of 

 the resource in a manner that not only permits 

 efficiency but also actually promotes economic 



