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(b) Domestic capacity 



As indicated earlier, determination of foreign allocations of stocks 

 is ostensibly based on OSY less projected domestic catch. In some fisheries 

 this residual may represent OSY minus domestic harvesting "capacity." In 

 other fisheries the capacity bottleneck may lie in the processing sector 

 in terms of seasonal plant capacity available or processing costs or market 

 restrictions. For example, fisheries development may be predicated on ex- 

 port markets which are subject to tariffs or import quotas in the receiving 

 nation. Current domestic/foreign shares in such cases may reflect neither 

 technical or cost efficiency of the domestic fleet but international trade 

 barriers. The economic data needed to evaluate such situations include 

 relative cost structures of domestic and foreign fleets, foreign vessel 

 subsidies, processing technology and costs, product transport costs, whole- 

 sale product prices in the importing nation, and trade barriers. It is 

 worth noting, however, that this type of decision-making situation has a low 

 recurrence frequency which implies that the economic data requirements are 

 best handled via an international market statistics program plus special 

 studies rather than as part of a continuing economic data base for OSY 

 management. It does illustrate, however, the types of economic toraplexities 

 inherent in implementation of the OSY concept. 



For the major established fisheries, it is questionable whether one can 

 anticipate major gains in productivity from extended jurisdiction in the 

 immediate future. This is because the stocks in question are currently at 

 low levels relative to historical levels and/or foreign fishing pressure is 

 modest or even non-existent. Recovery of stocks will take time. There is, 

 currently, considerable underutilization of capacity in harvest and process- 

 ing sectors and hence capacity bottlenecks are not anticipated in the short 



