A Spatial Allocation Model for the New England Fisheries

• Main Authors: Emerson, William, Anderson, James L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1989
• Subjects: trade; spatial equilibrium; fishery; policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Relations/Trade; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Brooklyn; Canada; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://purl.umn.edu/48505

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of (1) the new 1984 maritime boundary between the United States and Canada in the Northwest Atlantic and (2) the availability of the Brooklyn, New York, port as an alternative landing site on the distribution of domestic and imported groundfish (cod, haddock, and founder) from their point of capture or entry to their final market. A deterministic nonlinear programming model of the New England groundfish fishery was developed. The model maximizes net consumer surplus to determine the competitive equilibrium spatial allocation of harvesting, landing, processing, pricing, and consumption patterns. The model incorporates retail demand functions for cod, haddock, and flatfish for five demand regions; steaming costs, fishing costs, and capacity constraints for two vessel classes; transportation costs; constraints on port and processing capacity; and supply constraints for nine possible ocean fishing areas. The model was specified for three different cases, the first simulating 1984 conditions (under the original boundary and before the construction of the Brooklyn port), the second incorporating the effects of the new boundary, and the third allowing landings to occur in Brooklyn, New York. Results of the model are presented contrasting the solutions obtained for each case. Implications regarding resource, port, and processing use and consumption and pricing patterns are discussed.