Guillen_525.pdf

• Main Authors: Guillen, Jordi, Carvalho, Natacha, Natale, Fabrizio
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/conference_proceedings_or_journals/nk322g272

Fuel costs are one of the main cost items fishing fleets have to face, even when fuel prices for the fishing sector are often lower than public prices, as in many other production sectors. Fuel prices paid by the fishing sector are often exempted of certain taxes. Fuel subsidies, such as tax exemptions, have received significant attention, while taxes themselves may have not received the deserved attention lately. However, both, taxes and subsidies, can distort production and markets. In fact, low taxation levels behave similar to subsidies, and can be considered as such. This happens when fuel consumption is charged with a tax lower than the externalities they generate (e.g. related to pollution, health risks and global warming). In this paper we investigate the effects of fuel taxes and subsidies (using the tax exemption and low taxation level approaches) on the economic performance and overcapacity of the EU fleet operating in the Northeast Atlantic.