A methodology for evaluating the economic impact on directed fisheries of by-catch losses in the foreign and joint-venture groundfish fisheries

• Main Author: Queirolo, Lewis E.
• Other Authors: Edwards, John A., Johnston, Richard S., Brown, William G., Agriculture and Resource Economics, Oregon State University. Graduate School
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Oregon State University
• Subjects: Fishery management; International > Economic aspects; Fish kills; Alaska; Tanner crab
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/zk51vk76z

The principal objective of this analysis is the development of a methodological approach that would permit a more complete evaluation of the physical and economic consequences of prohibited species by-catch (PSC) losses, such as occur in the harvest of groundfish. To achieve efficient management of the several marine species involved in the groundfish and associated PSC controversy, U.S. regulatory authorities sought to obtain estimates of the probable economic and physical impacts attributable to these harvesting activities. Early efforts were based upon the assumption that all PSC losses would have accrued to directed fisheries in the year subsequent to that in which the by-caught specimen would have been legally harvestable. The present analysis hypothesizes that substantial latent economic costs, associated with foregone reproductive potential, are also attributable to PSC losses and incorrectly ignored by previous assessment methodologies. To test this assertion an alternative methodology was developed and empirically applied to the case of Pacific salmon PSCs in the Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries. The empirical results demonstrate the presence of substantial latent losses associated with salmon PSC reproductive potential foregone. Although preliminary, these results confirm the presence of the hypothesized long run adverse economic impacts on directed salmon fisheries associated with a single season's PSC interception. Similar results would be expected in the case of Pacific halibut, king crab, and Tanner crab, although substantial research on the biological impacts of PSC losses on these species remains to be done. Refinement of the economic components of the proposed model and improvement of the primary data upon which it relies will, likewise, involve substantial investments in further research.