Rent loss in mismanaged world fisheries has been suggested by some international organizations as a measure of the economic loss involved. How appropriate is this in view of standard welfare measures, such as loss of utility or willingness to pay? Results due to Samuelson and Weitzman indicating that users of common property resources will lose from a transition from open access to sole ownership unless rents are redistributed are shown not to be generally valid in a general equilibrium setting.

JEL Classification Codes: Q22, D61

In this article, we analyse to what extent the change in the Danish fishery policy from an effort restriction based management system (ERIQ) to a system based on individual transferable quotas (ITQ) has improved the creation of resource rent. Fisheries economic theory shows that ITQ-based fisheries in a perfect world will be efficient and resource rents will be larger than in fisheries regulated by various forms of entry restrictions and effort regulations. The results presented in this article and evidence from the entire Danish fishery support this conclusion. However, the analyses also show that the resource rent in an ITQ-based fishery might not differ very much from the resource rent in a well-managed fishery based on effort restrictions.

JEL Classification Codes: Q22, Q28

Fishing capacity has been an important national and international topic for over a decade. Led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), an international effort was undertaken in 1998 to define and measure fishing capacity, during which three methods to measure fishing capacity were identified–data envelopment analysis (DEA), stochastic production frontiers (SPF), and the peak-to-peak approach. Most estimates of capacity have been carried out using DEA. This study introduces “order-m” frontiers and the free disposal hull (FDH) as additional methods to estimate fishing capacity, and compares capacity estimates for a group of fishing vessels based on the DEA, FDH, and order-m models. Our results show a large difference between capacity estimates using DEA when compared to the other two methods.

JEL Classification Codes: Q22, D24

Self management of natural resources has started to gain increasing attention as an alternative tool to command-and-control and market-based tools, but the fundamental question remains: is self management economically beneficial such that it should be promoted in the first place? This article uses a unique set of survey data from South Korea and applies an empirical strategy to provide some of the first quantitative evidence that self management is benefiting the fishermen. We find that positive benefits of fishery self management—an increase in fishery revenue and reduction in cost—are perceived by member fishermen, which is a good start considering the average number of years since the establishment of these self-management groups is only about seven. Empirical results of the magnitude of change in profit showed some consistent results, although the estimates were not as robust. These results suggest that the impact of fishery self management is still in progress. Thus, the government should maintain its current position to support self management as the country's fishery management policy.

JEL Classification Codes: Q22, D71

Aquaculture is a controversial issue in the U.S.A., and to what extent U.S. aquaculture stakeholders support its expansion determines the future of this industry. This paper compares the perceptional differences of aquaculture stakeholders in the U.S.A. and Norway, and investigates how their perceptions influence their decisions to support aquaculture development. Original data were collected from an online survey of key aquaculture stakeholders and experts in both countries. Based on multinomial logit models, all of the perception variables contribute significantly to the likelihood that an aquaculture stakeholder is willing to support aquaculture expansion. These findings provide useful information for U.S. and Norwegian aquaculture policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders regarding how perceptions influence decisions; the key perceptional differences between the U.S.A. and Norway; and how policies, practices, and education could change perceptions of aquaculture stakeholders and thereby the future of U.S. and Norwegian aquaculture.

JEL Classification Codes: Q2, Q58, Q5, Q22, Q28

Recent media reports have documented the fraudulent mislabeling of grouper at several Florida restaurants whereby customers were sold lower-valued species instead of grouper. This article uses data from 400 seafood eating Floridians to determine awareness of reported substitution, effects on consumption, and willingness to pay (WTP) for a product integrity labeling program. Using a novel frequency-based polychotomous choice (PC) contingent valuation format, designed for products that are purchased often, WTP is estimated based on level of commitment to the product integrity labeling program. Sixty-two percent of respondents were aware of the reported substitution, 57% of those changed their seafood consumption, and respondents were willing to pay an average premium of $0.83 to $3.18 for grouper entrees at restaurants with a product integrity label. The factors that helped to explain the change in consumption and WTP were identified and can be used to help improve current labeling and marketing efforts.

JEL Classification Codes: Q22, D12, Q13

The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is an endangered seabird that nests in coastal forests from Alaska to California. The value of these forests for human use, coupled with the difficulty of determining whether a forest stand is occupied by nesting marbled murrelets, poses a dilemma for land managers. Should they implement a costly survey to gather information on whether a potential nest site is occupied, or should they allow human use, effectively assuming the site is unoccupied? This article demonstrates the application of the partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) as a framework for addressing this question. The analysis yields a policy in which the optimal action is a function of the decision-maker's subjective probability that a potential nest site is occupied by marbled murrelets. By incorporating stochastic state dynamics and the choice of whether to invest in learning, the POMDP provides a formal representation of adaptive management when active learning is possible.

JEL Classification Codes: Q22, Q23

The importance of essential fish habitat in supporting commercial fisheries has received increasing attention in recent years. Bottom trawling is known to cause particularly destructive damage to habitat that is effectively non-renewable, such as cold water corals. This paper applies the production function approach to estimate the link between cold water corals and redfish in Norway. Both the carrying capacity and growth rate of redfish are found to be functions of cold water coral habitat and thus cold water corals can be considered an essential fish habitat. The paper also estimates a facultative relationship between cold water coral and redfish stocks. The essential habitat model shows the best fit to the data. Comparative statics of an essential habitat indicate an approximate annual loss in harvest of between 11 and 29% within the bounds of coral decline estimated by scientists. In terms of policy, our results indicate that essential fish habitat protection should be considered when managing commercially important species.

JEL Classification Code: Q22