Mark Yannone - Issues - Environment - Land Management Budget - Commercial Salmon Fishery Capacity Reduction

Issues - Environment - Land Management Budget - Commercial Salmon Fishery Capacity Reduction

"That way, someone will always come along and tell you to play the black 9 on the red 10."

Bob Maloit, Supervisor, Montana State Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks
On why to play solitaire when you are lost in the woods,
NY Times 17 Nov 84

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 had as one of its original aims expanding the U.S. commercial fishing fleet and displacing other nations that were fishing within 200 miles of the U.S. coast. By 1993, U.S. landings had risen by 50%, and employment on U.S. fishing vessels by 60%. This expansion was aided by rising prices and demand for fish products, government encouragement, and open access to most fisheries.

Both experience and economic models show that, in the absence of enforceable access or catch restrictions, competition among commercial fishermen results in an expansion of fishing capacity, and resultant fishing effort, beyond the sustainable limits of the fish population being pursued. This unsustainable harvesting causes catch rates to fall, inducing investments in more effective equipment to maintain short-term profits, regardless of the consequences for the fish stocks. The absence of individual property rights to the fishery resource effectively deters individual fishermen from taking action based on a long-term view of fish stocks, because individual decreases in short-term landings from the fishery are likely to be taken by current competitors or new entrants. Attempts to regulate the total amount of fish captured (e.g., through total allowable catch [TAC] restrictions) may induce further investment, as the fastest vessels with the best equipment will probably fare best in the "race for fish" that usually results from closed seasons or overall harvest quotas.

Overcapitalization -- investments in fishing capacity that are currently or are likely to become idle for significant periods -- within the world's fishing industries has been well documented, and is a phenomenon seen within most U.S. fisheries. The legacy of this overcapitalization is now becoming apparent: by 1995, 56 of the 201 U.S. fish stocks (28%), were classified as "overutilized," including almost all of the higher-valued species.4 In several areas, aid has been provided to mitigate local economic distress following fishery collapses and/or complete bans or major harvest reductions to stave off commercial extinction of fish stocks. The spiral of increasing effort and diminishing returns (i.e., rent dissipation) has helped to fuel increases in fish prices that reduce benefits to consumers and processors; has shifted many fish populations toward smaller, younger fish that typically command lower prices; and in many cases has reduced yields far below achievable levels.

Congress has considered several approaches to address concerns about overcapitalization and excess capacity in the fishing industry. The economic aid and capacity reduction programs discussed in this document are some possible approaches to reducing overcapitalization and overfishing. Alternative approaches, such as community development quotas and individual transferable quotas, seek to meet some of the same objectives, but are not discussed in this report.5 Some of these alternatives may be government programs, akin to capacity reduction programs, but others attempt to use market forces to address these concerns.

Find out more about the Commercial Salmon Fishery Capacity Reduction Act by clicking HERE

Return to the Land Management budget by clicking HERE


......	Site by webDedication webDesign Studios © 2002-2007 Mark Yannone. All rights reserved.