What is Good Fisheries Management?

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What is Good Fisheries Management?

• Gunnar Knapp
• Professor of Economics
• Institute of Social and Economic Research
• University of Alaska Anchorage

Presented at BC Seafood Alliance Summit
IV Vancouver, British Columbia November 1, 2005
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CONCLUSIONSGood fisheries management

1. Cares about the economic health of the seafood
   industry
2. Understands how fisheries management affects
   costs and value throughout the seafood industry.
3. Creates conditions that allow an economically
   healthy seafood industry to develop

These are not the only conditions for good
fisheries management--but they are essential
conditions for good fisheries management.
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The Alaska Department of Fish and Game describes
Alaskas salmon management as a story of
success.
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But is Alaskas salmon management reallya story
of success?
Is successful fisheries management only about
having abundant and healthy resources?
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Can Alaska salmon management be a story of
success whenthe value of Alaskas salmon
harvests has fallen by more than half since the
1980s?
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Can Alaska salmon management be a story of
success whenthe value of Alaska salmon limited
entry permits has plummeted?
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Can Alaska salmon management be a story of
success whenthe Governor declares salmon
dependent areas aneconomic disaster area?
Western Alaska fisheries declared economic
disaster area for fifth time in six years.
Headline in Anchorage Daily News, August 24,
2002.
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Can Alaska salmon management be a story of
success whenpress articles ask if our salmon
fleet is bound for extinction?
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People used to be proud to be a gill netter.
People now ask you what you do, and you dont
want to tell them. They ask you why you are an
idiot. Source Interviews with Cook Inlet
salmon fishermen conducted by the University of
Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic
Research, 2003.
Can Alaska salmon management be a story of
success whenmany fishermen have lost pride in
what they do?
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Having healthy and abundant fisheries
resourcesis not all that matters.It also
matters how much value we derivefrom our
fisheries resources.It also matters whether we
havean economically healthy seafood industry.
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Conclusion 1Good fisheries management cares
about the economic health of the seafood
industry.
An economically healthy seafood industry is not
the only goal of fisheries managementbut it
should be a major goal of fisheries management
anywhere that commercial fishing is a major part
of how fish resources are used.
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New Zealands fisheries managersunderstand that
the value mattersOur goal is tomaximize the
valueNew Zealanders obtain fromthe sustainable
use of fisheries resources and protection of the
aquatic environment.Source New Zealand
Ministry of Fisheries Annual Report
2004/2005www.fish.govt.nz/information/05annual/mo
f-annual-report-2005.pdf
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How does fisheries management affectthe economic
health of the seafood industry?
Wasnt the decline in salmon values caused by
competition from farmed salmon? How can fishery
managers be responsible for fish prices?
If fisheries managers kept Alaskas salmon
resources healthy, didnt they do their job?
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The economic health of the seafood industry
depends upon the net value we derive from seafood
production.It depends not only on production but
also on prices and costs.
Net Value Production x Prices Costs
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A traditional perspective is that fisheries
managers job is to ensure production (healthy
resources supporting sustainable harvests)but
that prices and costs are someone elses concern.

Beyond managers responsibility or control
FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
NATURE
MARKETS
TECHNOLOGY
Net Value Production x Prices Costs
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The reality is that fisheries management directly
affects prices and costsat all levels of the
seafood industry.
Beyond managers responsibility or control
FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
NATURE
MARKETS
TECHNOLOGY
Net Value Harvests x Prices Costs
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Fisheries management directly affects prices and
costsat all levels of the seafood industry in
many ways

• by affecting when fish are harvested and
  processed
• by affecting how fish are harvested and processed
• by affecting incentives of harvesters and
  processors
• to keep costs low
• to keep fish quality high
• to invest in harvesting and processing
• to invest in marketing and product development

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By affecting when fish are harvested,fisheries
management affects

• Whether fishing boats, tenders and processing
  plants can be used efficiently
• Whether fishing, tendering, processing and
  transportation capacity is sufficient to allow
  production of high-valued products (like fresh
  fish) or whether fish have to be processed into
  lower-valued products (like canned and frozen
  fish)
• Whether fish can be delivered when the market
  wants them
• Whether buyers can count on reliable and
  continuous supply

When fish are harvested critically affects costs
and prices at all levels of the seafood industry.
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By affecting how fish are harvested,fisheries
management affects

• How fish are handled from the time they leave the
  water to the time they reach the processing plant
• Whether it is possible to deliver live fish to
  the processing plant (like fish farmers do)
• The quality of fish products that reach the final
  consumerand what they will pay for them
• Whether fish harvesting can be traceable

How fish are harvested critically affects costs
and prices at all levels of the seafood industry.
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Bruising as fish are caught in and removed from
gillnets
How these Alaska Bristol Bay salmon are
harvestedwhich is mandated by fisheries
managementdirectly and significantly limits
their potential market value.
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Fisheries management directly affects
incentivesat every level of the seafood industry

• to keep costs low
• to keep fish quality and value high
• to invest in harvesting, processing, and marketing

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If fisheries management creates a race for
fishrather than providing for secure access
rights to fishfishermen and processors have no
choice but to focus on catching and processing
fish fastrather than on catching and processing
fish in ways that keep costs low and quality and
value high.
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Alaska fisheries management created a race for
fish in Alaskas Bristol Bay salmon
fishery.These fishermen are focused on catching
fish as fast as possiblerather than on keeping
costs low.This was always crazy.It is really
crazy when fuel prices are at record levels.
Photograph by Bart Eaton
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Fisheries management puts these Alaska Bristol
Bay fishermen in a race for fish. They have no
choice but to focus on catching fish fast rather
than handling them well.
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If fisheries management leaves fishermen and
processors uncertain about whether they will have
consistent and reliable access to fish resources,
they will not make the investments in harvesting,
processing and marketing that are vital to an
economically healthy seafood industry.Fishing
and processing is inherently risky because of
natural risk (low run years) and market risk (low
prices).If management creates additional
political risk, it canmake long-term investments
impossible to justify.
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Conclusion 2Good fisheries management
understands how fisheries management affects
costs and value throughout the seafood industry.
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How can fisheries management lower costs and
increase value?
Traditional perspective Ignore effects of
management on costs and prices
This approach is far more likely to succeed
This approach is an improvement
Try to micro-manage for lower costs and higher
prices
Create conditions which allow the seafood
industry to reduce costs and increase value
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Clear and secure rights to fish create conditions
which allow the seafood industry to reduce costs
and increase prices

• They create incentives to protect fish resources
• They create incentives to reduce costs
• They create incentives to increase value

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There are many approaches to creating clear and
secure rights to fish.

• Individual quotas
• BC and Alaska halibut and sablefish
• Assignment of fishing rights to harvesting
  cooperatives
• Alaska Bering Sea pollock fishery
• Assignment of fishing rights to community
  organizations
• Alaska Community Development Quota program

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Most fisheries that have adopted clear and
secureaccess rights are doing well.

• BC and Alaska halibut and sablefish
• Alaska Bering Sea pollock fishery
• Alaska CDQ fisheries
• BC and Alaska salmon

Many fisheries that have not adopted clear and
secureaccess rights are NOT doing well.
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New Zealands adoption of quota management for
all major fisheries has led to an economically
healthy seafood industry.The quota management
systemhas enabled New Zealand to tackle
over-fishing, improveefficiency, increase the
value obtained from fisheries andaddress
concerns about Maori fishing rights.
Fisheriesmanagement is underpinned by good
science and goodcooperation between the Ministry
and the fishing sector.Source New Zealand
Ministry of Fisheries Annual Report
2004/2005www.fish.govt.nz/information/05annual/mo
f-annual-report-2005.pdf
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Conclusion 3Good fisheries management
creates conditions that allow an economically
healthy seafood industry to develop.
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Am I saying that fisheries management should only
care about industry and profits?What about
jobs? What about rural communities?What about
people?
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An economically healthy seafood industryIs an
essential goal for good fisheries managementbut
it is not the only goal of fisheries
management.I believe that good fishery
management also requiresfair and equitable
allocation of fish in ways that benefit people
and communities.Clear and secure rights to
fisheries can be a powerful mechanism for
benefiting rural people and communitiesas they
have been with Alaskas Community Development
Quota (CDQ) program.
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Sustainable, profitable fisheries are more
likely to deliver long-term benefits to rural
communities, including aboriginal communities,
than unsustainable, uneconomic fisheries.--BC
Seafood Alliance, What Do We Want From BCs
Commercial Fisheries? The Case for Reform (May
2005)