Bioeconomic Models and the Allocation of Fish Stocks

Allocation of marine fish stocks between competing user groups has always been a difficult and contentious issue for management bodies in the United States (US).  In the past, allocations have been set using historic catch data, if they are formally set at all.  Often, the commercial sector fishes under a hard total allowable catch (TAC) set by netting out on what managers think the recreational anglers will catch next year based on catch history.  Often, for tightly regulated stocks, recreational anglers catch more fish than planned resulting in closed seasons and tighter regulations.  Recreational anglers feel slighted because, according to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) studies, recreational expenditures and economic impacts exceed commercial landed value and economic impacts in mixed use fisheries.  Many feel that allocating more fish to the recreational sector will increase the economic value of fisheries to the US and enhance the economic vitality of coastal communities.  Changing coastal demographics are exacerbating the issue through increased recreational effort and increased political pressure to improve recreational fishing quality. The Magnuson-Steven Reauthorization Act (MSRA) opened the door to using economic criteria in the allocation debate.  MSRA also called for the setting of annual catch limits (ACLs) that many management bodies are interpreting as hard TACs that must be set for each fishing sector.  This implies that an allocation decision will necessarily be made in setting the ACLs.  In addition, NMFS’ new catch share policy calls for conducting allocation analyses using economic criteria before instituting a catch share program in mixed use fisheries and re-evaluating those allocations every five years.  Can these mandates to allocate fish to maximize net benefits to the nation be met with current data and modeling techniques?  One thing is for certain; bioeconomic models will play an important role in what may become one of the most pressing fishery management issues seen in recent years.  This presentation will discuss the current political climate, the data available and the techniques needed to answer this challenging issue.