Captains' Response to a Declining Stock as Anticipated in the Surfclam (Spisula solidissima) Fishery

The Atlantic surfclam, Spisula solidissima, sustains an important fishery in the northeastern US. Warming of the Mid-Atlantic Bight has resulted in contraction of the region supporting the fishery accompanied declining recruitment that has reduced stock abundance.  Simulations were conducted to examine the fishery dynamics during an extended period of low recruitment followed by stock recovery. A model simulating a spatially and temporally variable resource harvested by boats uniquely specified by performance and captain’s behavioral proclivities was employed. During the simulated excursion in abundance, LPUE declined as lower abundance required an extended time at sea to catch a full load. Vessels more frequently returned to port without a full load. Captains expanded their geographic range of interest, steaming farther from port in an effort to maintain LPUE. In these simulations, no captains' behaviors prevented a collapse in vessel economics at low abundance, but certain behaviors limited the degree and duration of economic dislocation. Use of survey data, available every three years, significantly improved performance as did moderate searching. Other behaviors incurred penalties. Communication and reliance on a long period of catch history reduced performance because too much information was out of date during a time of rapidly changing conditions.