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The Economic Freedom Network
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About the Authors
Ragnar Arnason received his Ph.D. in the economics of natural resources at
the University of British Columbia in 1984 and has been professor of Fisheries Economics
at the University of Iceland since 1989. He has published extensively on fisheries
economics: his publications include articles in the Canadian Journal of Economics, Marine
Resource Economics, Marine Policy, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. He has
contributed to a number of books and collections on fisheries management and has edited
several books. One of his recent publications is The Icelandic Fisheries: Evolution and
Management of a Fishing Industry (Blackwell 1995). He is also known internationally for
advising on fisheries policy and management.
Elizabeth Brubaker is the executive director of Environment Probe, a
division of the Energy Probe Research Foundation. She is the author of Property Rights in
the Defence of Nature, published in 1995 by Earthscan, and contributed a chapter on the
environmental implications of establishing property rights in fish to Taking Ownership:
Property Rights and Fisheries Management on the Atlantic Coast. Ms Brubaker has written on
a broad range of environmental issues including water quality, water pricing, and the
siting of controversial facilities.
Michael De Alessi is a research associate and coordinator of the Center
for Private Conservation, a project of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington,
DC. He received a B.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems from
Stanford University and an M.A. in Marine Policy from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and
Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. He is author of the private conservation
case studies Oysters and Willapa Bay and Artificial Reef Building in Alabama and Florida
and his articles on marine resources have appeared in such publications as New Scientist,
International Herald Tribune, Journal of Commerce, and The Washington Times.
Ken Erikson is a third generation commercial fisherman with experience in
salmon trolling, seining, and gillnetting, trawling, and longlining all species of ground
fish. He is a past director of the Pacific Trollers Association and currently serves on
the Halibut Advisory Board. He is also alternate Director on Ground fish Hook and Line
Advisory Board. He is President of Pacific Coast Fishing Vessel Owners' Guild, which has
representation on C.F.I.C., H.I.A.B., and H.A.B. He also sat on the Roundtable as a troll
representative.
Laura Jones is the Environment Economist at The Fraser Institute. She
joined The Fraser Institute in 1996 to develop the Institute's policy on the environment
and has recently organized a series of conferences on mining, forestry and fishing in
British Columbia. Ms Jones has published articles in Fraser Forum and the Ottawa Citizen,
and edited the Fraser Institute Critical Bulletin Environmental Indicators for Canada and
the United States. She received her B.A. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College in
Massachusetts, and her M.A. in Economics from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
Prior to joining the Institute she taught economics at various colleges throughout the
Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and is currently teaching Economic Issues at the
British Columbia Institute of Technology.
Paul Macgillivray is chief of the economic and commercial analysis group
in the Pacific Region of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. For the past fourteen
years, Mr. Macgillivray has worked as a fisheries economist throughout Canada (Vancouver,
Ottawa and Halifax) and in the late 1980s he spent four months with the New Zealand
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Tom McClurg, General Manager of Policy and Operations at the Treaty of
Waitangi Fisheries Commission has particular responsibilities for the management of the
Commission's fisheries assets and consultation to develop an "optimum" model for
allocation of those assets to Iwi (tribes). He is also closely involved with arranging the
annual leasing of Commission quota and the issues of Iwi representation, Iwi
organizational structures and business development. He remains an active participant in
wider fisheries issues such as the ongoing review of the Fisheries Act and prior to his
present position spent four years with MAF Policy (fisheries) as Manager, Strategic
Policy. His previous experience and training is in the field of natural resource
management.
Birgir Runolfsson received a B.S. in Economics from Lewis and Clark
College, Oregon, USA, in 1986, an M.A. in Economics in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Economics from
George Mason University, Virginia, USA, in 1991. He has been associate professor of
Economics at the University of Iceland since 1991. Mr. Runolfsson is the author of
numerous works on the use of individual transferable quotas in the Icelandic fishing
industry, and has also contributed articles to journals such as Constitutional Political
Economy.
Paul Spout is the Director, Operations Branch, Regional Headquarters,
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Region. He has worked for the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans as Senior Biologist responsible for Salmon, Shellfish, and Herring
and as the Area Manager for both the North Coast and the South Coast divisions. He holds
an M.B.A. and a B.Sc. from Simon Fraser University, and a Technology Diploma from the
British Columbia Institute of Technology.
Michael Walker is the Executive Director of The Fraser Institute. Born in
Newfoundland in 1945, he received his B.A. (summa) from St. Francis Xavier University in
1966 and completed the work for his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Western
Ontario in 1969. Dr Walker writes regularly for daily newspapers and financial
periodicals. His articles have also appeared in technical journals in Canada, the United
States and Europe; these include The American Economic Review, the Canadian Journal of
Economics, Canadian Public Policy, Health Affairs, and the Canadian Tax Journal. He has
written or edited 40 books on economic matters.
Introduction
Laura Jones
Today, only a few years after the collapse of the Atlantic cod stocks, the evidence
that the Pacific salmon fishery is facing a similar crisis is overwhelming. Conservation
and the fleet's economic viability are now at stake. The federal government's solution is
to implement yet another program of fleet reduction and license restriction in an effort
to reduce the total number of fish caught by Pacific fishermen. There is no evidence,
however, that this plan will solve the long-term problems plaguing the industry. If the
Pacific salmon is not to suffer the fate of the Atlantic cod, an alternative to the
government's solution must be found.
Fortunately, there is an alternative. Fisheries managers in Iceland, New Zealand, and many
other countries around the world have come to understand that poor economic performance,
depleted stocks and overcapitalized fleets are a direct result of the way in which
property rights are handled in fisheries. To solve many of the problems that now face the
BC salmon fishery, managers around the world have abandoned bureaucratic management that
regulates the amount of effort that goes into fishing in favour of "individual
transferable quotas" (ITQs), a system that grants fishermen rights to a quantity of
fish before they are caught.
This book will suggest that a change in policy is needed in order to promote the
conservation of salmon and to eliminate costly subsidies to the fishing industry by the
taxpayer. There are four sections. First, a fisherman and a fisheries manager address the
question of whether individual transferable quotas could be used to foster improved salmon
management. In the second section, the authors present examples of experience with ITQ
management in fisheries in British Columbia, Iceland, and New Zealand. The third section
proposes a plan for a pilot project applying individual quotas (IQs) to the Pacific salmon
industry. In the fourth section, it is suggested that quotas are not so much a radical
solution as the first step in the evolution of stronger property rights for the protection
and conservation of fisheries.
Symptoms of a serious problem: the current state of the salmon fishery in
British Columbia
The federal department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has a mandate to manage salmon
resources for the people of Canada. Their conservation goals include "to conserve and
protect . . . fish stocks and habitat for future generations." Their management goals
include ensuring the best use of the resource and "maximizing the financial,
cultural, and aesthetic benefits to the people of Canada" (DFO 1992). These are noble
and worthy goals. But depleted stocks, unresolved conflicts between sports, commercial and
aboriginal fishers, and an industry that needs continual subsidization to stay in business
all indicate that we have not yet found a way to achieve those objectives.
Conservation
The federal government's recent record on conservation reveals an alarming
trend. In 1994, over two million fish did not make it to the Fraser River spawning
grounds. A review of the case of the disappearing fish led to the conclusion that 12 more
hours of commercial fishing would have wiped out the province's most important sockeye
run. In 1995, there was a disparity of 6.9 million between the 10.7 million pre-season
forecast and the 3.8 million fish estimated actually to have made the post-season Fraser
River sockeye run. The predictions for 1996 were so bad that the Pacific Salmon
Revitalization Plan was implemented. (This is commonly referred to as the "Mifflin
Plan," after Fred Mifflin, the current minister of Fisheries and Oceans.) The poor
returns in 1996 meant closures and new restrictions on commercial fishermen as well as
reduced fishing opportunities for sports and aboriginal fishers.
Another alarming indicator of a conservation crisis is the loss in biodiversity of salmon
stocks. According to Carl Walters, a fish biologist at the University of British Columbia,
there has been "a profound reduction, by 50 percent or more since 1950 for all salmon
species, in the number of populations that you would have to look at to see most of the
production" (Walters 1995: 9). The decline and extinction of many small salmon
populations means there are fewer remaining stocks. This is not just a matter of numbers.
A smaller gene pool is more vulnerable to disease and to changes in ocean conditions.
Economic viability of the industry
The evidence is clear that the fishing industry is facing an economic crisis
as both the conservation crisis and competition from farmed salmon intensify. In 1994-95,
approximately $3.4 million was generated from commercial salmon license fees while the
department of Fisheries and Oceans spent about $49 million managing the salmon fishery
(DFO 1995: 2). The taxpayer subsidized the management of the fleet to the tune of $45.6
million. Rather than reaping some of the benefits from the resource held in its name, the
public must pay for that privilege. But the subsidies do not stop there.
There has been a dramatic decline in the income of the salmon fleet due to poor salmon
returns, overcapitalization and the fall in salmon prices due to the increased supply of
both wild and farmed fish on world markets. This decline in income translates into
increases in Employment Insurance (EI) payments to fishermen. Since 1980, there has been
an increase in the number of claims and in the amount paid out in benefits. In 1994,
despite changes to the Employment Insurance act that, by increasing qualifying periods and
reducing the length of benefit periods, made it more difficult to receive benefits, 6,530
fishing claims were allowed. The amount paid out was $63.7 million (DFO 1995: 4).
Estimates from Human Resources Development Canada indicate that $1.85 is paid out for
every $1 in premiums collected in the Pacific Region fishing sector.
The problem with salmon management in British Columbia
The basic problem that fisheries managers face is that fish are a common
property resource. Fish do not belong to anyone until they are caught and so there is
incentive to catch as many fish as possible before someone else claims them. This means
that although sports, aboriginal, and commercial fishers care deeply about the long-term
viability of the resource, they do not face any short-term incentives to conserve. If a
fisherman lets a fish go, he has no guarantee that that fish will make it up a river to
spawn. Rather, it is likely that another fisherman will catch it.
There is, of course, no conservation problem as long as fishing power is low enough that a
sufficient number of fish will escape up the rivers to spawn. But, as the number of people
who want to fish increases and the technology that they use improves, future harvests
become threatened. In 1969, DFO tried to deal with this problem by limiting the number of
licenses issued. Since then, management has focused on effort restrictions-limiting the
number of opportunities to fish and restricting the equipment used to fish-in an attempt
to control the number of fish caught. The Mifflin Plan, announced in March of 1996, is
simply an attempt to renovate this exhausted strategy. In addition to buying back
licenses, the plan reduces the area that a license holder may fish and requires that he
use only one type of gear (seine, gillnet or troll).
The reason that buying back licenses, gear restrictions, and other forms of effort
controls have failed to protect stocks and create an economically viable industry is that
they control the number of fish caught indirectly rather than directly. Effort controls
are ineffective because fishermen find ways to circumvent them. For example, when length
limits were imposed on boats in an attempt to reduce the number of fish a boat could take
in, boats with wider and deeper hulls came into use. When fisheries managers reduce
fishing opportunities, commercial fishers respond by increasing the capability of their
boats to catch fish quickly. Thus, effort controls only reduce the number of fish caught
temporarily. As fishermen circumvent restrictions and technology improves, fisheries
managers are forced to buy back licenses and increase the restrictions on effort.
Fishermen are then compelled to overcapitalize: they spend extra money equipping boats
with gear that does not increase the total catch but does increase the competitiveness of
the individual fisher over other fishermen. In the commercial salmon fishery, capital
costs have increased dramatically while production, although highly variable, has remained
below one hundred thousand tonnes.[Commercial salmon landings since
1951 have tended to remain between 50,000 and 100,000 tonnes. In 1985 and 1986 landings
slightly exceeded 100,000 tonnes. The capital value of the fleet increased by a factor of
3.6 between 1969 and 1988 (DFO 1992). ]
In most industries, we value competitiveness since it means firms try to lower their
costs; this, in turn, gives consumers better products at lower prices. There are no such
gains in the fisheries, however, where competition takes the form of "racing,"
i.e, increasing the effort to catch fish before another fisher can claim them. From an
economic standpoint, this is extremely inefficient since the extra money spent racing does
not add to the total number of fish caught but merely increases the costs of fishing.
In addition to wasting resources and not providing any conservation incentives, racing for
the fish makes fishing more dangerous, as fishermen take unnecessary risks by fishing or
travelling during inclement weather in an effort to make the most of the reduced fishing
opportunities available. According to the Canadian Coast Guard Rescue Co-Ordination Centre
in Victoria, in 1993 there were 378 marine incidents involving commercial fishing vessels
and 13 lives were lost. In 1994, 14 lives were lost; in 1995, 11 lives were lost.
Protecting a way of life
Ironically, many fishermen do not look at the competitive race for the fish in the way
that economists do. Commercial fishing is an exhilarating form of high-stakes gambling and
competing against other fishermen is part of the game. The free-for-all hunting lifestyle
passed on from generation to generation partly explains why the argument for subsidies to
"protect the way of life" carries so much weight in the fishing industry. Both
the public and the fishermen themselves see the profession as one of the last vestiges of
a hunter-gatherer society. For many fishermen, the buy-back and restrictions on fishing
areas remain more attractive than alternatives such as individual quotas because they
allow the thrill of the chase. Controls are unsuccessful for the same reason that they are
popular; they do not eliminate the race for fish. In fact, controls add to the complexity
of the race as, to stay ahead, fishers have to find new ways to circumvent the
restrictions on their efforts.
But, the way of life in the fishery must change. Protecting the way of life in the fishery
does not come without costs; it occurs at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. This is
a luxury we do not afford most industries. Although quotas would fundamentally change the
nature of the fishing game, the game is bound to change, whether or not quotas are
introduced, since the current path is not sustainable and in the end, no fish will mean no
fishing industry at all. One only has to look at Newfoundland and the collapse of the
North Atlantic cod stocks to see the dangers of trying to maintain a way of life and
maximize employment at the expense of a natural resource.
A promising solution: ITQs
Although there are variations in the way quota systems are set up, the basic idea is to
give participants a right to a portion of the total allowable catch (TAC). The total
allowable catch is the total number of fish that can be harvested in a season without
harming the resource. An ITQ system is a move towards allowing those who benefit directly
from the industry to have a claim to the fish before they are caught. Once the total
allowable catch is set, fishermen know how many fish they can catch, either in poundage or
number of fish. The initial allocation of quotas is usually done through a formula that
captures historical catch and commitment to the fishery.
Under a quota system, since the individual fisher knows ahead of time how many fish he is
allowed to catch, he is not competing with other fishermen and there is no race for the
fish. This has several important implications.
1 Quotas eliminate inefficient capitalization. Instead of working towards maximizing the
ability to catch lots of fish in a short period of time before other fishers catch them,
fishermen can concentrate on maximizing their profits by increasing the quality of their
catch and keeping their costs low.
2 Quotas usually mean fishermen can get better prices for their catch as they can spend
less time on the fishing grounds and more time marketing their product. In addition, the
longer fishing seasons that usually go with quotas mean that fish can be landed over a
longer period of time and sold fresh rather than frozen. Fresh fish sell for higher
prices.
3 The reduction in fishing costs, the result of not having to spend money to race to catch
fish, increases fishermen's incomes and saves resources.
4 Directly setting a limit on the number of fish that each fisherman can take is a better
way to conserve resources than indirectly limiting the number of fish caught through
effort controls. Giving each fisherman a direct stake in the industry also gives them an
incentive to conserve fish.
5 A system of individual transferable quotas can create an economically viable fishery.
Since the quota shares can be bought and sold, the most efficient fishers will acquire
more fishing rights. Less efficient fishers will be compensated and the taxpayer will no
longer be asked to help fund buy-back programs.
6 Fishing seasons are safer under a quota system. Because fishermen are guaranteed a
portion of the catch, they do not have to fish in dangerous weather conditions.
7 Once an initial quota allocation has been made, there is a market mechanism to resolve
disputes between sports, commercial, and aboriginal fisheries. These sectors can buy
quotas from each other. Thus, if the sports fishery wants more rights, they can buy them
from commercial fishers. This will show where the highest value lies, and will eliminate
the current highly political fight over fishing rights. It also means that, when land
claims are settled, if aboriginals are to be allocated a bigger share, the government will
have to buy that share rather than re-allocate without compensation from other sectors as
has been done in the past.
Although individual quotas have been successful in other fisheries, many have wondered
whether it would be possible to manage the complex Pacific salmon fishery under such a
system. Before addressing this question specifically, it will be instructive to take a
broader view. The idea of assigning property rights to solve the common-property problem
has been successful not only in other fisheries but also in other industries. For example,
the city of Los Angeles developed an emissions-trading program to reduce air pollution.
The program tackles a very complicated problem; it covers many pollutants across many
industries. The carefully designed system has made assigning property rights to the air,
something that was previously thought impossible, a successful, cost-effective, way to
reduce pollution. The system is far more efficient than previous regulations and, in 1995,
the greater Los Angeles region enjoyed the cleanest air on record (Broadbent 1996: 14).
This suggests that the complexity of the salmon fishery does not make a quota system
impossible, though it does require that the program must be carefully designed. Creating a
quota system for the complex Pacific salmon fishery may be more challenging than it is for
other fisheries, but it is also more exciting. If a quota system can be successfully
designed for Pacific salmon, then there is no reason that individual quotas cannot work
for all fisheries.
Section 1: can individual quotas solve the salmon crisis?
In his paper on the question of quotas for salmon, Paul Sprout, the Director of Fishing
Operations with the department of Fisheries and Oceans, explains how, under any system,
biology and the number of stakeholders make the Pacific resource one of the most
challenging fisheries in the world to manage. He raises important questions about
allocation, management, and enforcement that need to be resolved before the introduction
of a quota system to the Pacific salmon fishery. He emphasizes that the important question
is whether "a salmon IQ system, warts and all, better meets the department's
objectives of conservation, economic viability, and partnership than the present system of
management?"
Ken Erikson provides a fisherman's insight into why individual quotas solve many of the
problems facing the West Coast fishery. Though he suggests answers to some of the
questions that Paul Sprout raises in his paper, Erikson also points out that there is a
serious intersectoral allocation problem in the fishery. Because they have no direct
control over the management of the fishery, commercial fishermen have lost historical
allocations of chinook and coho to the sports fishing sector. As recreational fishing
continues to increase in popularity, it is likely that the allocations to this sector will
continue to grow. One of the important features of a transferable quota system is that the
market rather than the political arena becomes the forum for solving allocation disputes.
In terms of securing allocations of an appropriate number of fish, this system is
preferable for all parties.
Section 2: actual experience with individual quotas
This section provides compelling evidence in favour of ITQs from several international
fisheries as well as from the BC halibut fishery. The papers by Tom McClurg and Birgir
Runolfsson illustrate the experience with quotas in New Zealand and Iceland, two of the
first countries to implement ITQs.
Iceland
Birgir Runolfsson's description of the Icelandic experience with
individual quotas supports the hypothesis that quotas would improve salmon management.
Many of Iceland's fisheries recovered from overcapitalization and declining stocks after
the introduction of quotas. For example, since the introduction of quotas to the failing
herring industry, catches and technical efficiency have increased tenfold.
One objection to introducing quotas to the salmon fishery is that, since it is a
mixed-stock fishery, use of quotas may exacerbate the problem of "high-grading,"
i.e., the discarding of less valuable catch. The demersal fishery in Iceland, however, is
also a mixed-stock fishery and, according to Runolfsson, there is little evidence that
high-grading has increased since the introduction of the vessel quota to that fishery in
1984.
In British Columbia, one of the biggest obstacles to changing fisheries policy is the
concern that increasing the efficiency of the fishing industry will reduce employment. In
his paper on the regional and social impact of ITQs, Runolfsson addresses that concern:
"Although the increased efficiencies of the fisheries through the ITQ system are
likely to decrease employment for fishers and in industries that are suppliers for the
fishing vessels, employment in other industries should increase. The increased rent in the
fisheries and therefore higher income of those in the industry should create demand for
other domestic services and industries." He concludes that, although employment in
the fisheries may decrease, there is reason to expect that total employment will increase.
He also argues that the quota system out-performs effort restrictions as far as regional
impact is concerned, arguing that a small town can secure catch and employment by
purchasing quota. This security is unavailable under a system of effort controls.
New Zealand
New Zealand's experience with ITQs has also been favourable. Tom
McClurg explains how the introduction of the Quota Management System to New
Zealand's main commercial fisheries changed management incentives. McClurg appraises the
incentives faced by bureaucrats and rights holders since the introduction of quotas in
1986, and discusses the importance of the initial design of the system. He also explains
how quotas can help resolve intersectoral allocation: "One of the consequences of the
application of a rights-based approach to fisheries management is that it has a ripple
effect through fisheries users. The clarification of the rights of one sector soon compels
the examination of the rights and claims of other sectors." In New Zealand the
allocation of ITQ property rights provided an opportunity to settle Maori fishing claims.
He concludes that despite a period of flux during the introduction of quotas, they have
been a success. Since their introduction, the industry has been profitable, showing
unparalleled levels of investment and finding increased availability of fish. There is
widespread agreement in New Zealand that more fisheries should be managed under the quota
system.
British Columbia halibut
Closer to home, the BC halibut fishery has been successfully managed under
quotas since 1991. Paul Macgillivray's paper discusses conditions in the
halibut fishery before and after the introduction of quotas:2. The quota system
implemented in the halibut fishery is the individual vessel quota (IVQ), which assigns a
quota allocation to each fishing vessel.
note "Fisheries management in the 1980s was ineffective in controlling fishing
effort, and the race for the fish resulted in very short seasons, unsafe fishing
conditions, large quantities of by-catch being wasted, poor product quality, supply gluts
and low landed prices." He assesses the individual quota program implemented in 1991
on the basis of biological management, economic efficiency, equity and distributional
considerations, and administration and enforcement. The program has been successful in
increasing the length of fishing seasons, improving fishing conditions, and improving
product quality. Although employment has fallen, those who remain in the fishery are
working longer and earning higher incomes. The strongest endorsement of the program comes
from the fishermen themselves. When asked to vote on whether to continue the individual
quota program, 91 percent of the halibut-license holders who responded, voted in favour of
quotas.
Section 3: a quota pilot project for salmon
The paper in this section makes the transition from arguing theoretically
about the merits of an ITQ system to proposing a plan to implement the policy on a trial
basis for one sector of the commercial fleet, the trollers. The ideas expressed in the
paper reflect input from fishermen, academics, and consultants. The goal of the pilot
project is to obtain more information about the benefits and feasibility of managing the
salmon fleet under a quota system. Selecting trollers rather than ships using another type
of gear for this project was logical because both industry and government have expressed
interest in trying such a pilot project. If the pilot project were successful, it would be
the first step towards managing the entire fishery under quotas.
Section 4: beyond quotas
Although individual quotas are now used to manage fisheries around the world, they
remain controversial. Some argue that ITQs go too far towards extending property rights to
harvesters; others think that quotas do not go far enough in establishing rights. The
authors in the last section of the book offer some imaginative extensions of the pragmatic
solutions to present problems offered by ITQs. They argue that ITQs are an intermediate
step towards more secure property rights. Elizabeth Brubaker argues that
while quotas are superior to weaker forms of property rights, they do not always go far
enough along the property-rights spectrum and that, therefore, there can be problems with
enforcement. She favours sole ownership either by individuals, communities, associations
of rights holders, or corporations: "One of the strongest arguments for sole
ownership is that it limits the opportunities for government interference in a fishery.
Many quota systems maintain considerable government involvement . . . The government
continues to set the total allowable catches, to manage fish stocks, to assign quotas, and
to assume responsibility for environmental protection." Brubaker argues that
fisheries will remain susceptible to political pressures until they are completely
privatized.
The idea of privatizing the fishery thoroughly has, until recently, seemed a technological
impossibility. But Michael de Alessi discusses how the technological
frontier has changed. New technological developments are bringing us closer to being able
to define rights over individual fish. He looks at the feasibility of private conservation
and makes the case that it is becoming more practicable as emerging technologies increase
the ability of owners to control marine resources: "If private property rights are
allowed in the oceans, stewardship and technological innovation will boom. Just as
settlers in the frontier American West developed branding and fencing technologies to
define and protect their property, sonar, satellites, tagging technologies, unmanned
submersibles, artificial reefs, and aquaculture will allow owners of marine resources to
do the same today. The challenge that lies ahead is to delineate control of the marine
environment, creating owners who will be encouraged to conserve resources and to harness
and develop the full potential of advances in technology."
A new direction for salmon management
Fishermen, fisheries managers, economists, and biologists from fisheries around the
world now understand that effort-control management, the current approach used by the
department of Fisheries and Oceans to manage salmon, is a failure. It does not provide any
incentive to conserve fish and leads to higher fishing costs, lower product quality and
unsafe fishing practices. This book makes it clear that there is a better alternative.
Assigning property rights, under a system of individual quotas, to fish before they are
caught lowers fishing costs, improves product quality, increases safety, and, most
importantly, creates incentives to ensure that there are fish for future generations.
There is no excuse for the current state of the salmon fishery, and there is no reason not
to design and implement an ITQ system for salmon. If the department of Fisheries and
Oceans is truly committed to maximizing the value of the fisheries for the people of
Canada and ensuring the conservation of this resource for future generations, it is time
to fish or cut bait.
References
Broadbent, Jack, and Tracy Goss (1996). How Are Quota Problems Resolved in Other
Industrial Applications. Unpublished paper delivered May 30, 1996 at the Fraser Institute
Conference, "Managing a Wasting Resource" (Vancouver, British Columbia).
Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Program Planning and Economics Branch (1992).
Pacific Fisheries Overview. Vancouver, BC.
--- (1995). Government Costs. In Pacific Roundtable Discussion Papers (Vancouver, BC: 1-4.
Walters, Carl (1995). Fish on the Line. Vancouver, BC: David Suzuki Foundation.
info@fraserinstitute.ca
You can contact us at the above email address for any comments or information requests. Please report any dead links or technical problems.
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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.
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