Targeting Multiple Management Objectives in Sustainable Fisheries

Abstract

Modern fisheries management must balance between return (economic value) and risk (harvest uncertainty and stock collapse). Management tools should target multiple simultaneous management objectives. These include output, number of seasons, total stock value and its uncertain fluctuations. I provide a stylized fishery model for simulating the outcomes of these competing management objectives under various regulatory and market environments. Results show that these objectives need not be mutually exclusive. They can be traded off gradually, quantitatively and transparently. The trade-offs involve profit and output versus job provision, employment security, stock conservation and less-risky harvesting. The pursuit of higher return must balance against the risk of stock collapse and harvest fluctuations.