Abstract
The gravity of growth overfishing is increasingly recognized. The size-distribution of fish stocks is often severely truncated, even when the overall biomass is reasonably well managed. In a first part of this article, I show how the “race to fish” extends to the dimension of size: Akin to the classical Bertrand competition in prices, each agent has an incentive to target fish at a smaller size. In fact, for perfect selectivity, competition between two agents is sufficient to dissipate all rents. In a second part of this article, I explore the implications of size-differentiated harvesting for ITQ regulation. I show that quotas specified in terms of numbers are far superior to those specified in terms of weight or value.
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I would like to thank Kjell Arne Brekke, Robert Deacon, Martin Quaas, Max Stoeven, Nils Chr. Stenseth, and two anonymous reviewers for their insights, comments, and support. My work has furthermore greatly benefited from the discussions with participants of the SURED, WCERE, and IIFET conferences in 2010.
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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
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Diekert, F.K. Growth Overfishing: The Race to Fish Extends to the Dimension of Size. Environ Resource Econ 52, 549–572 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-012-9542-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-012-9542-x