Year of publication 1992

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Pages 57

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Author J.P. Troadec;Fishery and Aquaculture Economics and Policy Division

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Product type Book (series)

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ISBN 9251012385

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Series title FAO Fisheries Technical Paper

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Series number 0429-9345 - T224

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Edition 1

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Synopsis (short abstract) The introduction is a reminder that the extension of national jurisdiction over world fisheries has three major consequences: the immediate transfer of the production of deep sea fleets to control by coastal states, the possibility of reducing economic waste and overfishing which are the inevitable results if competition for resources is not regulated, and a shift of approach to pay more attention to specific local conditions and perspectives, and national fisheries development methods in the pa st. The first section reviews the consequences, at the biological, economic and social levels, resulting from two fundamental aspects of fishery resources: (a) because of their natural and biological character their output is limited: the maximum catch level can only be attained and maintained if the total number and composition (size and species) of catches are kept within certain limits; and (b) their mobility makes their exploitation by the private sector difficult, if not imposs ible; consequently, without the intervention of a central authority and the emergence of a consensus, the fishermen are drawn into fierce competition which is ultimately harmful to the profitability of the exploitation as a whole. It shows that the different benefits (economic, social, nutritional, recreational, etc.) which fishery can produce are not usually compatible since they correspond to different levels of fishing. For good fisheries management it is essential therefore, that the obje ctives sought and their order of priority be clearly defined. The second section analyses the main methods that can be contemplated to maintain fishing at the level corresponding to the objective selected: limitation of catches, limitation of fishing effort or, better, means of capture, distribution of the stock itself among the fishermen, and taxation. Their respective advantages can be compared by reference to three basic criteria: conservation of the resource at a high level of production; reduction of the resulting superfluous costs so as to maximize net profits, and easing the application of schemes by involving fishermen in the rationalization of their exploitation. The final section deals with the question of the distribution among fishermen of the wealth derived from the fishery. The importance of regular access to fisheries, and hence to sharing the profits, stems directly from the need to control the exploitation level. Aspects of this question are analysed successively at the national, and then the international (shared stocks) level. The segregation of fishing activities by exclusive economic zones, as well as a different distribution of the activities of fleets within areas under national jurisdiction, changes the terms of their competition and expands their scope; the keenness and character of such competition depends on the various stock distribution, mixture and migration patterns. The paper concludes that under the old system of open competition it w as very difficult for countries to go beyond mere conservation of resources. In fact, at least in the international fisheries, the countries' catch capacity was the chief instrument by which they could hope to preserve their rights over the resource. The influence of international fisheries on management practices can explain why the principles of free access and non-inter-vention of state authorities to control access to resources should have prevailed so frequently in the management of nationa l fisheries. The extension of national jurisdiction now enables countries to consider the generalization of new fisheries development and management strategies and methods.

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Language English

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