Economic Benefits and Arrangements with Foreign Fishing Countries in the Northern Sub-region of CECAF: A Preliminary Assessment

Abstract

This brief examination of some of the arrangements that coastal states have made with foreign countries illustrates a variety of approaches that have been followed. These approaches reflect differences in the resource situation and in the economies of the states, with some, such as Mauritania, giving heavy emphasis to the extraction of economic revenues from foreign fishermen and others, such as Senegal, to the extraction of benefits designed to provide direct aid to the domestic fishing and fis h processing industries. In all cases, it is likely that the arrangements can be improved and that the coastal states can acquire greater net benefits than they do at present. The extensions of jurisdiction are a recent development and coastal states are just begining to learn how they may use their newly gained authority to maximize the benefits to themselves. To facilitate this learning process, it would be desirable to begin, or improve, the collection of economic data. Even though the co astal states may not wish to extract the benefits from foreigners in purely economic terms, they should know more about the economic value of the resources within their zones. This is necessary for two important reasons. First, knowledge of the economic values will permit them to obtain the greatest benefits from foreigners who wish to gain access, however those benefits are defined. And second, with regard to the stocks that are shared by two or more coastal states, knowledge of the economic va lues will facilitate the process of distributing the benefits among themselves.