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DAP-Based Fisheries Reform

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Group Project Proposal 2007: DAP-Based Fisheries Reform of the Commercial and Recreational Sectors Proposers: Erin C. Myers (Bren MESM student) Christopher Costello (Associate Professor, Bren School) Kate Bonzon and Rod Fujita (Client – Environmental Defense, Oakland CA) STATEMENT Many of the world’s fisheries are in serious decline, and there is growing pressure to reform fisheries management by incorporating market-based incentives and ecosystem-based approaches into management plans. In response, Dedicated Access Privilege (DAP) programs are increasingly being implemented in commercial fisheries. DAP programs are market-oriented fishery management programs that provide an individual fisherman, cooperative, or community the exclusive privilege of harvesting a quantity of fish at any time within the fishing season 1 or exclusive privileges to harvest within a specified area. DAP programs are tailored to the specific economic, political, and biological conditions of a given commercial fishery, and in some DAP programs, such as IFQs, access privileges can be traded among vessels in the commercial fishery. Since their implementation in 1990 in the United States, DAP management programs have led to increased profits, decreased costs of gear and labor, and a safer and more stable industry 2 . Despite these successes, DAPs have been limited to just a few commercial fisheries, and are virtually nonexistent for recreational fisheries. While the operations and value-creating mechanisms of the recreational fishing industry are completely different than those of the commercial industry, in reality, the two compete for the same resources. In fisheries where there is both a commercial and recreational sector, this poses 3 problems: 1) poor management of the recreational fishery may have adverse environmental impacts, 2) the benefits accrued by DAP management in the commercial fishery may be dissipated by the effort in the recreational sector, 3) recreational fisheries are not gaining from potential economic and social benefits of DAP management. These institutional barriers create a mismatch in the harvest incentives and value across sectors, and have been shown to lead to economic inefficiency and social unrest. This group project will address a pervasive question in the design of DAPs: How can DAPs be designed to include both commercial and recreational fishing sectors, thus ensuring optimal conservation, economic and social benefits for the fishery writ large? This question will be addressed both theoretically and empirically within the context of a specific fishery in which these three problems are manifest. OBJECTIVES We will examine the impacts of using access privileges to manage commercial and recreational sectors of a fishery. We will focus on one fishery, the Southern region of the California Nearshore Fishery, and examine several alternative institutional designs/management systems, focusing on finding the best structure for managing the interaction between the sectors. This study will examine the economic, ecological, social and political impacts of different DAP co- management institutions that incorporate both the commercial and recreational fisheries. 1 “Reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” Fact Sheet. NOAA Fisheries (2005). 10 Jan. 2007. <http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/docs/msa2005/daps_fs.pdf> 2 Dunnigan, John H. “Testimony on reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.” (16 Nov. 2005). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 11 Jan. 2007. <http://www.legislative.noaa.gov/Testimony/dunnigantestimony111605.pdf>The overall goal is to develop a recommended management system for the nearshore fishery that: 1. Improves management of the recreational sector; 2. Prevents the dissipation of the benefits associated with the reduction of commercial fishing capacity and other management improvements through increased recreational fishing 3. Generates increased social and economic benefits in both commercial and recreational sectors SIGNIFICANCE Both the project concept and application are particularly timely and significant on local, state, regional, and national scales. Locally, the commercial sector of the California Nearshore Fishery in Southern California is expected to implement a co-management institution in the near future. A critical question is how to integrate the recreational and commercial sectors in the DAP design for that fishery. More broadly, as DAPs are increasingly implemented in California and along the west coast of the US, policymakers have limited analyses to guide the design – especially with respect to the commercial/recreational mismatch. As recreational fisheries continue to grow and as this area of cutting edge management reform becomes more commonplace, the question of how to integrate recreational fisheries will be a significant one with broad environmental, social, economic and political implications. This study will therefore contribute both to the solution of a general problem and to developing options and analyses to guide the specific design of a DAP in a relevant fishery. The timing is also relevant because of the impending MLPA implementation in Southern California, which has cross-sectoral implications, yet lacks a framework for thinking cross-sectorally about design. BACKGROUND Nationally, the current management institutions have frequently failed to address the problem of overfishing at the expense of marine ecosystems and fishing communities. Where management has attempted to address the problem of overfishing, it is usually by control of fishing effort through regulations, which can have severe adverse social and economic impacts. The need to reform fisheries management is evident, and is reflected in the recent reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, which places greater emphasis on using market-based tools and ecosystem approaches to sustainably managing fisheries. DAPs are specifically mentioned as successful market-based fisheries management tools. The California Nearshore Fishery: The California Nearshore Fishery Management Plan (NFMP) was passed in 2002 and covers 19 species targeted by the commercial nearshore fishery and recreational fishermen. The primary commercial gear is hook-and-line and traps, while recreational fishermen/divers use hook-and-line or spear guns. As of May 2006, six of the species have been formally


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