Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be

Agriculture and Fisheries Policy Area

Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research

From right-based catch shares

to benthic impacts

ALTER-NET Target 4: Ensure the sustainability of fisheries

Gent, Belgium

18 april 2013

Jochen Depestele

Statement 2: Rights-based catch shares can provide incentives for sustainable harvest that is less prone to collapse. It can, however, lead to accumulation of fishery property rights in non-fishery related companies.

Statement 3: Bottom trawling and the seafloor disturbance resulting from it enhances fish stock productivity and is essential for productive fish stocks and economically viable fisheries.

2 statements: first

ALTER - Net 2

ALTER - Net 3 (c) Costello et al. (2012a - Nature)

ITQ management prevents stock collapse

Why ITQs in fisheries?

World fisheries with biomass below MSY:

63 – 64%

(c) Costello et al. (2012b - Science) (c) Worm et al. (2009 - Science)

Unassessed stocks

Assessed stocks

Median B/BMSY

(c) Costello et al. (2008 - Science)

Why ITQs in CFP? (1)

Jo’burg WSSD 2002: Fishing at MSY by 2015

Decrease in nr of vessels since ITQs (1996: cod trawlers; <1996: indirect quota trading via boat licenses)

(c) Hannesson et al. (2013)

Assessed EU stocks (2008) outside ‘safe’ limits

(c) EEA Reduce overcapacity

5

Past policies did NOT work: (e.g. €2.7 billion for scrapping) still 3% ↑ in fishing capacity

Self-regulating

mechanism (ITQ)

91% of EU stocks will not meet the MSY target by 2015 under current fishing pressure (Froese & Proelb, 2010)

Why ITQs in CFP? (2)

Plan fishing along market developments

Increase responsibility

of fishermen

Flexibility to comply

with discard ban

O: o

verfished

species w

ith restrictive allo

wab

le catches

Q: sp

ecies un

der ITQ

man

agemen

t R

: species th

at cann

ot b

e land

ed

(c) Branch et al. (2006)

Prevention of stock collapse is not guaranteed !

ITQs reduce variability in exploitation rate

ALTER - Net 7

So, what’s the catch?

Yes! I want to be a

fisherman...

What’s the catch? Maybe an ITQ red

herring . . . ?

(A) BC petrale sole; (B) SE Australia school whiting; (C) New Zealand red rock lobster.

(c) Essington et al. (2012)

ITQ ITQ ITQ

Strong effect in multi-species fisheries with full observer coverage! enforcement!

ITQs reduce variability in exploitation rate

IF

EXCLUSIVITY and

DURABILITY/SECURITY

Take care of your babies, fishermen!

ALTER - Net 8

So, what’s the catch?

It’s not all roses there... 1) evaluation?

What about ITQs in EU?

NS Beam trawlers in NL and B (target: PLE/SOL)

Licensing

max days@sea

...

B+NL

max fishing

capacity

NL Biesheuvel

informal

NL ITQ Official?

NL ITQ

B+NL: schemes for

decommissioning, ...

B: IQs, based on kW

209 (1990) > 107 (2006)

Fish capacity ↓ slightly

NL: fleet reduction

from days@sea

It’s not all roses there... 1) evaluation?

What about ITQs in EU?

NS Beam trawlers in NL and B (target: PLE/SOL)

Licensing

max days@sea

...

B+NL: fleet reduction

B+NL

max fishing

capacity

(c) ICES

informal

NL ITQ

NL Biesheuvel Official?

NL ITQ

It’s not all roses there... 2) relative stability?

NS Beam trawlers in NL

Fleet rationalisation quota-hopping

(c) Hatcher et al. (2002); Van Hoof (2013)

1988 > 1998

+ 133 vessels

- 161 decommissioned

- 176 withdrawals (UK flag)

0

20

40

ALTER - Net 12

It’s not all roses there...

(c) Arnason (2005); (c) Benediktsson and Karlsdóttir (2011)

3) Social equity 4) active fishermen

ALTER - Net 13

What can catch shares accomplish?

Q-value: Quality of property rights

Durability

Security

Exclusivity

Transferability

(c) MRAG (2009)

BUT!

social issues

. . .

ALTER - Net 14

But again, it’s not all roses there...

What about the ecosystem?

(besides overfishing)

Ecosystem objectives:

‘fishy’ ITQs:

• limits on fishing capacity

• =~ limits on effort

• = insufficient to meet ecosystem objectives

How can the fishing industry be involved in achieving GES? Incentive-based management?

ALTER - Net 15

Ideas for incentive-based EAFM?

Expand ITQs for all species?

TAC adjustment based on trade-offs, interactions with non-target species

Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery

Create Individual Habitat Quota? Real-Time Incentives?

Holland & Schnier (2006);

Kraak et al. (2012)

(c) Bax, 2010

with bycatch penalties 2009 ETBF fishing effort

(c) Bax, 2

01

0

Statement 2: Rights-based catch shares can provide incentives for sustainable harvest that is less prone to collapse. It can, however, lead to accumulation of fishery property rights in non-fishery related companies.

Statement 3: Bottom trawling and the seafloor disturbance resulting from it enhances fish stock productivity and is essential for productive fish stocks and economically viable fisheries.

2 statements: second

ALTER - Net 16

Seafloor impacts

ALTER - Net 17

Seafloor impacts Fishermen’s perspectives

Plaice box failed, from

‘90s onwards...

“Farming the sea!”

Question 1:

How can science assess the influence of sea floor disturbance on fish stock productivity and the marine ecosystem?

ALTER - Net 18

From short-term to long-term monitoring…

1) BACI-experiments:

Short-term mortality, scavenging, etc.

2) Modelling

Combination of short-term empirical data

through algorithms

3) Effort comparisons

Long-term, historical data

Spatially

Seafloor impacts Scientific assessments

ALTER - Net 19

Differences in direct mortality

Differences in recovery potential

Shift in species composition, abundance & productivity

~ gear ~ habitat ~ traits

To

tal

pro

du

cti

on

T

urn

ove

r ra

te

(c) Jennings et al. (2001)

Seafloor impacts Scientific assessments

Food dependence of fish productivity?

(c) Rijnsdorp & Vingerhoed (2001)

Slight increase in fish food production at very low trawling

intensities

(c) Hiddink et al. (2008)

Seafloor impacts ~ fish stock productivity?

Plaice length ~ age + food + density + effort

(c) Shephard et al. (2010)

74% otter and 26% beam 47% otter and 53% beam

Plaice: polychaetes as food Plaice: <3% polychaetes as food

Seafloor impacts ~ fish stock productivity?

Statement 2: How can ITQs be used to combine economics, society and ecosystems? ITQs = economic efficient

ITQs = social drama?

ITQs = What about other ecosystem objectives besides overfishing?

Statement 3: Ploughing the seafloor:

How can we communicate the subtle effects and the (sometimes contradicting) and ‘difficult’ scientific results on the effects of seafloor disturbance with fishermen?

2 questions in ‘conclusion’

ALTER - Net 22

Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be

Agriculture and Fisheries Policy Area

Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research

From right-based catch shares

to benthic impacts

Jochen.Depestele@ilvo.vlaanderen.be