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Comparing size-limit and quota policies to increase economic yield in a lobster fishery

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 12:36 authored by McGarvey, R, Punt, AE, Matthews, JM, Feenstra, JE, Caleb GardnerCaleb Gardner, Paul BurchPaul Burch, Klaas HartmannKlaas Hartmann, Linnane, A
To advance economic and sustainability objectives in a lobster fishery, four broadly different management policies were evaluated: minimum and maximum size limits, constant catch quotas, and quota set yearly in proportion to the previous year’s catch per unit effort (CPUE). The performance of each policy was evaluated based on its discounted economic yield, together with egg production, catch, and catch stability. Maximum size limits performed poorly for all indicators. Raising the minimum size increased economic yield by improving yield-per-recruit. Output controls, both constant and dynamic, uniformly outperformed size limits, leading to substantially higher economic yield and egg production. A dynamic harvest control rule, setting quota in proportion to the previous year’s catch rate, achieved the highest economic yield, catch, and egg production over 20 years. The optimal (30%) exploitation rate under this policy produced a 182% improvement in economic yield compared with a baseline strategy of only minimum size, but led to a mean year-to-year change in quota of 11.5% in response to yearly variable recruitment. This quota-setting management regime is straightforward to implement, using only catch rate as input. When absolute exploitation rate estimates are not available, this quota-setting harvest control rule can be constructed using only a target level of effort.

History

Publication title

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

Volume

72

Issue

9

Pagination

1292-1305

ISSN

0706-652X

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Natl Research Council Canada

Place of publication

Research Journals, Montreal Rd, Ottawa, Canada, Ontario, K1A 0R6

Rights statement

Copyright 2015 Canadian Science Publishing

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Wild caught rock lobster

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    University Of Tasmania

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