In pursuit of maximum economic yield in an ITQ managed lobster fishery

A bioeconomic analysis of the Tasmanian rock lobster Jasus edwardsii fishery was conducted using a length- and sex-structured population dynamics model. This model was also spatially- and temporally-structured to account for differences in costs of fishing and prices as well as differences in abundance and productivity among regions within the fishery. The current total allowable commercial catch (TACC) was found to be higher than the level that would maximise economic yield, and this left the industry vulnerable to temporal changes in productivity. Alternative pathways to lower TACCs were explored, but these had less effect on economic yield than the final TACC. The TACC did not move towards MEY through normal decision-making based on biological stock assessments despite the fishery operating under individual transferable quota (ITQ) management for over a decade. This is because industry and government have struggled to accept that economic yield and asset values could increase with lower catches. Bioeconomic analysis assisted in debate on decreasing the TACC, suggesting formal economic analysis is required for effective ITQ management.