Interdependence between pollution and fish resource harvest policies

This study presents a bio-economic model in which the dynamics of a fishery are affected by marine pollution both directly and indirectly. From the optimality analysis it can be seen that as long as a contaminating sector exists near coastal areas the policy on fish resource harvest will be more intense initially (when the environmental situation is better) and less intense in subsequent periods, that is, the fish resource will be managed as if it were a non-renewable resource. It will be also shown that, while the effect of pollution coexists with resource exploitation it cannot be though of the resource stock being in a stationary state, which leads the regulator to adopt a policy whereby the release of pollutants can be better controlled.