Vessel day scheme and tuna catch in the Pacific Island Region

Champa Bati Dutta, Mark Ivekolia, and Debasish Kumar Das

The Pacific Island nations heavily rely on the tuna fishery for government revenue and economic growth. Since the conversion of some nations to the Vessel Days Scheme (VDS) from the fishing Quota system, the region's domestic catch has significantly increased. VDS has stimulated economic return but raised concerns about tuna overexploitation. We apply Difference in Difference to investigate the effects of the VDS on domestic catch levels in the Pacific region using data on domestic catches from 17 Pacific countries from 2000 to 2020. The estimated result indicates that tuna catches increased by more than 200% in VDS nations relative to non-VDS nations in the region.

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Year of publication:	[2023]
Authors:	Dutta, Champa Bati ; Ivekolia, Mark ; Kumar Das, Debasish
Publisher:	Tokyo, Japan : Asian Development Bank Institute
Subject:	Vessel Day Scheme \| tuna fishery \| total fleet catch \| Pacific island countries \| Fischerei \| Fisheries \| Ozeanien \| Oceania \| Seefische \| Saltwater fish \| Fischereipolitik \| Fisheries policy \| Wirtschaftliche Konvergenz \| Economic convergence