I model the ocean as an array of lines set within a two-dimensional frame, and show how the Exclusive Economic Zone emerged as an equilibrium in customary international law. I find that custom codifies the efficient Nash equilibrium of enclosure for nearshore fisheries. For highly migratory and...

I model the ocean as an array of lines set within a two-dimensional frame, and show how the Exclusive Economic Zone emerged as an equilibrium in customary international law. I find that custom codifies the efficient Nash equilibrium of enclosure for nearshore fisheries. For highly migratory and...

Input subsidies in natural resource sectors are widely believed to deplete the natural capital on which these sectors depend. However, estimating the causal effect of subsidies on resource extraction has been stymied by identification and data challenges. China’s fishing fleet is the world’s...

Can policy sustainably manage economically valuable biological resources? We find evidence it can, with the use of science-based decision rules. In 1996, with United States fish populations in decline, Congress overhauled fishing laws with scientific thresholds for rebuilding overfished stocks....

The purpose of this study is to identify, analyze and understand fishery stakeholders’ perception on Thailand’s counter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing policy, and to understand drivers behind perception discrepancies between stakeholder groups. Primary data was collected...

User rights in fisheries refer to the rights of fishers to harvest from fish resources. In terms of exclusivity, security, duration and transferability these rights can be strong or they can be weak. For this a definition of and a measure of the strength of user rights is needed. We refer to...

There are no longer plenty of fish in the sea. One-third of global fish stocks are overfished beyond biologically sustainable levels, and fishing subsidies are the primary culprit. Such subsidies incentivize overfishing, foster illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and dangerously...

Despite recent improvements in the ecological status of wild-capture fisheries, a significant share (33%) of global marine stocks remains overexploited. While top-down management has been shown to work in many settings, there is growing interest in demand-side interventions, which work through...

Lake Victoria, globally the second-largest freshwater Lake by surface area, houses an artisanal Nile Perch Fishery that directly involves around 200K people. While the 10 whole Lake surface is potentially available to fishing activities, the fishing vessels' operational and technical...

Current regulations regarding the Nile Perch Fishery in Lake Victoria provide gear specifications for the two main gears employed, Gillnets and Longlines, by defining the minimum size available. Additionally, the legal range of catchable fish is regulated: between 50 and 84 cm. Gillnets are...

African aquaculture production has gradually increased over the years, but progress is still slow. Given large variations between African countries with regard to the availability of water, the macro-economic context, access to capture fisheries resources and other factors, the performance of...

People have always been utilizing natural resources from the sea with various impacts on fish stocks and the marine environment. An issue that arises from humans´, specifically fishers´ interaction with the sea, is the entanglement of marine birds and mammals in fishing gears, in particular...

This paper constructs a three-party evolutionary game model and analyzes the influence of each subject's behavior probability on the strategies of other subjects and the stability of the system. Based on field survey data, we simulate and analyze the effects of total government subsidies, the...

This report details the causes, consequences, and responses to IUU fishing crimes in nine countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Jamaica, Panama, Suriname, and Uruguay. Our analysis draws on academic research; press reports; interviews with...

By prohibiting subsidies that support illegal, unregulated or unreported fishing activities and contribute to unsustainable depletion of marine resources, the 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS) is the first WTO treaty to recognize that a specific trade policy instrument can have adverse...

After great anticipation, at the 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022, Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a historic Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies that aims to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This article first provides the necessary...

Fishery managers face an ongoing challenge in managing commercial fisheries in a way which enables the short-term delivery of economic benefits to commercial fishers while also ensuring those benefits do not compromise the ability of fish stocks to deliver benefits into the future. This...

Significant economic growth in marine fishing is thought to have the prospective outpace the development rate of global economy, increasing the production of greenhouse gas emissions as by-products increase. China, the largest emitter, intends to decouple marine capture fisheries from greenhouse...

Fisheries management has been a strongly contested aspect of the UK’s position in the EU since UK accession, with the fishing industry frequently questioning both the efficacy and fairness of arrangements. During the campaign for UK exit (Brexit) from the EU, and the subsequent negotiations of...

The increasing consumption of seafood products raises concerns over the sustainability of marine ecosystems. We examine the role of consumer preferences on seafood demand and consequently on the sustainability of fisheries. Our analysis relies on a bio-economic model combining a demand derived...

The Nile perch fishery of Lake Victoria is regulated with a slot size and with restrictions on legal gear sizes. This study provides an assessment of the effectiveness of the the slot size regulation by simulating the Nile perch fishery with a size structured population model where the size...

We uncover a hidden illegal fishing practice: the use of fishing nets with illegally small mesh size. The small mesh prevents nearly all fish of saleable size from escaping the net, but also traps a large number of fish which are too small to be sold on the market and are therefore discarded at...

This paper establishes that a targeted policy backfires because it reveals information about non-targeted units. In the world's largest fishery, the regulator attempts to reduce the harvesting of juvenile fish by temporarily closing areas where the share of juvenile catch is high. By combining...

Whatever trade arrangement the UK decides to adopt with the EU post-Brexit, the UK government will have authority over fisheries policy. Under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), after many years of stock decline, there has been a recent stabilisation and even increase in stocks. However,...

Attempts to curb undesired behavior through regulation gets complicated when agents can adapt to circumvent enforcement. We test a model of enforcement with learning and adaptation, by auditing vendors selling illegal fish in Chile in a randomized controlled trial, and tracking them daily using...

Using marine resources in a healthy and sustainable manner is at the center of building a blue economy that will make "Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water" achievable. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors alone provide employment for and support the livelihoods of more than 200...