Precaution in Stock Recovery Plans in a Fishery with Habitat Effects

Suggested Bibliographic Reference: Challenging New Frontiers in the Global Seafood Sector: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, July 11-15, 2016. Compiled by Stefani J. Evers and Ann L. Shriver. International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET), Corvallis, 2016.Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.Depleted fish stocks and habitat degradation associated with human activity, particularly fishing, are both the subject of increasing concern and research. Harvest control rules and no-take marine reserves are two management approaches regularly advocated as effective means of restoring depleted fish stocks and preventing fishery collapse. We incorporate these two management approaches into a bioeconomic model which also permits habitat to change over time and evaluate how habitat changes impact fish stock recovery and profitability under varying levels of management precaution. Simulations of the model using parameter estimates drawn from previous studies of a real fishery show that the longer stock rebuilding period associated with a less precautious harvest strategy can be offset by a no-take marine reserve in the presence of habitat changes. However, a no-take marine reserve implemented in conjunction with a precautious harvest strategy will have no improvement to stock rebuilding or profit regardless of whether habitat changes are included in the model or not. A no-take marine reserve will potentially improve the profitability of the fishery in the presence of habitat changes, but only if the reserve is relatively small, and a less precautious harvest strategy is used. We demonstrate that a stock recovery plan which incorporates both harvest control rules and no-take reserves can potentially contribute to the conservation, economic and socio-economic objectives of fishery management in the presence of habitat changes associated with fishing effort