1. Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research
www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be
Agriculture and Fisheries Policy Area
Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research
From right-based catch shares
to benthic impacts
ALTER-NET Target 4: Ensure the sustainability of fisheries
Gent, Belgium
18 april 2013
Jochen Depestele

2. Statement 2: Rights-based catch shares can
provide incentives for sustainable harvest that is
less prone to collapse. It can, however, lead to
accumulation of fishery property rights in non-
fishery related companies.
Statement 3: Bottom trawling and the seafloor
disturbance resulting from it enhances fish stock
productivity and is essential for productive fish
stocks and economically viable fisheries.
2 statements: first
ALTER - Net 2

3. ALTER - Net 3(c) Costello et al. (2012a - Nature)

4. ITQ management
prevents stock collapse
Why ITQs in fisheries?
 World fisheries with biomass below MSY:
63 – 64%
(c) Costello et al. (2012b - Science)
(c) Worm et al. (2009 - Science)
Unassessed stocks
Assessed stocks
Median B/BMSY
(c) Costello et al. (2008 - Science)

5. Why ITQs in CFP? (1)
Jo’burg WSSD 2002: Fishing at MSY by 2015
Decrease in nr of vessels since ITQs (1996: cod trawlers;
<1996: indirect quota trading via boat licenses)
(c) Hannesson et al. (2013)
Assessed EU stocks (2008) outside ‘safe’ limits
(c) EEA
Reduce overcapacity
5
Past policies did NOT work:
(e.g. €2.7 billion for scrapping)
still 3% ↑ in fishing capacity
Self-regulating
mechanism (ITQ)
91% of EU stocks will not meet
the MSY target by 2015 under
current fishing pressure
(Froese & Proelb, 2010)

6. Why ITQs in CFP? (2)
Plan fishing along market developments
Increase responsibility
of fishermen
Flexibility to comply
with discard ban
O:overfishedspecieswithrestrictiveallowablecatches
Q:speciesunderITQmanagement
R:speciesthatcannotbelanded
(c) Branch et al. (2006)

7. Prevention of stock collapse is not guaranteed !
ITQs reduce variability in exploitation rate
ALTER - Net 7
So, what’s the catch?
Yes! I want to be a
fisherman...
What’s the catch? Maybe an ITQ red
herring . . . ?
(A) BC petrale sole; (B) SE Australia school whiting; (C) New Zealand red rock lobster.
(c) Essington et al. (2012)
ITQ ITQ ITQ

8. Strong effect in multi-species fisheries with full
observer coverage! enforcement!
ITQs reduce variability in exploitation rate
IF
 EXCLUSIVITY and
 DURABILITY/SECURITY
Take care of your babies, fishermen!
ALTER - Net 8
So, what’s the catch?

9. It’s not all roses there... 1) evaluation?
What about ITQs in EU?
 NS Beam trawlers in NL and B (target: PLE/SOL)
Licensing
max days@sea
...
B+NL
max fishing
capacity
NL Biesheuvel
informal
NL ITQ
Official?
NL ITQ
B+NL: schemes for
decommissioning, ...
B: IQs, based on kW
209 (1990) > 107 (2006)
Fish capacity ↓ slightly
NL: fleet reduction
from days@sea

10. It’s not all roses there... 1) evaluation?
What about ITQs in EU?
 NS Beam trawlers in NL and B (target: PLE/SOL)
Licensing
max days@sea
...
B+NL: fleet reduction
B+NL
max fishing
capacity
(c) ICES
informal
NL ITQ
NL Biesheuvel
Official?
NL ITQ

11. It’s not all roses there... 2) relative stability?
NS Beam trawlers in NL
 Fleet rationalisation quota-hopping
(c) Hatcher et al. (2002); Van Hoof (2013)
1988 > 1998
+ 133 vessels
- 161 decommissioned
- 176 withdrawals (UK flag)
0
20
40

12. ALTER - Net 12
It’s not all roses there...
(c) Arnason (2005);
(c) Benediktsson and Karlsdóttir (2011)
3) Social equity
4) active fishermen

13. ALTER - Net 13
What can catch shares accomplish?
Q-value: Quality of property rights
 Durability
 Security
 Exclusivity
 Transferability
(c) MRAG (2009)
BUT!
social issues
. . .

14. ALTER - Net 14
But again, it’s not all roses there...
What about the ecosystem?
(besides overfishing)
Ecosystem objectives:
 ‘fishy’ ITQs:
• limits on fishing capacity
• =~ limits on effort
• = insufficient to meet ecosystem objectives
 How can the fishing industry be involved in
achieving GES? Incentive-based management?

15. ALTER - Net 15
Ideas for incentive-based EAFM?
Expand ITQs for all species?
TAC adjustment based on trade-offs,
interactions with non-target species
 Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery
Create Individual Habitat Quota? Real-Time
Incentives?
 Holland & Schnier (2006);
 Kraak et al. (2012)
with bycatch penalties2009 ETBF fishing effort
(c)Bax,2010

16. Statement 2: Rights-based catch shares can
provide incentives for sustainable harvest that is
less prone to collapse. It can, however, lead to
accumulation of fishery property rights in non-
fishery related companies.
Statement 3: Bottom trawling and the seafloor
disturbance resulting from it enhances fish stock
productivity and is essential for productive fish
stocks and economically viable fisheries.
2 statements: second
ALTER - Net 16

17. Seafloor impacts
ALTER - Net 17
Seafloor impacts Fishermen’s perspectives
Plaice box failed, from
‘90s onwards...
“Farming the sea!”
Question 1:
How can science assess
the influence of sea floor
disturbance on fish stock
productivity and the
marine ecosystem?

18. ALTER - Net 18
From short-term to long-term monitoring…
1) BACI-experiments:
Short-term mortality, scavenging, etc.
2) Modelling
Combination of short-term empirical data
through algorithms
3) Effort comparisons
Long-term, historical data
Spatially
Seafloor impacts Scientific assessments

19. ALTER - Net 19
Differences in direct mortality
Differences in recovery potential
Shift in species composition, abundance &
productivity
~ gear
~ habitat
~ traits
TotalproductionTurnoverrate
(c) Jennings et al. (2001)
Seafloor impacts Scientific assessments

20. Food dependence of fish productivity?
(c) Rijnsdorp & Vingerhoed (2001)
Slight increase in fish food
production at very low trawling
intensities
(c) Hiddink et al. (2008)
Seafloor impacts ~ fish stock productivity?

21. Plaice length ~ age + food + density + effort
(c) Shephard et al. (2010)
74% otter and 26% beam47% otter and 53% beam
Plaice: polychaetes as foodPlaice: <3% polychaetes as food
Seafloor impacts ~ fish stock productivity?

22. Statement 2: How can ITQs be used to combine
economics, society and ecosystems?
 ITQs = economic efficient
 ITQs = social drama?
 ITQs = What about other ecosystem objectives
besides overfishing?
Statement 3:
 Ploughing the seafloor:
How can we communicate the subtle effects and
the (sometimes contradicting) and ‘difficult’
scientific results on the effects of seafloor
disturbance with fishermen?
2 questions in ‘conclusion’
ALTER - Net 22

23. Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research
www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be
Agriculture and Fisheries Policy Area
Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research
From right-based catch shares
to benthic impacts
Jochen.Depestele@ilvo.vlaanderen.be