Managing biological, economic and social trade-offs in the Australian Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery

Florence Briton; Olivier Thébaud; Claire Macher; Caleb Gardner; Lorne Richard Little

doi:10.1071/MF23024

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Next Contents Vol 74(16)

Managing biological, economic and social trade-offs in the Australian Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery

Florence Briton ^A ^B ^C , Olivier Thébaud ^A , Claire Macher ^A , Caleb Gardner ^D and Lorne Richard Little

^E ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Ifremer, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS, UMR 6308, AMURE, Unité d’Economie Maritime, IUEM, F-29280 Plouzané, France.

^B CSIRO–UTAS Quantitative Marine Sciences PhD Program, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas., Australia.

^C Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

^D Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

^E GPO Box 1538, CSIRO Environment, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: rich.little@csiro.au

Handling Editor: Haseeb Randhawa

Marine and Freshwater Research 74(16) 1355-1369 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF23024

Submitted: 13 February 2023 Accepted: 27 September 2023 Published: 8 November 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Maximum sustainable yield and maximum economic yield are often advocated as desirable biological and economic objectives for fisheries management, and the analysis of trade-offs associated is often absent from scientific advice.

Aims

This work aims to demonstrate an operational approach for comparing trade-offs of not only biological, and economic objectives, but also social objectives, in this case for maintaining affordable fish prices for the Australian public.

Methods

We use a simulation model of the multi-species, the Australian Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery, characterised by technical and economic interactions among harvested stocks, and apply an eco-viability approach to identify catch limits on two key species of the fishery (tiger flathead and pink ling).

Key results

Several trade-offs are highlighted related to the distribution of benefits among vessel owners, fishing crews and consumers. Maximising the economic returns to vessel owners, which is the current management objective of the fishery, correspondingly reduces social benefits of providing employment as fishing crews and raises consumer prices.

Conclusions

Maximising fishery profits as a management objective comes at a social cost for crew members and fish consumers.

Implications

Analysing trade-offs with an eco-viability approach helps inform decisions regarding fisheries management, fully accounting for the different dimensions of biological, economic and social sustainability.

Keywords: eco-viability analysis, fisheries management, metiers, mixed fisheries, multi-species fisheries, SESSF, simulation modelling, technical interactions, trade-off evaluation.

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