Sumaila: Manage fisheries domestically and internationally

Dr. Rashid Sumaila has proposed a new approach to managing global fisheries that could finally put an end to international disputes over fisheries subsidies: manage domestic and international fisheries separately.

His proposal, published in the January 2012 issue of Nature, could solve the problem faced by World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators, whose efforts to broker an all-inclusive deal that encompasses domestic and international, small- and large-scale fisheries, have stalled. Efforts, he says, that have been hindered by national interests.

Read the article in Nature.

FERU Director Rashid Sumaila on the impacts of climate change on global fisheries

Rashid Sumaila, Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit (FERU) and the UBC Fisheries Centre spoke with Radio Canada International about the economic impacts of climate change on global oceans and fisheries on November 21, 2011. The interview highlights the results of a new study by Sumaila et. al., Climate change impacts on the biophysics and economics of world fisheries, published this week in the journal Nature.

Listen to the interview: Rashid Sumaila on the economic impacts of climate change on global oceans and fisheries.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting – February 16-20, 2011

FERU Director Rashid Sumaila will be presenting his analysis of the ecological and economic deficits of nations at the 2011 AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC. Linking data from the Global Footprint Network (http://www.footprintnetwork.org) and the International Monetary Fund, Dr. Sumalia will provide data and analysis about ecological and economic deficits and reveal a simple “ecolonomic index” to rank the performance of nations around the world. Ecological and Financial Deficits: A Double Whammy for Future Generations will be delivered as part the session titled Whole-Ocean Economics: Global Fisheries Analysis Potential for Policy Action.

The Nereus Program

Nereus is a cooperation between The Nippon Foundation and The University of British Columbia, that develops scientific capability for predictions of how the future seafood production may be. The program builds on international networking of scientists to communicate and bring about change to how we exploit the oceans in order for our children and grandchildren to enjoy seafood and experience a healthy ocean.

Visit the Nereus Program website.

Watch a video about the Nereus Program to learn more.

 

Economic Contribution to Ecosystem-Based Management in the Birds Head Seascape, Papua, Indonesia

Objective
Raja Ampat, in Eastern Indonesia, boasts the highest coral reef biodiversity in the world, and is therefore an important area not only for fishing and tourism, but also for conservation. In an effort to understand this ecosystem, development of an ecosystem based management (EBM) framework was initiated by Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and World Wildlife Fund. The economic component of this project was our particular focus. Specifically, our objective was to look at the economics of unregulated and illegal fishing in Raja Ampat. An unregulated anchovy fishery and the illegal use of dynamite and explosives in the region were studied.

Economic Assessment for B.C. Salmon Aquaculture

Objectives:
The general objective of this research is to examine the profitability of salmon aquaculture operations by highlighting the economic impacts of disease problems on aquaculture producers and wild salmon fisheries. Salmon aquaculture in British Columbia (BC) will be used as a case study, and sea lice will be used as a representative disease. The specific objectives are:

1. To examine the profitability of salmon aquaculture operation under “normal” conditions;
2. To estimate the economic costs of disease to salmon farmers;
3. To examine if disease has economic impacts on wild salmon fisheries; if it does, then examine what the economic impacts will be;
4. To explore the profitability of salmon aquaculture operation when economic impacts of disease are internalized.

Contribution of marine fisheries to worldwide employment

Abstract:

Marine fisheries contribute to the global economy, from the catching of fish through to the provision of support services for the fishing industry. General lack of data and uncertainty about the level of employment in marine fisheries can lead to underestimation of fishing effort and hence over-exploited fisheries, or result in inaccurate projections of economic and societal costs and benefits. To address this gap, a database of marine fisheries employment for 144 coastal nations was compiled. Gaps in employment data that emerged were filled using a Monte Carlo approach to estimate the number of direct and indirect…

Construction and first applications of a global cost of fishing database

Abstract: The development of a new global database of fishing cost is described, and an overview of fishing cost patterns at national, regional, and global scales is provided. This fishing cost database provides economic information required for assessing the economics of fisheries at various scales. It covers variable and fixed costs of maritime countries, representing similar to 98% of global landings in 2005. Linked to country and gear-type combinations, cost estimates can be mapped to a database of spatially allocated fisheries catches for future analysis in both spatial and temporal dimensions. The global average variable cost per tonne of

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Potential ecological and economic impacts of sea lice from farmed salmon on wild salmon fisheries

Abstract: This paper examines the possible ecological and economic effects of sea lice from salmon farms on wild salmon populations and fisheries. A bioeconomic model is developed incorporating an age-structured population dynamics model of wild pink and chum salmon with mortality caused by farm-derived sea lice. Our model incorporates capture fisheries under two management policy scenarios. Results suggest that the ecological and economic effects are minor when the sea lice induced mortality rate is below 20%, while they can be severe if the mortality is greater than 30%. Sea lice have greater ecological and economic impacts on pink salmon

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The Impact of Subsidies on the Ecological Sustainability and Future Profits from North Sea Fisheries

Abstract: Background: This study examines the impact of subsidies on the profitability and ecological stability of the North Sea fisheries over the past 20 years. It shows the negative impact that subsidies can have on both the biomass of important fish species and the possible profit from fisheries. The study includes subsidies in an ecosystem model of the North Sea and examines the possible effects of eliminating fishery subsidies.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Hindcast analysis between 1991 and 2003 indicates that subsidies reduced the profitability of the fishery even though gross revenue might have been high for specific fisheries sectors. Simulations…

Understanding the cost of establishing marine protected areas

Abstract: While the recurrent cost of managing marine protected areas (MPAs) has been documented and estimated, there has been virtually no attempt to quantify the cost of establishing MPAs in the first place. This lack of attention is likely the result of the complexity of the process, involving often uncoordinated efforts of a multitude of governmental and non-governmental entities over a protracted period of time with no clear start and end-point. Using information gathered from a representative subset of MPAs worldwide, this paper presents the first attempt to identify and describe the various components, and explore potential predictors of

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Food security implications of global marine catch losses due to overfishing

Abstract: Excess fishing capacity and the growth in global demand for fishery products have made overfishing ubiquitous in the world’s oceans. Here we describe the potential catch losses due to unsustainable fishing in all countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and on the high seas over 1950–2004. To do so, we relied upon catch and price statistics from the Sea Around Us Project as well as an empirical relationship we derived from species stock assessments by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 2000 alone, estimated global catch losses amounted to 7–36% of the actual tonnage landed that year, resulting in

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