The fishing industry's critical dependence on the natural environment makes it very different from other economic sectors. How it can optimally exploit a common resource while ensuring its sustainability raises many economic challenges.

This book, suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on fisheries economics and management, provides an introduction to the economics of the fishing industry and the role of fisheries in the world economy. The book's primary focus is on capture fisheries, although the discussion brings in wider aquaculture for comparative analysis. The key economic concepts that drive the industry, most notably sustainable yield, are explained in detail, before examining how the industry puts them into practice in a complex regulatory environment. The variability of fish stocks is considered and case studies of some spectacular stock crashes are discussed. The law of the sea is explained and how the movement of fish stocks across ocean boundaries has created regulatory bodies to manage international fisheries. At the heart of this management lies the quota system and the book outlines how it works and how, controversially, such quotas have become transferable.

The book offers readers a comprehensive and rigorous guide to the economic considerations motivating the industry and highlights the environmental challenges facing the sector as global consumption of fish continues to rise.

Table of contents :
1 Introduction Fisheries versus aquaculture Capture fisheries Natural fluctuations The 200-mile zone: a sea change Approaches to fisheries management 2 World fisheries: some basic facts World production of fish Is there a “crisis” in world fisheries? Fishery products and their role in world food supplies International trade in fish The fishing industry Notes 3 Aquaculture Aquaculture versus capture fisheries Salmon farming Risks in salmon farming Feeding the farmed fish Notes 4 Elementary fisheries economics The interaction between fishing, the fish stock and stock growth Some fundamental economic relationships A more general approach Age-structured models An example: the Northeast Arctic cod Ricker’s recruitment model Notes 5 Natural fluctuations of fish stocks Sustainability and variable stocks The Norwegian spring-spawning herring The Northern cod of Newfoundland The California sardine The Barents Sea capelin Inter-annual variability and long waves Notes 6 The 200-mile zone: a sea change A brief history of the modern law of the sea The impact of the 200-mile zone Regional fisheries management organizations The wealth transfer of the 200-mile zone Notes 7 International fisheries management: cooperation or competition? Consequences of unfettered competition The scope for cooperation Migrating stocks Advances in fisheries management Notes 8 Fisheries management Individual quotas Transferability of quotas Control of quotas Alternatives to quota management Quotas for fluctuating fish stocks Landing fees as a control mechanism The political economy of fisheries Quota regimes worldwide Subsidies Notes 9 Conclusion Market-driven and science-based management Will the oceans feed a growing humanity?