An Integrated Bioeconomic Model of the Oregon Pink Shrimp Fishery
By Charmaine Marie Gallagher, Gilbert Sylvia, and Robert HannahABSTRACT
- timing of harvests
- selectivities and gear mesh size
- bycatch and use of finfish excluder devices, and
- product recoveries and product quality
To comprehensively address these questions economic data was collected from personal interviews with a cross section of harvesters and processors, logbooks, at-sea finfish excluder research, and laboratory research evaluating product quality. This information was then integrated with biological information and analyzed using static and dynamic bioeconomic models. An equilibrium biological yield per recruit and economic yield per recruit model indicate that a delay in the season opening of this fishery would generate increased revenue as a result of shrimp growth and size-based price differentials. Maximizing net present value using a dynamic non-linear programming model suggests that under certain operating and environmental conditions, finfish excluder devices may generate net benefits for some vessels. However, due to increases in operational costs and the overall low market value of harvested by-catch, mandatory use of excluders may decrease overall economic benefits. Preliminary results are discussed within the broader context of the difficulties associated with mixed fishery and rights based fishery management.
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