Ensuring representative economic data: survey data-collection methods in France for implementing the Common Fisheries Policy

Abstract

Van Iseghem, S., Quillérou, E., Brigaudeau, C., Macher, C., Guyader, O., and Daurès, F. 2011. Ensuring representative economic data: survey data-collection methods in France for implementing the Common Fisheries Policy. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1792–1799. Since 2001, Ifremer has implemented an economic data collection programme (EDCP) within the Data Collection Framework of the EU. It aims to obtain economic data from a sample of vessels representative of the entire French fishing fleet. This paper presents the strategies used for vessel sampling selection in the French EDCP and its implementation over several consecutive years. The approach is illustrated by the sampling plan for the fleet in the North Sea Channel Atlantic region. We show that the EDCP allows precise economic indicators such as gross revenue or fuel costs to be estimated for the whole fishing fleet, including small vessels (<10 m), and consequently, it facilitates sound scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy. The apparent underestimation of landings by small vessels in official statistics is highlighted.

Micro-economic drivers of profitability in an ITQ-managed fishery: An analysis of the Queensland Coral Reef Fin-Fish Fishery

“…The research team followed an approach which has been successfully applied in a variety of contexts, including French [15,16] and English [17] commercial fisheries. This involved producing an updated description of the industry and developing a business profile taking into account the size and nature of fishing operations.…”

Managing Fleet Capacity Effectively Under Second-Hand Market Redistribution

“…More detailed descriptions of fleets and fleet segment characteristics can be found in Ifremer's ''Synthèses des flottilles'' (Ifremer 2010). The sampling strategy and plan of Ifremer's primary data collection are described in Van Iseghem et al (2011). The hierarchy between the different scales of analysis is summed up in Table 1.…”

“…In theory, moving to more targeted policies at the regional level could decrease information problems by targeting more homogeneous fleet segments. This is, however, not likely to be the case in France because fleet segments are heterogeneous within regions (as indicated by the index of variability detailed in Van Iseghem et al 2011). Also, regulating second-hand market trade between regions would not prevent one fisher from fishing in more profitable areas nor give fishers increased incentives to reduce actually used fishing capacity rather than total fishing capacity.…”

“…Vessels are eligible for national capacity management policies regardless of their region of registration and fishing area. However, because of the distribution of fisheries along the French coastline, eligible fishing segments are distributed heterogeneously along the coastline (Berthou et al 2002;Leblond et al 2007Leblond et al , 2011Van Iseghem et al 2011). All regions do not have equal access to these fishery-specific policies and associated subsidies, and fishery specific policies are therefore also region specific.…”

“…1, p. 9). Identification of different métiers is, however, not always straightforward in practice (Marchal 2008;Deporte et al 2012). others (Berthou et al 2002;Leblond et al 2007Leblond et al , 2011Van Iseghem et al 2011).…”