Fish market prices drive overfishing of the ‘big ones’

Tsikliras, Athanassios C.; Polymeros, Konstantinos

doi:10.7717/peerj.638

Cited by 48 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In commercial fisheries, large fish typically attract a much higher unit price than do small fish (Sethi et al . ; Tsikliras and Polymeros ). However, for small‐scale fisheries in areas where there is poverty and malnutrition, the provision of biomass for food is more important than the market value of the catch (Beveridge et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balanced harvesting can emerge from fishing decisions by individual fishers in a small‐scale fishery

et al. 2016

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Catching fish in proportion to their productivity, termed balanced harvesting, has been suggested as a basis for the ecosystem approach to fishing. Balanced harvesting has been criticized as uneconomical and unachievable because of the level of micromanagement it would require. Here, we investigate the consequences of allowing a fixed number of fishers in a small‐scale fishery to choose what size fish to attempt to catch. We examine this from a game‐theoretic perspective and test our predictions using an agent‐based model for fishers’ decisions coupled with a size‐spectrum model for the dynamics of a single fish species. We show that small‐scale gillnet fishers, operating without size‐based regulations, would end up catching small and large fish in proportion to their productivity, in other words balanced harvesting. This is significant because it shows that, far from being unachievable, balanced harvesting can emerge without external intervention under some circumstances. Controls are needed to prevent overfishing, but minimum size regulations alone are not sufficient to achieve this, and actually reduce the sustainable yield by confining fishing to a relatively unproductive part of the size‐spectrum. Our findings are particularly relevant for small‐scale fisheries in areas where there is poverty and malnutrition because here provision of biomass for food is more important than the market value of the catch.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balanced harvesting can emerge from fishing decisions by individual fishers in a small‐scale fishery

et al. 2016

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“…Specifically, fisheries often target larger-bodied fish within and across populations; this selectivity can result from the use of minimum size limits in management, the properties of the fishing gear used (e.g., mesh size), or catch value dependent on body size (Millar 1992, Shin et al 2005, Tsikliras & Polymeros 2014. In addition, individuals and populations with less movement receive greater protection because of their greater retention within reserve boundaries (Botsford et al 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine reserves can enhance ecological resilience

Barnett

Baskett

2015

Ecology Letters

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Here we review the population, community, and evolutionary consequences of marine reserves. Responses at each level depend on the tendency of fisheries to target larger body sizes and the tendency for greater reserve protection with less movement within and across populations. The primary population response to reserves is survival to greater ages and sizes plus increases in the population size for harvested species, with greater response to reserves that are large relative to species' movement rates. The primary community response to reserves is an increase in total biomass and diversity, with the potential for trophic cascades and altered spatial patterning of metacommunities. The primary evolutionary response to reserves is increased genetic diversity, with the theoretical potential for protection against fisheries-induced evolution and selection for reduced movement. The potential for the combined outcome of these responses to buffer marine populations and communities against temporal environmental heterogeneity has preliminary theoretical and empirical support.

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“…Other factors than quality may account for most of variation in prices, such as fish size, with lower prices per kg for small plaice, or market demand, but prices for plaice in Denmark are in general low and show little variation (Hopper et al, 2003;Lawler, 2003;Tsikliras & Polymeros, 2014).…”

Section: From Fish Quality To Commercialitymentioning

confidence: 97%

Testing the effect of soak time on catch damage in a coastal gillnetter and the consequences on processed fish quality

et al. 2016

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N. (2016). Testing the effect of soak time on catch damage in a coastal gillnetter and the consequences on processed fish quality. Food Control, 70, 310-317. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2016 ABSTRACTThis study aims at testing how to improve catch quality aboard a coastal gillnetter by looking at an easily controllable parameter known to have an effect on the degree of fish damage, soak time, and investigating if the registered damages on whole fish have an effect on processed products such as fillets. Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) was captured with commercial gillnets soaked for 12 and 24 hours. Damages were assessed using semiquantitative indices of individual fish condition gathered in a Catch-damage-index for onboard fish and a Processed fish-damage-index for whole, skinned and filleted plaice processed at a land-based factory. Cumulative link mixed modelling allowed the estimation of the size of effects. Damage in fish was significantly more likely for longer soak times but effects were comparable to those of fish length and between-sets, making a change in soak time not so substantial for improving plaice quality in coastal gillnetting. Damage in fish was significantly more likely for whole than filleted fish, but there was substantial heterogeneity among fish. Severe damage in whole fish may not matter in filleted fish whereas some damage may only be visible at the fillet level.

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Fish market prices drive overfishing of the ‘big ones’

Cited by 48 publications

References 38 publications

Balanced harvesting can emerge from fishing decisions by individual fishers in a small‐scale fishery

Balanced harvesting can emerge from fishing decisions by individual fishers in a small‐scale fishery

Marine reserves can enhance ecological resilience

Testing the effect of soak time on catch damage in a coastal gillnetter and the consequences on processed fish quality

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