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Protecting Marine Ecosystems: Regulation Versus Market Incentives

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  • Steve J. Miller
  • Robert T. Deacon

Abstract

Tradable harvest rights are gradually replacing prescriptive regulations in the management of commercial fisheries. We provide evidence that this management strategy can also successfully achieve non-commercial marine conservation goals, such as limiting unintended catch (bycatch) of protected species. We examine fishers' responses to the introduction of tradable harvest rights for protected species, 'bycatch rights,' in the US West Coast groundfish fishery, finding evidence of adjustment along several margins and estimating the marginal cost of conservation. Fishers adapted to bycatch rights by changing fishing location, gear, time of day fished, and duration of fishing activity. As a result, catches of protected species fell dramatically. The nuanced nature of fishers' responses indicates that the least-cost way of achieving conservation goals can involve fine-tuned behavioral adaptations that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with command-and-control regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve J. Miller & Robert T. Deacon, 2017. "Protecting Marine Ecosystems: Regulation Versus Market Incentives," Marine Resource Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 83-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:mresec:doi:10.1086/689214
    DOI: 10.1086/689214
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Carrella, Ernesto & Saul, Steven & Marshall, Kristin & Burgess, Matthew G. & Cabral, Reniel B. & Bailey, Richard M. & Dorsett, Chris & Drexler, Michael & Madsen, Jens Koed & Merkl, Andreas, 2020. "Simple Adaptive Rules Describe Fishing Behaviour Better than Perfect Rationality in the US West Coast Groundfish Fishery," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Burgess, Matthew G. & Carrella, Ernesto & Drexler, Michael & Axtell, Robert L. & Bailey, Richard M. & Watson, James R. & Cabral, Reniel B. & Clemence, Michaela & Costello, Christopher & Dorsett, Chris, 2018. "Opportunities for agent-based modeling in human dimensions of fisheries," SocArXiv gzhm5, Center for Open Science.
    3. Keita Abe & Christopher M. Anderson & Matthew N. Reimer, 2022. "Catch More to Catch Less: Estimating Timing Choice as Dynamic Bycatch Avoidance Behavior," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(4), pages 953-984, August.
    4. Reimer, Matthew N. & Abbott, Joshua K. & Haynie, Alan C., 2022. "Structural behavioral models for rights-based fisheries," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

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