Understanding Fishermen Behaviour – Some Potential Opportunities for Experimental Economics

1. Understanding Fishermen Behaviour – Some Potential Opportunities for Experimental Economics Presentation to: Fisheries Policy and Experimental EconomicsOpportunities & Priorities University of Alaska AnchorageWorkshop Presented by: Gordon Gislason GSGislason & Associates Ltd.PO Box 10321, Pacific Centre, 880-609 Granville StreetVancouver, BC, Canada V7Y 1G5Email: gsg@gsg.bc.ca 12 July 2007

2. The Basic Premise “Fishermen react really well to money incentives” 1

3. Policy Issue #1 • CATCH MONITORING & SUSTAINABILITY • Some Industry Comments • “how can you prove you are sustainable without catch monitoring?” • “ENGOs support fisheries with good catch monitoring” • “you need public approval to maintain access to a public resource” • “traceability is becoming a market requirement – but you can’t have traceability without catch monitoring” • Some Key Dimensions of the Issue • need reliable estimates of landings & discards • catch monitoring enables allocation policies • to be sustainable economically, you need to be sustainable environmentally • rigorous catch monitoring provides a social licence to operate • affordability & privacy issues re catch monitoring 2

4. Policy Issue #2 • CO-MANAGEMENT & USER FEES • Some Industry Comments • “wasn’t there a Boston Tea Party once with the rallying cry – No Taxation Without Representation” • “it is difficult to justify fee collection as cost recovery, when the money just goes to general revenue” • “there is no problem with user pay as long as the user gets a say as to what service he gets” • “many fishermen are not used to taking responsibility for their life – the union was their father, the company their mother” • Some Key Dimensions of the Issue • what are the “core” science activities of government? • how much decision-making responsibility is government willing to share/devolve? • cost recovery vs rent recovery fees • taking money from users without giving them a say is not co-management • property rights systems foster meaningful co-management 2

5. Policy Issue #3 • FISH QUALITY • Some Industry Comments • “quality standards in the market place have risen because of farmed fish” • “it is not polite to say but we are in the road kill business – we should not be” • “you can increase the price of any fresh fish by offering the product over an extended season” • “there is little financial incentive to produce good quality fish – everyone gets the same price” • Some Key Dimensions of the Issue • lack of grading/differential pricing of raw material • some fish has vastly different values depending upon 1) how & where caught, 2) on-board handling, 3) processing and 4) marketing • industry revenue growth tied to quality improvements not quantity increases • capture fisheries should be providing high quality, niche products • quality improvements may require different fisheries management systems 2

6. Policy Issue #4 • THE NEXT GENERATION OF FISHERMEN • Some Industry Comments • “the average age of salmon licence holders is pushing 60 years” • “giving licences to some rural communities is a waste – nobody knows how to fish” • “we used to hire from the neck down, now we hire from the neck up” • “its hard to get good crew members for salmon” • Some Key Dimensions of the Issue • lack of career progression – hired crew to hired skipper to owner-operator • HR issues increasingly important e.g., recruitment, training, retention • high licence/quota purchase costs act as barrier to entry • declining crew % shares • a fishing job is one of many seasonal jobs to earn an adequate annual income 2

7. Conclusions • the challenge in fisheries policy is to converge interests of: • industry • the regulator • the public • “incentives” are a powerful tool for modifying fishermen behaviour • incentives are crucial to: • meeting sustainability criteria • fostering co-management • improving fish quality • recruiting next generation of fishermen • experimental economics has important role in a wide range of fisheries policy applications for: • identifying appropriate incentives & their impacts • analyzing “command & control” vs “incentive” policy options 2