Coasean Approaches to Ending Overfishing: Bigeye Tuna Conservation in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean were perceived as overfished for nearly 20 years, in large part due to incidental catch in the much larger skipjack tuna fishery. Efforts to halt the overfishing of bigeye stalled due to disagreements over the distribution of costs and benefits from reform. An alternative Coasean-style approach to setting both harvesting levels and the allocation of costs and benefits might offer a path forward. We calculate the costs and benefits of achieving bigeye conservation goals and describe an exchange through which benefits could be realized via removal of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). Through trade, aggregate benefits and costs are more apt to be in balance relative to mandated protection controls. The realities of bargaining costs in a 2 multilateral setting are not underappreciated, but in light of existing stalemates in this and other fisheries, consideration of Coasean-style approaches is warranted.

Sustainability Analysis of Tuna (Thunnus sp.) Fishery in Sendang Biru, Malang Regency

“…Struktur ukuran ikan tuna yang mengalami penurunan juga memperburuk hasil tangkapan, sehingga menyebabkan penangkapan ikan berlebihan sehingga tuna kecil juga ikut tertangkap. Pemerintah daerah sebaiknya mengatur alat tangkap dan memberikan penyuluhan serta pelatihan (Gigentika et al, 2017) agar nelayan tidak melakukan penangkapan berlebihan tanpa memperhatikan ekosistem tuna untuk menjaga keseimbangan pasar antara penawaran dan permintaan (Ovando et al, 2020).…”