Direct Economic Effects and Optimal Vessel Reduction Scales in Coastal and Offshore Fisheries

Abstract

The aims of this study are to estimate the optimal vessel reduction scales and these direct economic effects of coastal and offshore fisheries in the Republic of Korea. To estimate respectively optimal fishing efforts of individual fishery by species in coastal and offshore fisheries, we adopted appropriate fishing power of each species published by National Fisheries Research and Development Institute and also considered biological and socio-economic factors such as the bycatch rate, the profit rate, the efficiency of resource use, the average age of fishing vessel, the intention of vessel reduction, and the annual changes in vessels by other factors. The direct economic effects of the optimal vessel reduction in coastal and offshore fisheries based on maximum sustainable yield and 2/3 maximum sustainable yield was calculated by a cost-benefit analysis. This study showed that optimal reduction numbers of vessels engaged in coastal and offshore fisheries were 4,431 and 374 vessels and the direct economic effects in coastal and offshore fisheries were about 371.7 and 569.4 billion won and these NPV and BCR were 111.7 billion won and 1.65 and 342.6 billion won and 4.97 respectively.