Multi-national Industry Capacity in the North Sea Flatfish Fishery

Fisheries managers often see the management of regional fisheries as a more pertinent approach than managing separate national fleet units that exploit numerous fish stocks. This article considers an industry approach, using data envelopment analysis (DEA), to shed light on the exploitation of the North Sea flatfish fishery by a multi-national fleet, identifying overcapacity and possible reductions of the current fleet. The analysis estimates that the same catch could be taken with a fleet at 77% of its current size, and suggests an optimal reallocation of fixed inputs of each national fleet. Further insight is also given to surplus and optimal vessels in terms of catches and vessel characteristics. Simulations of the impact of possible quota reductions and restrictions of equal capacity reduction across nations are also considered.Data Envelopment Analysis, capacity output, industry allocation, multi-national fleet, C14, D24, Q22, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Role of Subsidies in EU Fleet Capacity Management

Fisheries in the European Union (EU) continue to be overexploited by an overcapitalised fishing fleet, despite the best intentions of two decades of capacity adjustment programmes. This paper considers the progress of fishing capacity under the Multi-annual Guidance Programme and examines the impact of subsidies made available to the fishing industry. The underlying reasons for the modest impact on improved resource sustainability are considered, despite capacity reductions in nominal terms. These include the impact of subsidies on capacity development and issues surrounding the use of vessel decommissioning. The Danish fishing fleet case serves as an empirical example in this regard. Comments on the future capacity management regime and the role of subsidies in EU fisheries are offered.Common Fisheries Policy, fleet capacity management, subsidies, Danish fishing fleet, D24, H20, Q22, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Reforming Europe's fleet policy: A "Sea change" solution to overcapacity?

In July 2011 the European Commission acknowledged that "Our current system is not working in favour of sustainability. Too many fleet segments live on low profits, depend on subsidies for survival. 'Business as usual' is not an option". Indeed, the reform of the policy "must not be yet another piecemeal, incremental reform but a "sea change" cutting to the core reasons behind the vicious circle in which Europe’s fisheries have been trapped in recent decades.” (Green Paper on Reform of the CFP, April 2009.) The reform package for a new policy is comprehensive and touches upon all aspects of fisheries management, and ongoing negotiations should lead a new policy being implemented in 2013. This paper focuses on the reform of fleet (access) component of the policy. The Commission has proposed a system of transferable fishing concessions, or user rights, for all large scale vessels (>12m). The concessions will be distributed by each Member State, and will grant their owner a share of the national fishing opportunity for each year. Operators will be able to lease or trade their concessions nationally, not between Member States, and will have a minimum validity of 15 years. More lenient capacity rules will apply to these vessels. In parallel, the new Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014-2020 will discontinue the use of publicly financed vessel decommissioning, following decades of ineffectiveness. This paper offers a personal analysis of whether a "sea change" reform can be achieved, in promoting market based solutions to solve the overcapacity problem.Extended abstract

Adapt, Improvise and Overcome: Fishermen’s Responses to the Landing Obligation

This document provides a summary of a Special Session held at the IIFET 2016 Scotland conference in July 2016. The title of the special session was: Adapt, Improvise and Overcome: Fishermen’s Responses to the Landing Obligation. The report includes details of the proceedings of the session, including presenters and presentations made.Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Comparison of the medical students' perceived self-efficacy and the evaluation of the observers and patients

BACKGROUND: The accuracy of self-assessment has been questioned in studies comparing physicians’ self-assessments to observed assessments; however, none of these studies used self-efficacy as a method for self-assessment. The aim of the study was to investigate how medical students’ perceived self-efficacy of specific communication skills corresponds to the evaluation of simulated patients and observers. METHODS: All of the medical students who signed up for an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) were included. As a part of the OSCE, the student performance in the “parent-physician interaction” was evaluated by a simulated patient and an observer at one of the stations. After the examination the students were asked to assess their self-efficacy according to the same specific communication skills. The Calgary Cambridge Observation Guide formed the basis for the outcome measures used in the questionnaires. A total of 12 items was rated on a Likert scale from 1–5 (strongly disagree to strongly agree). We used extended Rasch models for comparisons between the groups of responses of the questionnaires. Comparisons of groups were conducted on dichotomized responses. RESULTS: Eighty-four students participated in the examination, 87% (73/84) of whom responded to the questionnaire. The response rate for the simulated patients and the observers was 100%. Significantly more items were scored in the highest categories (4 and 5) by the observers and simulated patients compared to the students (observers versus students: -0.23; SE:0.112; p=0.002 and patients versus students:0.177; SE:0.109; p=0.037). When analysing the items individually, a statistically significant difference only existed for two items. CONCLUSION: This study showed that students scored their communication skills lower compared to observers or simulated patients. The differences were driven by only 2 of 12 items. The results in this study indicate that self-efficacy based on the Calgary Cambridge Observation guide seems to be a reliable tool