The I, the T, or the Q? Disentangling the effects of individual transferable quotas on the health of fish stocks

A growing practice in fisheries management is the allocation access rights to marine fisheries through individual transferable quota (ITQs) – limits on the amount of fish allocated to individual licences as transferable permits. By establishing an ownership claim over the right to fish and a market for exchange, ITQs are purported to provide a conservation incentive that reduces or eliminates overfishing while increasing economic efficiency. Yet despite enthusiastic support for ITQs as a conservation tool, the connection between ITQs and stewardship remains a theory in need of validation. Where research has found that ITQs outperform non-ITQ fisheries in protecting against overfishing, this has been demonstrated through problematic control groups that cover a wide range of systems including unregulated fisheries. As ITQ systems are a collection of management features, there is a lack of understanding of which attribute is associated with positive outcomes – the I, the T, or the Q. This paper explores this question through a statistical analysis of 150 fisheries from around the world, documenting their changes in fisheries management system (e.g. ITQ, IQ, quota pool, effort-based) and the health of the corresponding fish stocks (e.g. fishing mortality, biomass). The results indicate that a more nuanced view of ITQs and conservation incentives is required as ITQs are neither necessary nor sufficient to deliver positive environmental outcomes. An understanding of ITQs/catch shares and other allocation systems as a combination of design attributes would greatly improve debates surrounding fisheries management

Governing open ocean and fish carbon: perspectives and opportunities

Marine life plays a vital role in the ocean’s biological pump by sequestering and mediating fluxes of carbon to the deep sea and sea floor. The roles that fish and other marine vertebrates play in the biological pump are increasingly attracting scientific and policy attention. In this paper, we investigated the interest in and possibilities for the international governance of open ocean and fish carbon ecosystem services. We used semi-structured interviews with representatives from environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs), policy makers, and policy experts, along with an exploratory review of grey and peer-reviewed literature to: 1) trace the pathway of important milestones, key actors, and their strategies to influence governance of ocean carbon, and, 2) investigate which frameworks might be used to govern open ocean and fish carbon. Strategies of key actors to direct attention to open ocean and fish carbon included collaborating with scientists, organising side events at climate and biodiversity negotiations and seminars to engage policy makers, as well as educational campaigns directed to the public and policy makers about the co-benefits of open ocean and fish carbon. While we found a strong focus of ENGO activities related to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, we also found strong opposition against active governance of open ocean and fish carbon by key Intergovernmental actors in this forum. Opposition stems from a lack of scientific information on how long open ocean and fish carbon is stored, difficulties in attributing carbon flows with individual countries mitigation actions, and fewer perceived co-benefits (e.g. coastal protection in the case of coastal blue carbon) for coastal communities. More viable routes for the future governance of open ocean and fish carbon may lie in international fisheries management and in current negotiations of a treaty for biodiversity conservation in the high seas

Protecting ocean carbon through biodiversity and climate governance

Global policy goals for halting biodiversity loss and climate change depend on each other to be successful. Marine biodiversity and climate change are intertwined through foodwebs that cycle and transport carbon and contribute to carbon sequestration. Yet, biodiversity conservation and fisheries management seldom explicitly include ocean carbon transport and sequestration. In order to effectively manage and govern human activities that affect carbon cycling and sequestration, international biodiversity and climate agreements need to address both biodiversity and climate issues. International agreements that address issues for climate and biodiversity are best poised to facilitate the protection of ocean carbon with existing policies. The degree to which the main international biodiversity and climate agreements make reference to multiple issues has however not been documented. Here, we used a text mining analysis of over 2,700 binding and non-binding policy documents from ten global ocean-related agreements to identify keywords related to biodiversity, climate, and ocean carbon. While climate references were mostly siloed within climate agreements, biodiversity references were included in most agreements. Further, we found that six percent of policy documents (n=166) included ocean carbon keywords. In light of our results, we highlight opportunities to strengthen the protection of ocean carbon in upcoming negotiations of international agreements, and via area-based management, environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment

Fisheries Management under Individual Transferable Quota : Outcomes for Ecology and Equity

The management of marine resources pose a difficult commons problem as monitoring behavior is difficult and benefit flows from the resources are uncertain. Implementing individual transferable quota (ITQ) is a management regime in which quasi-property rights are assigned for an often mobile and uncertain environmental resource, fish or marine invertebrates. This thesis addresses sustainability impacts of ITQ’s as a fisheries management tool. The findings demonstrate that fisheries management regimes in which fisheries opportunities are allocated as quota and / or are allocated individually experience reduced overfishing compared to controls that do not have these attributes (Paper I), however the analysis found less support for transferability and no support for longer duration being associated to any change in the probability of overfishing. In addition, a longitudinal study showed that with an adaptive design ecological and economic goals could be balanced in an important mixed fishery in Iceland (Paper II), and based on such findings suggested that several policy changes could be implemented to modify the ecological risk of catch-quota balancing allowances. Additional longitudinal analyses allowed to conclude that rapid consolidation in an important small-boat fishing sector in Iceland, which may have had negative implications for local fishing communities (Paper III), and that on average since the introduction of ITQ’s total amount of quota traded stayed below around 60% for the main commercial species in the Icelandic ITQ system. Moreover, the results of Paper IV also show that in case of a credible announcement of quota revocation in the future there would be scope for policy reform. Finally, research is beginning to emerge that shows that marine species are unequally affected by climate change. In a final chapter the analyses show that under different scenarios of global change a re-shaping of the Icelandic foodweb is likely (Paper V). The re-shaping of the foodweb will be to the benefit of some resource users and to the loss of others. In general, the findings from all the analyses together demonstrate that there could be benefits to individual quota implementation for fisheries sustainability and that some of the hypothesized trade-offs could potentially be balanced, the thesis highlights ways forward in investigating the common pool problems in fisheries management

Which attributes of fishing opportunities are linked to sustainable fishing?

To prevent the overfishing of marine fish populations, governments often limit access through the allocation of fishing opportunities. While some studies have linked particular systems of fishing opportunities to sustainable outcomes (particularly individual transferable quota (ITQ)), it remains unclear, whether it is the use of exclusive property-rights (individual allocation and secure duration), the use of a market for fishing opportunities (tradability), or the quota limits themselves that underlie these positive outcomes. To determine which system attributes lead to sustainable fishing we developed a novel method to systematically classify how fishing opportunities are allocated for 443 global fish stocks from 1990 to 2018 to produce the longest and most comprehensive dataset and longitudinal study of its kind. Our results revealed that quota limits and individual allocation were associated with a reduced probability of overfishing, with the most robust result for quota limits. The leasing of quota was the only attribute associated with a reduced probability of overfished biomass. Whereas some previous studies have emphasized that market-based systems or those with strong property rights (i.e. a long duration) are associated with sustainable fishing, these benefits are small or not significant once proper controls for other system attributes are introduced. These results highlight the importance of considering all attributes of institutional design in the governance of common pool resources

Which attributes of fishing opportunities are linked to sustainable fishing?

To prevent the overfishing of marine fish populations, governments often limit access through the allocation of fishing opportunities. While some studies have linked particular systems of fishing opportunities to sustainable outcomes (particularly individual transferable quota (ITQ)), it remains unclear, whether it is the use of exclusive property-rights (individual allocation and secure duration), the use of a market for fishing opportunities (tradability), or the quota limits themselves that underlie these positive outcomes. To determine which system attributes lead to sustainable fishing we developed a novel method to systematically classify how fishing opportunities are allocated for 443 global fish stocks from 1990 to 2018 to produce the longest and most comprehensive dataset and longitudinal study of its kind. Our results revealed that quota limits and individual allocation were associated with a reduced probability of overfishing, with the most robust result for quota limits. The leasing of quota was the only attribute associated with a reduced probability of overfished biomass. Whereas some previous studies have emphasized that market-based systems or those with strong property rights (i.e. a long duration) are associated with sustainable fishing, these benefits are small or not significant once proper controls for other system attributes are introduced. These results highlight the importance of considering all attributes of institutional design in the governance of common pool resources

Catch–quota matching allowances balance economic and ecological targets in a fishery managed by individual transferable quota

Fishers with individual catch quota, but limited control over the mix of species caught, depend on trade and catch–quota balancing allowances to fully utilize their quota without discarding. However, these allowances can theoretically lead to overfishing if total allowable catches (TACs) are consistently exceeded. This study investigates usage of balancing allowances by the Icelandic demersal fleet over 2001–2017, for over 1,900 vessels. When a vessel’s demersal catch exceeds owned and leased quota for a given species, the gap can be bridged by borrowing quota from the subsequent fishing period or transforming unutilized quota in other species, restricted by limits. Conversely, excess quota can be saved or transformed into quota for species where there is a shortfall. We found evidence that balancing behavior is frequently similar across the fleet. Transformations are consistent with indicators of a general quota shortage and potential for arbitrage caused by differences in conversion ratios used for transformation and lease prices. Larger companies contribute more to these patterns. Nevertheless, TAC overages are generally modest especially in recent years—key reasons appear to be the tightening of vessel transformation limits and the central role of Atlantic cod, which is the main target species but cannot be persistently overfished due to a specific prohibition on positive transformations into the species. These results show how the tailored design of the Icelandic catch–quota balancing system has helped in balancing economic and ecological goals of management. We suggest policy changes that could further reduce ecological risks, e.g., prioritizing between-year transfers over transformations

Risk Assessment for Key Socio-Economic and Ecological Species in a Sub-Arctic Marine Ecosystem Under Combined Ocean Acidification and Warming

The Arctic may be particularly vulnerable to the consequences of both ocean acidification (OA) and global warming, given the faster pace of these processes in comparison with global average speeds. Here, we use the Atlantis ecosystem model to assess how the trophic network of marine fishes and invertebrates in the Icelandic waters is responding to the combined pressures of OA and warming. We develop an approach where we first identify species by their economic (catch value), social (number of participants in fisheries), or ecological (keystone species) importance. We then use literature-determined ranges of sensitivity to OA and warming for different species and functional groups in the Icelandic waters to parametrize model runs for different scenarios of warming and OA. We found divergent species responses to warming and acidification levels; (mainly) planktonic groups and forage fish benefited while (mainly) benthic groups and predatory fish decreased under warming and acidification scenarios. Assuming conservative harvest rates for the largest catch-value species, Atlantic cod, we see that the population is projected to remain stable under even the harshest acidification and warming scenario. Further, for the scenarios where the model projects reductions in biomass of Atlantic cod, other species in the ecosystem increase, likely due to a reduction in competition and predation. These results highlight the interdependencies of multiple global change drivers and their cascading effects on trophic organization, and the continued high abundance of an important species from a socio-economic perspective in the Icelandic fisheries

Structure and evolution of cod quota market networks in Iceland over times of financial volatility

The quota market is the instrument through which fishing operations under an individual transferable quota (ITQ) system achieve greater efficiency. It allows fishing companies to optimally configure their quota portfolios to their catches. Globally, fisheries corresponding to ~25% of landings have adopted ITQ systems. However, there is surprisingly little empirical information on quota markets functioning. Here we study the development of quota share and lease markets and assess market activity and functioning for the cod fishery in Iceland. We use a social network analysis to assess changes in four Icelandic quota markets, distinguished by boat size (large versus small) and permanence of transfers (leases versus shares). The quota market for permanent trades in small-boat quota shows a sharp increase in trade and network connectivity between 2004 and 2006, resulting in a high rate of quota concentration. The quota markets for permanent quota shares were the most fragmented and sparse during the years of the financial crash in Iceland and never regain the same activity. Our results suggest that quota systems evolve towards a consolidated state and that their markets are not entirely resilient to financial instability. We also found some evidence that better-connected traders could sell quota at higher prices in the lease markets, though price dispersion was generally low

Assessing rehabilitation of managed mangrove ecosystems using high resolution remote sensing

Mangroves are valuable ecosystems for coastal protection, carbon sequestration and storage, and they provide habitat, refuge and rearing areas for many important marine species. To control mosquito outbreaks in coastal regions, mangroves were often impounded and managed using a variety of techniques that ranged from the application of insecticides to water level manipulation. Since continuous impounding had been shown to have negative effects on mangrove vegetation, other techniques have been used to manage hydrology in impoundments. A recent technique is called rotational impoundment management (RIM) and it involves flooding impoundments in summer and spring, the reproductive season of the mosquitos. In this study, we assessed the effects of 5 years of RIM management on mangrove vegetation in an impoundment on the east coast of Florida. We compared mangrove vegetation in the RIM impoundment with an adjacent impoundment that was not managed. We created a map of leaf area index (LAI) to assess vegetation productivity and its change in the two impoundments. We classified color-infrared aerial photographs from 2008 to 2010 and a WorldView-2 satellite image from 2014 to measure the extent of mangrove vegetation types and temporal changes in the two impoundments. We found a 38% increase in cover of dense mangrove vegetation after five years for the RIM-impounded area. Classification accuracy was around 80% for all imagery. The increased growth of plants and cover of dense mangroves in the RIM impoundment was corroborated by observed leaf area index values. Overall, the study demonstrates that vegetation in the RIM impoundment is becoming denser and in the near future will probably become similar to an impoundment that is open to tidal exchange or mangrove dominated areas that are not impounded