Fisheries co-management: an institutional innovation towards sustainable fisheries industry

The changes that have occurred in the fishery sector during the past two decades call for a reappraisal of the relevance of conventional fishery development and management strategies. Principal debates on fishery management policies arise from the natural tension between three differing fishery worldviews or paradigms, namely the conservation, rationalization and social/ community paradigms. Several strategies have been adopted worldwide to address the problems of fisheries resource use conflicts and over exploitations, but the outcomes were mixed. Many studies have pointed out that lack of participation of stakeholders/resource users in planning and decision making as the major factor. The fishery co-management as an alternative to centralized command and control fisheries management is often suggested as a solution to the problem. This paper proposes the concept and structure of a fisheries co-management arrangement, and identifies factors affecting the selection of this alternative management institution. Fisheries co-management starts with the premise that stakeholder involvement in the planning and management of natural resources will improve resource conditions and welfare of the society. From the policy perspective, there is a need to empirically evaluate the efficiency and net benefits of co-management institutions against those fisheries that are centrally managed

Testing restrictions on a model of Indonesian fish demand

This paper presents the estimates of the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) analysis for five fish species in Semarang, Indonesia. The results provide the first empirical estimates of own-price and expenditure elasticities of demand of fish species by households. Fish was found to be a necessity good while the tilapia, the freshwater fish species was inferior to other fish species. The tests of demand restrictions results concluded that the preferred demand specification was one with symmetry (and homogeneity) imposed

Demand for fish and its substitutes in Malaysia: evidence of habit formation and structural change

This paper addresses the issue of changes in consumers' tastes in the demand for fish and meat products in Malaysia. Both, habit persistent effect and structural change in consumers' preferences towards fish and its substitutes are empirically examined using data from 1960 to 1990 with an Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) approach. In the dynamic AIDS model, it was found that there was a pervasiveness of habit formation in the demand for fish, chicken and pork but the amount of beef and mutton purchased during the last period tends to lower current budget allocation on these meat products. The structural change in consumers' preferences were tested using CUSUMSQ procedure and it was found that there was no structural break in the fish equation. This indicates that consumers' tastes do not change with respect to fish, consistent with a priori expectation, but the more health-conscious population are changing their preferences away from the red meats and currently demanding a bigger amount of white meat, which includes fish

TRANSACTION COSTS AND FISHERIES CO-MANAGEMENT

Fisheries co-management as an alternative to centralized command and control fisheries management is often suggested as a solution to the problems of fisheries resource use conflicts and overexploitation. This paper highlights some elements of the transaction costs under a fisheries co-management system. The transaction costs can be categorized into three major cost items: (i) information costs, (ii) collective fisheries decision-making costs, and (iii) collective operational costs. An approach to measuring transaction costs of fisheries co-management systems both in static and dynamic processes is also proposed. There is a need to empirically evaluate the nature of the transaction costs involved in fisheries co-management institutions as a basis for evaluating the efficiency or net benefits of co-managed fisheries compared to centrally managed fisheries.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Community based management and sustainable livelihood of island fishers of Bangladesh

This book investigates the impact of community based fisheries management (CBFM) project on household’s welfare in Bangladesh by investigating how the various types of assets contribute to household income. This book describes about the traditional fisheries management approach that exploited the poor fishers. Following this, the book highlights the important factor that contribute to household’s income of poor fisher by utilizing sustainable livehoods approach. This book concludes with policy recommendations for sustainable development of commmunity based approach in the island fisheries of Bangladesh to achieve development goals of poverty alleviation and human development in Bangladesh

Cigarettes demand and tax strategy in Malaysia

Taxation is one of the effective tools to discourage smoking. Increase of cigarette tax has a significant effect in generating additional revenue to the government due to the inelastic nature of the cigarette. In this study, the estimated price elasticity of demand for cigarettes in Malaysia is -0.28 and -0.49 in short run and long run; respectively. Hence, demand for cigarettes is inelastic or less responsive to the changes in price. Therefore, estimating the optimal cigarette tax rate is one of the strategies to ensure that the price of cigarette, after tax, is high enough to reduce consumption of cigarette. At the same time, it generates maximum tax revenue for the government. Using yearly time series data from 1980 until 2009, a Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) method is applied to estimate the demand elasticity of cigarettes and the optimal cigarettes excise tax. In this study, the estimated optimal real excise tax rate is 0.186 sen per stick which is 27.4% higher than the real excise tax in 2009. The increase in real revenue earned after imposing an optimal excise tax is 24.25% in the short run and 21.89% in the long run. Consequently, the expected reduction in consumption per capita of cigarette is 10.41% in the short run and 12.88% in the long run. Maximum revenues from the optimal cigarettes tax can be earmarked to fund a specific tobacco control policy in Malaysia

Cigarettes demand and tax strategy in Malaysia

Taxation is one of the effective tools to discourage smoking. Increase of cigarette tax has a significant effect in generating additional revenue to the government due to the inelastic nature of the cigarette. In this study, the estimated price elasticity of demand for cigarettes in Malaysia is -0.28 and -0.49 in short run and long run; respectively. Hence, demand for cigarettes is inelastic or less responsive to the changes in price. Therefore, estimating the optimal cigarette tax rate is one of the strategies to ensure that the price of cigarette, after tax, is high enough to reduce consumption of cigarette. At the same time, it generates maximum tax revenue for the government. Using yearly time series data from 1980 until 2009, a Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) method is applied to estimate the demand elasticity of cigarettes and the optimal cigarettes excise tax. In this study, the estimated optimal real excise tax rate is 0.186 sen per stick which is 27.4% higher than the real excise tax in 2009. The increase in real revenue earned after imposing an optimal excise tax is 24.25% in the short run and 21.89% in the long run. Consequently, the expected reduction in consumption per capita of cigarette is 10.41% in the short run and 12.88% in the long run. Maximum revenues from the optimal cigarettes tax can be earmarked to fund a specific tobacco control policy in Malaysia

Transaction costs and fisheries co-management

Fisheries co-management as an alternative to centralized command and control fisheries management is often suggested as a solution to the problems of fisheries resource use conflicts and overexploitation. This paper highlights some elements of the transaction costs under a fisheries co-management system. The transaction costs can be categorized into three major cost items: (i) information costs, (ii) collective fisheries decision-making costs, and (iii) collective operational costs. An approach to measuring transaction costs of fisheries co-management systems both in static and dynamic processes is also proposed. There is a need to empirically evaluate the nature of the transaction costs involved in fisheries co-management institutions as a basis for evaluating the efficiency or net benefits of co-managed fisheries compared to centrally managed fisheries

Modeling and projection of fish supply and demand in Malaysia, 2000-2020.

The fishery sector in Malaysia is expected to play important roles in eradicating poverty, increasing food security and helping to reverse the deficit food trade balance. In the Third Malaysian National Agriculture Policy Plan, the production target for the sector is to increase from 1.45 million mt in 2000 to two million mt by 2010. Adapting from the AsiaFish model, a disaggregated fish supply and demand model for Malaysia is constructed to analyse whether the fishery sector can live up to the expectations. The model consists of the producer, consumer and trade cores as well as the model closure equation. It is used to project fish supply, demand and trade in Malaysia from 2000 to 2020, given that existing conditions in the fishery sector and general economy persist into the future. The results appear to indicate that the Malaysian fishery sector may not be able to make significant contribution to the objectives above. Efforts need to be stepped up in order to increase fish production, reducing fish prices and increasing net value of fish trade

An optimal cigarette tax in Malaysia

Determination an optimal cigarette excise tax is essential for the government to ensure that price of cigarette after tax is high enough to reduce consumption of cigarette and generate maximum tax revenue to the government. It is timely that government should consider having a specific tobacco control policy funded from earmarking of revenues from cigarette tax increases or “sin tax”. The estimated regression of optimal cigarette tax is based on Laffer curve equation. In this study, the estimated optimal real excise tax rate is 0.216 sen or 0.262 nominal excise tax rate per stick, which is 16.5% higher than the excise tax rate in 2009. The increase in real revenue that can be earned after imposing an optimal excise tax is 18% and 23.6% in the short run and long run respectively. The expected reduction in consumption per capita for cigarette is 6.4% in the short run and 11.6% in the long run