Technological Switching in the Fisheries Sector

Abstract

Technological switching and re-switching has been the subject of debates within economics. Under assumptions of malleable capital in economies with multiple sectors, the wage-rent envelope can show multiple re-switching. The interest of technological change and switching behavior for fisheries economists and managers stems from the fact that the control of effective effort remains one of the central management problems for that sector, and for many managers, the most elusive. In the fisheries, the trawling technique has been largely promoted in the seventies and eighties. Consequently, pathdependency was developing in such a way that the preferred choice of new entrants into the fishery was this technology to produce wild fish. In this context, it can be argued that technological lock-in has occurred on the trawling technique, making it the most used technique in the French fisheries sector in Atlantic, to the detriment of alternatives, called passive techniques. However, it must be questioned why technical switching, from trawling to passive methods, has not been accelerated due to poorer economic performance for the former technology. This paper addresses the diffusion process of trawling, accompanied by state subsidies. Even if trawling has been commonly defined as a major innovation in fisheries, its potential for technological adaptations or minor innovations is questionable when faced with an increasing energy price, especially in the absence of State aid.Keywords: Fish and Aquaculture Sectors Development, Fisheries Dynamics, Fisheries EconomicsKeywords: Fish and Aquaculture Sectors Development, Fisheries Dynamics, Fisheries Economic