Growing demand for limited quantities of fish has led to systematic
planning for the conservation and management of U.S. fishery resources.
There is a need for better understanding of the complex biological and
social environment on which regulation for conservation, social, and
economic purposes is imposed. The behavior of commercial fishermen, who
in many instances use multi-purpose vessels to exploit multi-species
fisheries, is difficult to assess and predict.
The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze selected
aspects of Oregon commercial fishing fleets. The focus of this study is
on the short-run decision-making behavior of Oregon trawl fishermen for
the period 1974-1979. A general review of the activities of Oregon's
multi-purpose fishing fleets is followed by an attempt to measure the
responses of trawl vessel operators to varying economic and biological
conditions.
Several models of the short-run allocation of fishing time by a
multi-purpose vessel operator are developed. The limited amount of
economic literature on multi-purpose fleet behavior is briefly reviewed.
An important feature not explicitly recognized in the theoretical models
is that fishermen operate in an uncertain environment. Fishermen are
hypothesized to react to expectations about economic returns in the
fisheries which they can exploit.
Simple Nerlovian agricultural supply response models were adapted
for statistical analysis of the allocation of fishing time. Fishermen's
short-run behavior was hypothesized to depend on expectations of current
rather than normal returns to fishing time. Four versions of models
which explain allocation of fishing time for a stable subfleet of trawl
vessels were estimated using ordinary least squares regression.
Monthly days of fishing by fishery were significantly explained by
variables representing expected gross revenues per unit of effort, weather
conditions and seasonal regulations. The analysis also indicates that
fishermen are able to respond rapidly to perceived variations in gross
returns. In the shrimp and crab fisheries, elasticities of days fished
with respect to expected gross returns were estimated to be in the range
of 0.45 to 0.40.
Regulatory implications are that: (1) fisheries managers need to
monitor the effects of regulation with little delay and (2) the use of
taxes and subsidies to shift significant amounts of effort among
fisheries is not likely to be successful.
Additional research effort could profitably be spent to refine
measurement of the explanatory variables, or to measure the response of
individual fishermen to suitable explanatory variables. / Graduation date: 1982
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/26722 |
| Date | 01 June 1981 |
| Creators | Carter, Christopher Norton |
| Contributors | Rettig, R. Bruce |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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