Implementation of the Maximum Sustainable Yield under an Age-Structured Model

One of the main goals stated in the proposals for the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform is achieving maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for all European fisheries by 2015. In this paper, we consider the mechanism design problem for allocation of fishing rights to achieve MSY harvesting conditions. We study an age-structured fish population model and apply this model for a fishing environment including two fishermen having perfect or imperfect fishing selectivity. If we assume that fishermen are non-satiated and they fulfill their remaining quotas through capturing untargeted (less revenue-generating) fish after targeted fish population is fully caught, the fix ratio of the catch of targeted fish to untargeted fish, derived from catchability coefficients, is not valid anymore. As a result, we show that not only the age-structure or fishing technology but also the estimated level of MSY is steering the optimal allocation of quotas. Accordingly, we determine technology-based optimal quota shares for each fisherman at particular MSY levels. We also show that the optimal allocation of fishing quotas does not have a bang-bang nature under imperfect fishing selectivity.