Portsmouth Business School

Thesis summary

Excess fishing capacity is recognised as a major problem throughout the world (FAO, 1995). It contributes to the unsustainable exploitation of fish resources and is a waste of economic resources. It develops as a result of the common property externality, poorly defined resource use rights and a lack of incentive-adjusting fisheries management mechanisms. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) called for the measurement of capacity for all fleets of principal fisheries by the end of 2000 (FAO,1999). The overarching aim of this thesis was to andwer the FAO call, in part, by measuring and examining the problem of short-run excess capacity in Scottish fisheries in 2001.

This thesis contributed to knowledge by providing a unique quantitative analysis of Scottish short-run excess fishing fleet capacity in 2001. It provides the first example Data Envelopment Anlysis application of an economic measure of capacity utilisation and one of the first uses of an industry reallocation model in the fisheries context. Regional employment, diversification and quota consolidation concerns were also addressed by analysing various restructuring scenarios. Additonally an analysis of the socio-economic impact of whitefish quota reductions was undertaken.

Ideas and results in this thesis were drawn from a range of research and project activities undetaken over a 6 year period. These include a study financed by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (Fisheries Section), a secondment to the UK Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and two research projects financed by the European Union.