Economic & Environment Report

Economic & Environment Report
Saving the Wellington Islands’ scallops

The Wellington Islands lie some 1000 kilometers off the coast of New Zealand. Along with farming, fishing is one of the island’s primary industries. Unfortunately the fishing industry has been far from stable. It has experienced some spectacular booms which have been followed by just as spectacular busts. Seals, whales, cod, scallops and rock lobster are all fisheries that have boomed and then crashed as the resource was fished out.

The collapse of the scallop fishery industry in the Wellington Islands, and its subsequent closure by the Department of Conservation, has allowed the scallop population to recover to a point where the Department is considering reopening it to commercial fishing. All interested parties are eager that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. The Department of Conservation wants to impose strict restrictions on who can fish for scallops, how scallops can be taken, how many scallops can be taken, and where scallops can be taken.

The community involved in the local fishing industry, on the other hand, is lobbying for the introduction of an individual transferable quota (ITQ) for scallops, similar to the one that now operates with pain. It argues that bureaucrats lack the knowledge to set the appropriate catch standards and do not have the resources to enforce them. The local fishing community hires you to put its case to the Fisheries Minister.

Required
1. 1. In your submission to the Minister, explain the economic rationale for an ITQ system for scallops, as opposed to a regulatory approach. Use diagrams where appropriate.

1. 2. Based on the experience with the ITQ system for palm and other fisheries in New Zealand, outline some of the difficulties the authorities might experience with establishing and enforcing an ITQ system for scallops. Suggest some strategies to avoid/solve these difficulties.

Assignment 1 marking guide
2. Setting the scene Mark
Characteristics of a common property 7.5
Underlying economic theory described 10.0
Consequences of economic and biological over- exploitation described 7.5
Use of supporting diagram 10.0
2. Implementation of ITQ concept
Allocation of ITQs 7.5
Economic advantages of assigning ITQs 10.0
Problem areas identified
Economic 5.0
Technical 5.0
Political 5.0
Other considerations stated 10.0
1. Strategies and recommendations
Recommendations made 5.0
Recommendations based on evidence 7.5
1. Memorandum follows formal criteria 7.5
100.0

Please click on the below link for more information about “fisher’s very brief, personal perspective of the history of scallops”

http://fs.fish.govt.nz/Doc/16480/Northland%20Scallop%20Fishery%20Plan%20-%20The%20history%20of%20the%20northland%20commercial%20scallop%20fishery%20-%20Tommy%20Hunt.pdf.ashx

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