Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-14T15:17:23.118Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The impact of economic and regulatory factors on the relative profitability of fishing boats: A case study of the seaweed harvesting fleet of Northwest Brittany (France)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2004

Frédérique Alban ,
Pascal Le Floc'h  and
Jean Boncoeur
Frédérique Alban
Affiliation:
CEDEM-IUEM, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 12 rue de Kergoat, CS 93837, 29238 Brest Cedex 3, France
Pascal Le Floc'h
Affiliation:
CEDEM-IUEM, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 12 rue de Kergoat, CS 93837, 29238 Brest Cedex 3, France
Jean Boncoeur
Affiliation:
CEDEM-IUEM, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 12 rue de Kergoat, CS 93837, 29238 Brest Cedex 3, France
Get access

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of the relative importance of economic and regulatory (administrative) factors on the profitability of various components of a fishing fleet. The argument is that, while the official purpose of most regulatory measures is resource conservation, these measures may significantly influence the relative levels of incomes generated by various components of the fleet. When a large part of fisheries management is under the control of fishermen themselves, this illustrates how the endogenous generation of rules by groups of users may affect both economic efficiency and equity. The analysis relies on a field survey of a small-scale inshore fishing fleet of the Northwest part of Brittany (France),which provided data for simulations concerning the impact of various factors on the profitability of boats. According to the results of these simulations, two regulations, concerning the cost of access to some resources and the control of fishing effort, play a significant role in the difference of profitability observed according to boat size. At a time when the ageing of the fleet opens the question its renewal, this might influence durably the dynamics of the fishery.

Keywords

Boat profitabilityVessel sizeRegulatory measuresSeaweed harvesting fleet
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , April 2004 , pp. 185 - 193
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD, 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alban F., Kervarec F., Le Lec G., Le Floc'h P., Boncoeur J., 2001, Contraintes socio-économiques de l'activité des navires goémoniers de la région Bretagne. Rapport final. CEDEM, Centre de Droit et d'Économie de la Mer, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest.
Anon. 2001, Résultats des flottilles artisanales 1999-2000. Note de synthèse. Observatoire économique régional des pêches, Quimper.
Arzel P., 1987, Les goémoniers. Le chasse-marée, Éditions de l'estran, Douarnenez.
Arzel P., 1998, Les laminaires sur les côtes bretonnes. Evolution de l'exploitation et de la flottille de pêche. Etat actuel et perspectives. Éditions IFREMER, Brest.
Boncoeur, J., Coglan, L., Le Gallic, B., Pascoe, S., 2000, On the (ir)relevance of rates of return measures of economic performances to small boats. Fish. Res. 49, 105-115. CrossRef
Boncoeur, J., Fifas, S., Le Gallic, B., 2000, Un modèle bioéconomique d'évaluation du coût social des rejets au sein d'une pêcherie complexe. Econ. Prévision 143-144, 185-199. CrossRef
Boncoeur J., Guyader O., 1995, Management alternatives for a recovery of fishing activity: the case of scallop fishing in the Bay of Brest (France), Proc. 7th Ann. Conf. Eur. Assoc. Fish. Econ. (EAFE). University of Portsmouth, CEMARE: pp. 263-283.
Boncoeur, J., Mesnil, B., 1999, Surexploitation des stocks et conflits dans le secteur des pêches: une discussion du “triangle des paradigmes” d'Anthony Charles dans le contexte européen. Informations et commentaires 107, 10-17 (reprinted in Problèmes économiques, 2650, 5-9).
Charles, A.T., 1992, Fisheries conflicts: a unified framework, Mar. Policy 16, 379-393.
Crean K., Symes D. (Eds.), 1996, Fisheries management in crisis, Fishing News Books, Oxford.
Guyader O., Thébaud O., 1999, Distributional issues in the operation of right-based fisheries management systems. In: Hatcher A., Robinson K. (Eds.), The Definition and Allocation of Use Rights in European fisheries, Proc. 2nd concerted action workshop on Economics and the Common Fisheries Policy, Brest, France, 5-7 May, 1999. CEMARE Miscellaneous Publication n° 46, pp. 225-240, University of Portsmouth.
Kervarec F., Arzel P., Guyader O., 1999, Fishers behaviour and economic interactions between fisheries. Examining seaweed and scallop fisheries of the Brest district (Western Brittany, France). 11th Ann. Conf. Eur. Assoc. Fish. Econ. (EAFE), 7-10 April 1999, Dublin.