Sustainability of the Sardine Fishery in Zamboanga: A Bioeconomic Approach
Overfishing is claimed to be a phenomena in the Philippine fishery. Coastal fishing countries have resorted to coastal management programs, among which includes the establishment of individual transfer quota schemes. Contrary to expectations, fishing countries have cooperatively established relatively effective international management plans for a few stocks of fish known as highly migratory species (HMS), such as tuna, mackerel and sardines. These successes have been sporadic and belated, but fishing countries have been able to curb effort targeting certain stocks, reducing the rate of extraction. This in turn has allowed the population, or biomass, of these stocks to rebuild to more productive levels. For instance, scientifically based catch limits have been adopted in some cases, along with quota distribution systems. Moreover, the development of trade-based monitoring and enforcement mechanisms has improved compliance, although the equitable implementation of such measures remains problematic to this day.
The maximum sustainable yield for Philippine capture fisheries was estimated at 1.9 million metric tons based on a scientific consensus since the 1980s. The central question of the study revolves around the following: will a 1.9 million metric ton maximum sustainable yield for the Fishery in the Philippines sustain a commercially profitable sardine industry in Zamboanga? A consequence of this estimated maximum sustainable yield is that roughly a 128,250 (45%) metric ton annual yield for all deep sea coastal sardine fishing firms in Zamboanga city will have to be sustained or achieved.
The key area for study consists, therefore, in how a quota scheme would be successfully implemented given heterogeneity in the yield capacity of municipal and deep sea coastal fishing vessels, and, effort or labor hours devoted by fishermen. The technology involved in fishing has not changed significantly, thus, production processes have not altered. But man-hours devoted to fishing has increased, with the high possibility of exhausting fish stock.
The study uses the standard bioeconomic model formulated by Gordon (1954) and Shaeffer but adapted to incorporate a monetized yield function due to the inaccessibility of sardines biomass data. With the use of a representative firm’s data on monthly yield per catcher vessel and price from 1996 to 2007, a monetized yield function was constructed and estimated using seasonality of catch and effort as explanatory variables. Anderson (1976) used the same variables in order to denote productivity of effort and technological capacity of the vessels. These variables would be akin to the use of capital and labor to explain yield, thereby using the production function to explain harvest. The regression estimation procedure yielded effort levels which would allow the participating firms to achieve a 4.3% net profit level while limiting catch to allow the fishery to maintain its planned maximum sustainable yield of 128,250 metric tons, an estimate from the 1.9 million metric tons for the Philippine fishery. The results show the feasibility of implementing an individual transferable quota scheme for the Zamboanga fishery, a more sustainable policy than the currently implemented 3-month closure of the Zamboanga fishery.
Seminar 14 Slides
Seminar 14 Discussion Paper
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Jovi C. Dacanay graduated BS Statistics and MA Economics in the University of the Philippines, Diliman, MS Industrial Economics at the University of Asia and the Pacific (formerly Center for Research and Communication), and, is currently pursuing her PhD Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University. She lectures in Mathematical Statistics, Social Economics and Research Seminar in the University of Asia and the Pacific. Her research includes industrial economics, industrial organization of health care markets and the economics of film.
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