AN APPROACH TO MANAGING FISHERIES WHEN WEAK AND STRONG STOCKS MIX

摘要

When weak and strong fish stocks are caught in the same fishery, managing for the protection of the weak stock may result in foregone economic benefits from harvest of the strong stock, while managing for the strong stock may result in overfishing ofthe weak stock. A particular complication arises when the stocks are not easily distinguished in the catch, for example when the stocks are of the same or a similar species. This paper demonstrates how the partially observable Markov decision process canbe used to explore policy options for managing mixed-stock fisheries when the stocks are imperfectly identified.