THE EFFECT OF DAYS AT SEA LIMITS ON TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY

摘要

Outputs and inputs during 1994-2006 in the USA Northeast Multispecies (groundfish) fishery—including days fished for a group of 47 otter trawl vessels fishing out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA—were analyzed to test the hypothesis that restricting the annual days-at-sea (DAS) of individual fishing vessels increased Technical Efficiency (TE). The results indicate that TE for the group of New Bedford trawlers increased when DAS management was introduced in 1994 and as maximum individual vessel DAS allocations were reduced over time. DAS trips were more efficient than trips for other species that did not require DAS. After DAS leasing was implemented beginning in 2004, DAS were purchased by more efficient vessels in both 2004 and 2006.