Estimating the impact of size dependent pricing on fisher revenues under the EU landing obligation

摘要

The landing obligation (LO), adopted as part of the 2013 Common Fisheries Policy Reform, came into full effect on 01 January 2019, effectively prohibiting vessels from discarding quota managed species in EU waters. This policy is intended to reduce the economic and ecological waste associated with the practice of at-sea discarding and improve the accuracy of catch data for management purposes. Because fishers must land all quota managed species they catch from 2019 onwards, landing compositions are expected to change if fishers continue to operate with their current fishing tactics and technologies. One way that this is likely to manifest is in a downward shift in the average size of fish that are landed, as small or undersized fish can no longer be discarded, thereby filling quotas with a larger share of smaller fish. As fish size and price generally have a positive relationship, if the average size of landed fish decreases and there is insufficient quota uplift to compensate for this shift, EU fishers could experience a devaluation of landings under the LO. This study aims to better understand the relationship between fish price and fish size for cod and haddock using sales data from Peterhead auction in Scotland. A hedonic price model is employed to establish a baseline relationship between fish price and fish size prior to the introduction of LO. The results are then applied in a UK vessel scenario analysis to estimate how, in the short-term, fisher revenues may be expected to change under the LO.