MFR PAPER 1226

The Evolution of Fisheries Management Philosophy

LARRY A. NIELSEN

ABSTRACT-The attitudes governing the management of fishery resourceshave evolved in important ways during the past 125 years. In 1850, the conceptof inexhaustibility stood firmly entrenched, buttressed by tradition, history, therights of freedom, an untested logic, and Thomas Henry Huxley. The increasedfishery exploitation wrought by population increases and technological advancesso depleted the stocks of valuable fish that by 1900 the concept of inexhausti­bility was forced into submission. The logic of exhaustibility arose in response,and the simultaneous search for biological information and simple managementsolutions produced a predominant interest in maximizing the physical yield fromaquatic environments. The undercurrent of nonbiological forces grew steadily asbiologically oriented management failed to produce satisfactory benefits fromfisheries resources. The emergence of numerous other criteria relevant tomanagement has fostered the realization that the goal of fisheries managementis to optimize society's total benefit from the use of natural resources.

The profession of fishing is amongthe world's oldest; the profession offisheries management, however, stilllabors in adolescence. Concern for themanagement of fisheries has emergedbasically since 1850 and the ideas em­'bodied in fisheries management haveevolved greatly between 1850 and thepresent. Fisheries professionals cur­rently praise the notion of "optimumsustainable yield" as a desirable objec­tive for fisheries resource manage­ment. They contend that this viewpointrepresents a major development inmanagement philosophy. My intentionin this paper is to provide a briefhistorical survey of the evolution offisheries management philosophy sinceapproximately 1850, tracing the factorswhich have led to the optimum sustain­able yield philosophy. I have reliedalmost exclusively upon literature con­cerning the British Isles and the UnitedStates, since that information is mostreadily accessible and provides a sub­stantially continuous record.

THE DEBATE OVERINEXHAUSTIBILITY

Before approximately 1850, the fish­eries of the oceans and large inland

December 1976

lakes were generally considered inex­haustible (MacKenzie, 1860; Whitaker,1892). Fisheries had been pursued nearthe shores of oceans and lakes forcenturies, and the mysterious watersseldom failed to supply the resourceswhich were sought. This supposed in­finity of fishes was one of two factsconsidered important when Hugo Gro­tius founded the principle of "freedomof the seas" in 1608 (Christy and Scott,1965). On the one hand, establishingboundaries on the high seas and enforc­ing those boundaries was a formidabletask. On the other hand, if fishes andother resources could be harvestedwithout limit, as seemed reasonable atthe time, maintaining exclusive rightsto oceanic resources was unnecessary.

It is relevant, however, to note thatnot all fisheries were considered inex­haustible. The reality of depletedfisheries in small bodies of water, suchas rivers and smaller lakes, had longbeen recognized. Restrictive regula­tions existed in the British Isles sinceat least 1278 (Graham, 1956) and wereenacted in North America not longafter the landing of the Pilgrims (Idyll,1966). Human intervention had becomean obviously great force in some

fisheries, such as in the rivers of theSt. Lawrence basin where destructivefishing and dams which spanned theentire breadth of rivers caused de­clining salmon fisheries (Nettle, 1857).These obstructions permitted the cap­ture of all fish or prohibited the migra­tion of fish to spawning grounds. Thesupposed difference between oceanicand inland fisheries is further illustrat­ed by the opinions of Thomas HenryHuxley, one of the most eminent scien­tists and most influential commentatorson fisheries during the later nineteenthcentury. Huxley, while espousing theeffective inexhaustibility of oceanicresources in 1860, testified that exces­sive fishing and poaching had depletedthe salmon fisheries in Scottish rivers(Great Britain, 1860).

The first to question the inexhaust­ibility of coastal fisheries were Britishfishermen, who frequently complainedof depleted fisheries before 1850 (John­stone, 1905). The complaints wereusually accompanied by accusationsthat competing types of fishing gearcaused the alleged depletions. A newtechnique called "trawling" was themost popular scapegoat and variouspolitically -oriented restrictions ontrawling and other methods were

Larry A. Nielsen is a graduateassistant at the Department ofNatural Resources, Cornell Univer­sity, Ithaca, NY 14853.

15

enacted before 1850 in both the BritishIsles and the United States.

The dissatisfaction of British fisher­men intensified, and precipitated theappointment of various Royal Commis­sions to more fully investigate thestatus of fisheries. The most influentialwas the commission of 1863, comprisedof James Caird, G. Shaw-Lefevre, andThomas Huxley. The commission heardtestimony of 3 years and produced a1,588-page report which verified thetraditional view of inexhaustibility(Great Britain, 1866). The commissioncited the following reasons as the basisfor their conclusions. The oceans wereenormous, almost beyond comprehen­sion, and since the small regions thenunder exploitation were very produc­tive, the reservoir of unexploited areasof supposedly equal productivitypromised an effectively infinite supplyof fish. The natural predators of fishwere so numerous and the humanharvest was so small in comparisonthat fishing was an insignificant causeof mortality and could never alterpopulation sizes. Fish, moreover, wereknown to be enormously fecund, suchthat the harvest of even large numbersof fish could be offset by the eggproduction of only one female. Concernabout maintaining a large broodstockwas, therefore, unnecessary. The com­mission's analysis of catch statistics,extracted from railway shipping re­cords, revealed that total supplies offish were actually increasing, not de­creasing, and they reasoned that stableprices indicated no depletion of thestocks. This commission, along withmost others, emphasized total catch,and discounted as biased the testimonyby fishermen that their individualcatches (the catch per unit of effort,CPUE) were declining. Since fisher­men could operate wherever theywished, a decreased supply of fish inone area would merely cause a changein fishing grounds. Thus profitability offishing. would prevail, and depletedlocal stocks would recuperate natural­ly, without regulatory interference(McIntosh, 1899).

The belief in inexhaustibility wasalso desirable from a practical view­point. If governments adrriitted thatfisheries had been or could be depleted,avoiding that depletion would necessi­tate restrictions on fisheries, and

16

restrictions were undesirable. Fishingwas a complex industry in which thesame stocks were exploited by fisher­men from many nations using manytechniques. Effective regulationswould confront the complex problemsof fairness and political reality; it wasmore expedient to avoid regulations al­together. Most importantly, regula­tions infringed upon personal liberty,and without strong evidence thatregulations would help, rather thanhurt, the fishermen, acts to limit theirpersonal freedom were consideredcrimes against humanity. This attitudewas aptly summarized in the report ofan earlier commission, of which Huxleywas also a member, assigned toinvestigate the atrocities of the herringtrawl:

"Under such circumstances, theherring fishery should not be tram­elled with repressive Acts, calcu­lated only to protect class interests,and to disturb in an unknown andpossibly injurious manner the bal­ance existing between the conserva­tive and destructive agencies atwork upon the herring. If legislationcould regulate the appetities of cod,conger, and porpoise, it might beuseful to pass laws regarding them;but to prevent fishermen fromcatching their poor one or two percent. of herring in any way theyplease, when the other ninety-ei~ht

per cent., subject to destructlveagencies, are poached in all sorts ofunrecognized piscine methods,seems a wasteful employment of theforce of law." (Great Britain, 1863.)

The British Parliament accepted theopinions of the 1863 commission and, in1868, abolished all regulations regard­ing the capture and sale of marinefishes. This action set two standardswhich characterized future fisheriesmanagement policies. First, the ideathat regulation of fisheries was bothunnecessary and impractical becamethe cornerstone for the decades oflaissez-faire management which follow­ed. Second, the importance attached tothe personal liberty of fishermenbecame an obstacle which has inhibitedchanges in the management of thefishery industry.

Despite the apparent conclusivenessof the 1863 commission, the debateover the depletion of fisheries hadhardly begun. Concern in Russia pre­cipitated a series of official expeditions

which investigated the condition offisheries throughout the country. Amajor expedition to the Barents Sea in1851 confirmed that fisheries for codand other species had deteriorated andrequired regulation (Borisov, 1960).The German government establishedthe Kiel Kommission in 1870 as a scien­tific organization to study all aspects ofthe marine environment which relatedto fisheries. In 1871, the U.S. Congressinaugurated the U.S. Commission ofFish and Fisheries, which was designedto "prosecute investigations on thesubject (of the diminution of valuablefishes) with the view to ascertainingwhether any and what diminution inthe number of the food-fishes of thecoast and the lakes of the United Stateshad taken place; ..." (Goode, 1886).Popular accounts of British fisheriescontinued to expound the reducedcatches per unit of effort (Fig. 1; Bert­ram, 1873). Responding to continuedclashes among fishermen in the NorthSea, the British Parliament calledanother commission in 1878. Thecommissioners used the same logic anddata which had convinced Huxley,however, and echoed earlier conclu­sions of inexhaustibility.

The debate congealed at an Inter­national Fisheries Exhibition held inLondon in 1883. An impressive audi­ence attended, and the 15 volumes ofofficial literature attest to the contem­porary influence of the proceedings(London. International Fisheries Exhi­bition, 1884), In his inaugural address,Thomas Huxley espoused the tradi­tional view of laissez-faire and empha­sized the injustice of regulations whichwere inflicted without proven need orbenefit. Other British contributorsconcurred with Huxley's position, asdid G. B. Goode, head of the U.S. FishCommission. Moreover, the UnitedStates proclaimed its intention to avoidany need for future restrictions byusing artificial propagation to assureinfinite fish stocks.

The harbingers of exhaustibilitywere also well represented and vigor­ously rebutted the established view­point with the following arguments. Iffisheries were indeed inexhaustible,what was the need for artificial propa­gation? The enormous fecundity offishes provided no vast excess ofspawn, but was nature's way of

Marine Fisheries Review

Figure 1. - The declining abundance of herring In Scottish coastal waters is illustrated by thedecreasing catch per effort of Scottish gillnet fishermen, 1818-63. Reprinted from Bertram(1873).

deteriorated that an organization ofcommercial fishermen voluntarilyclosed certain grounds between 1890and 1892. Despite dramatic increasesin the effectiveness of the Britishtrawling fleet, the total annual catches

After the turn of the century, theexhortations of both popular authorsand fisheries personnel generated ex­tensive agreement on the general

increased little, if at all (Fig. 2; John­stone, 1905).

A British Select Committee fullyacknowledged the reality of depletionin 1893. The committee blamed the de­clining catches on the destruction ofimmature fish and urged action toprohibit the sale of fish below specificsizes. Their recommendations, how­ever, fell of deaf ears in Parliament andproduced no action. Nevertheless, theposition of the 1893 Select Committeeillustrates the general attitude at theturn of the century: not only wereoceanic fisheries exhaustible, but theywere rapidly being exhausted (Gar­stang, 1900).

BIOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT FORMAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD

1857-,863, The aVer­age per boat 82 crans.

THICK LINe total quantity of fish cough!; numberSrepresent hundreds af tonS.

THIN LINE: numbersof steam trawlers.

DOTTED LINE: averagQ catch of fish per year pertrawler; numbers represent tonsof fish caught.

Figure 2.- The declining abundance of flat fishes from 1890-99. Isillustrated by the stability of total catch while the fishing fleetgreatly expanded. Average catch per effort decreased steadily.except in 1895 and 1896. when otter trawls first replaced beamtrawls in general use. Reprinted from Johnstone (1905).

1890 1891 IQ9!l 1893 1891- 1895" 1896 IB97 1898 1899Scottish Flat Fish Trawl Fisheries: Chart to show the Relation between the

Total Flat Fish caught and the Means of Capture.

1857-,863. The drift ofnets per boat contained16,800 square yards.

30

9°

80

70

60

:50

40

150

100

110

12.0

~10

"'\0

130

2.00

'7°160

180

During the 10 years,84' -50 the averagecatch per boat was1 I 2 crans.

18,8-1845. The drift ofnets per boat contained4500 square yards.

18,8-,824. The aver­age per boat '251crans.

assuring the production of just twomore adults in the face of naturalmortality. The fishing gears whichdestroyed these supposedly extra im­mature fish, therefore, were not in­nocuous, and the capture of fish beforethey had spawned and contributed tofuture populations was illogical. Thefact of localized depletion was real, asevidenced by reduced catch per unit offishing effort. The refusal of govern­ments to react to such depletion causeda change in fishing grounds thatreduced the welfare of fishermen byincreasing the costs and dangers offishing. The debate was lively, anddespite the aura of Huxley's presence,the exhibition represented a victory forthe proponents of exhaustibility (Gra­ham, 1943).

Changes in the technology of thefishing industry and consequentchanges in attitudes toward fisheriesresources began to accelerate duringthis period. The supposedly infiniteGreat Lakes fisheries became imperiledby the employment of pound nets after1850 and by freezing processes after1868, which changed local fisheries intoa rapidly expanding industry (Whit­aker, 1892). Another British commis­sion met in 1883, and this timeacknowledged in a very limited waythe decline of some fisheries (interest­ingly, Huxley was also a member ofthis commission, but ill health prevent­ed his participation). Between 1885 and1900, the coastal fisheries of the NorthAtlantic were revolutionized by theotter trawl and the widespread use ofsteam for power (Johnstone, 1905).North Sea fisheries had so obviously

December 1976 17

causes of depletion. Overfishing andimproper fishing accounted for thedepletion of oceanic fisheries. A widervariety of causes had injured anadro­mous and freshwater fisheries, includ­ing overfishing, improper fishing, andhabitat disruptions such as dams andpollution (Blackford, 1916). These gen­eralizations lost their force, however,when the questions focused on specificproblems and solutions. Demands forfisheries products and the exploitationand depletion of fisheries had develop­ed within a complex framework whichdepended extensively on local charac­teristics. Fisheries had been managedwith the local "stock" as the unit ofconsideration, and regulatory jurisdic­tion had been predominantly local.Similarly, attitudes toward fisheriesresources have not evolved along asimple chronological path, and theportrayal of one in this paper would bemisleading. This section, therefore,emphasizes the biological aspect ofmanagement, and the following sectionexamines other coexistent nonbiolog­ical criteria which have influencedfisheries management.

The debate concerning the destruc­tive effects of trawling and using smallmeshed nets was especially active andpersistent in Britain. Opponents oftrawling argued that the trawls dis­rupted the sea floor and destroyed fisheggs and larvae; proponents counteredthat the damage, if any, was temporaryand that most fish eggs floated near thesurface (Johnstone, 1905; Howell,1921). Opponents of small meshes citedthe capture and death of unmarketablefish, while others argued that all nets,regardless of mesh size, collapsedduring towing and allowed no fish toescape (Russell, 1942; Graham, 1943).One conclusion, however, with whicheveryone agreed was that no one knewvery much about the subject (Howell,1921). Fish lived in a foreign environ­ment, and the extent of knowledgeregarding most species was confined tofishing methodology. The statisticsused by analysts of fisheries weregenerally indirect (for example, rail­way shipping records) and character­istically lacked the definition .requiredto draw detailed conclusions. In apioneering attempt to resolve thequestion of trawling effects, the Scot­tish Fishery Board experimentally

18

closed a section of coastline to trawlingin 1886, and hired a naturalist to collectand interpret data. The results, how­ever, were ambiguous, and were usedas evidence proving both no effects oftrawling (McIntosh, 1899) and illeffects (Garstang, 1900). The absenceof knowledge which had been intellec­tually deplorable in the precedingcentury became a critical gap as man·agement of stocks was solicited in theearly 1900's. Consequently, calls forbiological research were issued simul­taneously with appeals for the man­agement of fisheries.

A logical rationale for regulatingfisheries, however, had evolved priorto any dramatic outcomes of fisheriesresearch. The fact that depletion hadoccurred as fishing pressure increasedwas empirical evidence that instead ofinfinite effort generating infiniteyields, there was some intermediateeffort which yielded the greatestamount of fish. A typical argumentwas a logical analogy to the "capital­interest" system, wherein the highestyield occurred when all the interest(annual production) was used, butfurther exploitation of the capital (thestock) lowered yields in the future(Bertram, 1873).

The analogy failed to explain whatfactors affected the capital supply offish or how they might be managed.The experience of the previous centuryprovided two general answers. First,an adequate supply of eggs wasnecessary for future generations;therefore, fish should not be caughtbefore they spawned at least once.Second, small fish would continue togrow if allowed to live to a somewhatolder age; hence, the yield in weightcould be sustained only by ceasing thecapture of small fish. This rationalesuggested that length limits for landedfish or minimum mesh size restrictionswere appropriate ways to assuresupplies of both eggs and large fish.Such regulations were recommendedby the British Select Committee of1893 (Johnstone, 1905) and have be­come standard methods of fisheryregulation.

A more direct approach to manage­ment was to limit the total annual catchof fish by means of a quota system.This could ensure that the harvestwould not exceed the annual produc-

tion, and in cases where rebuilding thestock was necessary, some productioncould be reinvested as capital stock toprovide for increased future yields.Empirical evidence that reduced fish­.ing allowed recuperation of stocksemerged when fishing effort wasnecessarily reduced during World War1. The catch of plaice in the North Sea,for example, increased for a few yearsafter the war, as the recuperatedstocks were again heavily exploited(Fig. 3; Russell, 1942). The UnitedStates and Canada have applied catchquotas throughout the regulation of thePacific halibut fishery. In 1932 a jointcommission empirically set an annualquota, which was then gradually in­creased in subsequent years (Graham,1956; Bell, 1970). With the quotas ineffect, the stock of halibut, total annualcatches, and catches per unit of effortall increased. Contemporaries judgedthe management program a great suc­cess, and envisioned through it thepromise which biological managementheld for the successful exploitation ofthe sea (Russell, 1942).

More theoretical explanations of de­pletion were developing in concert withthese more-or-less logical and empiricalideas. In Russia in 1918, Baranovpublished a mathematical model whichrelated the size of fish stocks to theintensity of fishing. Baranov's theory,however, was disdained in Russia(Borisov, 1960) and was largely un­available to the western world. Duringthe 1930's, E. S. Russell developed thenow classical "Russell's equation,"which linked stock abundance to addi­tions via growth and recruitment andto losses via natural and fishing mortal­ity (Russell, 1942). The outcome,therefore, of both empirical and theo­retical reasoning has evolved into thegeneralization that for a stock of fishthere exists a maximum sustainableyield (MSY) and an associated level offishing which will achieve that yield. Itis important to note that this g.eneral­ization concerns total catch, which is abiological phenomenon related to thestock, rather than CPUE, which is aphenomenon associated with the fish­ermen. This predominantly biologicalinclination of fisheries research andadministration has persisted through­out the development of fisheries man­agement.

Marine Fisheries Review

Figure 3.-The recuperation of plaice stocks during the cessation of exploitation Is Illustratedby increased total catch and catch per effort In the years immediately following World War I.Reprinted from Russell (1942) by permission of Cambridge University Press.

Plaice from 'cel~ndic Grounds. --­• laland'S sh"rt." from lY T,;ning's MS.

yield has been the implicit or explicitgoal throughout the history of Pacifichalibut management (Bell, 1970). The1958 Law of the Sea Conference inGeneva adopted MSY (although thewording states "optimum," the intentis maximum) as the appropriate objec­tive of international fishery manage­ment (Christy and Scott, 1965).

NONBIOLOGICAL CRITERIAFOR MANAGEMENT

Despite its prevalence in fisheriesliterature, biological management forMSY has witnessed only limited imple­mentation. Maximum sustainable yieldis singularly attractive to biologistsbecause it is biological and scientific,devoid of the complications associatedwith human factors. The nonbiologicalfactors involved in establishing man­agement policies are no less importantthan the biological factors, and thealoofness of MSY has been a liability,rather than an asset, for its implemen­tation. Nonbiological criteria havegradually become more relevant dur­ing this century as the exploitation offisheries has expanded.

The inability of MSY to representacknowledged attitudes surfaces im­mediately in the conflict between sportand commercial fisheries. The impor­tance of sport fishing for psychologicalwell-being has been likened to that ofthe finer arts, and expositions of thebenefits of angling appeared side-by­side with exhortations for maximizingfood production (Perce, 1910). Never­theless, the importance attached tomaximizing food production, especiallyduring World War I, allowed commer­cial fishing to devastate the stocks ofsome sport fishes. The Black Bass Actof 1926 and subsequent legislationrepresented victories for sport fishingby protecting highly regarded gamespecies from commercial exploitation(Stroud, 1966). Sport fishing is regard­ed by some people in the United Statesas a more desirable allocation of re­sources than commercial fishing be­cause the recreational benefit extendsto more people (Hazzard and Voigt,1957).

The relevance of nonbiological, es­pecially economic, criteria for commer­cial fisheries management was realizedvery early in the evolution of fisheriesproblems. It was commercial fishermenthemselves, concerned about reduced

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19J.f1930.. "19z5

foundatIon for a type of managementwhich focused on the fish, not on thefishermen. Management for MSY couldassure the continuation of the stocksand the increase of total catch, asillustrated for Pacific halibut. As atheoretical objective, MSY avoided themyriad problems now labelled "social,political, and economic."

Third, maximizing the food resourcewas a worthy public goal. Managingfish stocks to attain maximum produc­tion was identical to managing agri­cultural lands for maximum production(Bower, 1910). Either underutilizing oroverutilizing a stock of fish wasted foodwhich was essential for human welfare.This rationale pervades the fisheriesliterature between 1910 and 1920,when providing wartime foodstuffswas a patriotic, as well as a humani­tarian, concern.

For these reasons, the objective ofattaining MSY's became the avowedgoal of fisheries management. In theUSSR, the revolution of 1917 establish­ed maximizing the production of foodas a primary political goal and elimi­nated many of the social, political, andeconomic problems which complicatefisheries management in capitalisticsocieties. The goal of MSY has conse­quently enjoyed considerable successwithin the large inland lakes and reser­voirs which are important sources ofSoviet commercial fish production(Borisov, 1960). Maximum sustainable

192019151910

~war

I90J

The realization that maximum sus­tainable yields exist, however, isdifferent from the acceptance of MSYas an appropriate goal for fisheriesmanagement. Why did MSY becomethe principal goal of fisheries man­agement following the turn of thecentury? First, biologists were chartermembers of the fisheries managementprofession. The depletion of fish stocksas a precursor to management causedsimultaneous concern for both thefishing industry and the biology offishes. Biologists, rather than repre­sentatives of industry or politicians,generallr comprised agencies createdto investigate fisheries, draft recom­mendations, and even enact regula­tions (Tomasevich, 1943). The firstNorth American Fisheries Policy, rati­fied by the American Fisheries Societyin 1938, decreed that fisheries manage­ment should be devoid of politicalpressure and that biological factsshould be the primary basis for man­agement. Moreover, fisheries had priorrights wherever fish occurred, and anyloss of fisheries potential should befully mitigated (Wickliff, 1938).

Second, MSY was an objective cri­terion. The fisheries regulations whichexisted in the nineteenth century hadbeen enacted in response to subjectivepolitical pressures, and, as Huxleyemphasized, were in no way beneficialto fisheries. Maximum sustainableyield contrasted as a logical, scientific

December 1976 19

profitability, who aroused the officialmachinery of commissions and commit­tees in the nineteenth century. Apredominant figure in the modernexposition of economic considerationswas Michael Graham (1943), whopenned the "Great Law of Fishing" inhis book "The Fish Gate": unregulatedfisheries become unprofitable. Thisbook represents a unique analysis by abiologist of the entire spectrum of thefishing industry. Graham concludedthat all aspects of fisheries requiredregulation, especially the amount offishing effort applied to achieve a givencatch.

The importance of nonbiological fac­tors in the management of the Pacifichalibut fleet attracted attention atabout this time. The quotas applied tothat fishery had served the intendedfunctions, but also caused the normalfishing season of 9 months to shrinkregularly as competition increased.The constriction of the season wasinitially cited as an indication ofenlarged stocks (Russell, 1942), but itscontinued reduction more importantlysignaled the build-up of excessivecapital in the industry. Other effectsincluded instability in the associatedprocessing industry and local stock de­pletions where capture was easiestearly in the season (Crutchfield andZellner, 1962). In 1952, the halibutconvention was modified to spread thecatch more evenly in both time andspace (Graham, 1956).

Beginning in the early 1950's, a largebody of economic literature has ac­cumulated which portrays fisheries asclassical examples of common propertyresources. The essential features ofsuch a resource are that no one pays forits use and no one assesses the yieldsderived from additional units of effort.Consequently, as long as any profit isbeing made, additional effort will beexpended, either by more fishing perfisherman or by more fishermen, untilprofits as a whole decline to zero.Economists argue that the intendedgoal of the fishing industry is not tomaximize the gross product, which isanalogous to the physical yield of fish,but to maximize the net economicrevenue, that is, the profit. Even froma theoretical standpoint, the overallgoal of society should be to allocate allits resources to maximize total benefit;

20

maximizing the physical yield of fisher­ies, and then squandering that be~efit

by applying excessive effort to itscapture is foolhardy (Crutchfield andPontecorvo, 1969). The proper eco­nomic management of fisheries shouldregulate harvest and effort to achievemaximum net economic revenue(Christy and Scott, 1965).

The incorporation of an economiccriterion into fisheries management,however, carried an important corol­lary: economic principles only applywhere property rights exist (Christy,1969). The various forms of propertyrights all encounter significant socialand political problems, including prop­er allocation of the resource amongnations, regions, and individual fisher­men, and the displacement and ade­quate compensation of those deniedaccess. Economic management of fish­eries, therefore, opens the Pandora'sbox of problems which the biologicalcriterion ignored.

A development analogous to theformalization of the economic criterionfor commercial fisheries has also occur­red for recreational fisheries. Theawareness that "sport" should be theemphasis in sport fishing (Davis, 1938)has become well established in fisheriesmanagement. The accelerating urban­ization of the U.S. population and thecorresponding shrinkage of availablefishing resources have recently spot­lighted concern for the quality of thatsport. In 1969, James T. McFadden,relying on concepts from commercialfisheries, added the criterion of "aes­thetics" to the traditional curve ofphysical yield versus effort (McFad­den, 1969). Aesthetics in this case in­cluded the entire range of nonharvestvalues associated with sport fishing.McFadden deduced that available tech­niques could accommodate any level ofsport harvest or effort; the challenge tomanagement was to ascertain thevalues of the public and incorporatethose values into management objec­tives. The recognition that the subjec­tive criterion of "quality" is relevant tosport fishing invites political, social,and economic considerations into theformerly biological field of sport fisher­ies management.

Even within the realm of biology,MSY suffers recent attacks by whatmight be termed an ecological crite-

rion. The basis for MSY and mosteconomic analyses has been the"stock"; a stock of fish, however, doesnot live in a vacuum, isolated fromother components of the ecosystem. Afew examples will illustrate thebreadth of this criterion.

The majority of fishing techniques inuse today catch more than one speciesof fish at one time. Consequently,although reasonable regulation may beprescribed for one method aimed at thespecies in question, incidental catchesof that species by fisheries aimed atother species may substantially alterthe intended total catch. The reality formultispecies fisheries is that exploita­tion of all the stocks for MSY is im­possible (Gulland, 1968). The biologicalassociations among species are criticaldeterminants of population sizes. Thus,if both predator and prey species arecommercially valuable, exploitation ofthe prey species at MSY may reducethe yield from the predator species.Human selectivity is also importantbecause demands for fishery productsusually specify certain sizes, lifestages, or species of fish as the mostdesirable. Such characteristics do notnecessarily correspond to those accom­panying MSY.

The influence of politics in fisheriesmanagement has been an importantingredient since management was firstenvisioned, and has usually run counterto the ideas of both biologists andeconomists. When a British commissionfinally saw the need for management in1893, Parliament ignored its recom­mendations. The biologically basedrecommendations made between 1902and 1925 by the Plaice Committee ofthe International Council for the Ex­ploration of the Sea succumbed tocontemporary political problems(Russell, 1942). Whereas the 1958 Lawof the Sea Conference accepted MSY ina formal resolution; that resolution hasnever been ratified by all the partici­pating nations. The necessity for fish­eries personnel to address politicians inmore persuasive and less scientificterms has been voiced throughout thiscentury (Evans, 1907; Mollan, 1920;Cushing, 1972).

THE pmLOSOPBY OFOPTIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELDThe existence of these additional

criteria for management of fisheries

Marine Fisheries Review

resources does not mean that each newcriterion was smoothly absorbed intothe existing realm of fisheries manage­ment. Only recently have the variousdisciplines associated with fisheriesbegun to accept the relevance of allcriteria as the unified basis for achiev­ing optimum sustainable yield (OSY).In 1974, the International Associationof Game, Fish and Conservation Com­missioners and the Sport Fishing Insti­tute resolved that OSY should replaceMSY. The American Fisheries Societydid likewise in 1975. What OSYphilosophy entails and where theformal recognition of OSY leads fisher­ies management are the subjects of thissection.

The significance of McFadden's(1969) thesis, apart from the formalizedtreatment of aesthetics, is his admis­sion that the addition of quality factorsto effort-yield graphs reveals nothingabout what the objectives of manage­ment should be. Graphs merely de­scribe the relationships between var­ious related parameters. Similarly,Royce (1975) expressed the opinionthat concentration on MSY represent­ed a perversion of the function of amodel. The yield-effort model de­scribes the resultant yields over abroad range of efforts; the fact that oneof those yields is a maximum is aproperty of the model, and in no wayimplies that achieving that maximum isdesirable.

This realization represents a primaryimpact of the OSY philosophy. Itsevers fisheries management from thegrasp of any established discipline, andgreatly expands the framework fordecision-making. The American Fish­eries Society, in a revised AmericanFish Policy in 1954, deleted the priorityright of fishing, and admitted thatfishing was only coequal with otheraspects of the multiple use of aquaticresources (Hazzard, 1954). The recentAmerican Fisheries Society symposiumwhich examined OSY (Roedel, 1975)nowhere prescribed what the "opti­mum" is, but only expressed the rele­vance of political, social, and economiccriteria for decision making.

By this admission, fisheries man­agement subjugates itself to the overallbenefit of society as society, not fisher­ies science, perceives it. In some cases,

December 1976

the importance of fisheries might bejudged inconsequential in relation toneeds such as mineral exploitation,waste disposal, or the maintenance offavorable diplomatic relations. Theprovision of broad recreational oppor­tunities might justify the abandonmentof sport fishing in some waters in favorof uses such as swimming or water­skiing. Such decisions based on OSYphilosophy are rational dispositions offisheries resources.

The management of Murray Reser­voir in San Diego, Calif. (Ball, 1967),exemplifies this aspect of OSY. MurrayReservoir is one of a series of reser­voirs built in the early 1900's to storewater for San Diego consumers. Until1950, the reservoir was fed by surfacerun-off with sufficient nutrient contentto support a productive warmwaterfish community and a vigorous fishery.After 1950, nutrient-poor water di­verted from the Colorado River becamethe major input to Murray Reservoir,and aquatic plants were removed toreduce water loss from transpiration.In consequence, the fish productiondeclined, and the fishery dwindled to afew thousand anglers per year. Astrictly biological approach to this sit­uation is the addition of fertilizer toenhance fish production. Fertilization,however, conflicts with the goal ofproviding high-quality municipal wa­ter. An alternate solution was begun in1959, with the establishment of a "put;and-take" rainbow trout fishery duringthe 6-month season when water tem­peratures permitted trout survival.The response was an annual use (1962­65) by more than 50,000 anglers whoremoved 92-96 percent of the stockedtrout. Ball (1967) concedes that the ap­proach is not "fishery management perse." Under the precepts of OSY,however, such a program is fisheriesmanagement in the broad context ofsocietal goals.

The goal of maintaining at least someprofitability in commercial fisheriescompels the reevaluation of the tradi­tional freedom of the seas. On 13 April1976, President Ford signed the Fish­ery Conservation and Management Actof 1976, which creates a 200-mile U.S.fishery conservation zone as of 1 March1977; similar inclinations exist in othernations. Other alternatives includeprivate monopolies, limited entry sys-

tems, or a single international fisheriescorporation. Whatever method is ten­dered, the traditional rights of fisher­men diminish. Whereas the rights offishermen have been sacred in thepast, OSY philosophy requires thatthis aspect be placed into perspectivewith other societal criteria.

An additional corollary of OSY de­serves separate mention. Throughoutthe evolution of the discipline, fisheriesmanagement has focused almost ex­clusively on fishing. Some fish species,however, appeal to neither sport norcommercial interest, and some waters,such as high alpine lakes, are naturallyfishless. The self-styled' mandate offisheries management has been tostock those barren waters with sportfishes, and to replace nongame specieswith game species. For example, thetypically complete protection affordedthe biota and environment in U.S.national parks does not extend to indi­vidual fish or to fish faunas (Wallis,1960). The charter which authorizednational parks also authorized angling,and native faunas and naturally fishlesswaters have been altered in conse­quence. Even discounting the pres­sures of modern multiple use, bodies ofwater and their fish faunas have valuesseparate from fishing. A counter­current emphasizing values apart fromfishing is gaining momentum. The Na­tional Park Service has initiated prac­tices to reconstruct native conditionsand is currently considering the elimi­nation of fishing. Concern for small andrare fish species is capturing increasedattention in both the British Isles(Maitland, 1974) and the United States.One consequence, therefore, of OSYmay be the rising importance of fishspecies analogous to songbirds andwildflowers.

The fact that OSY philosophy cannotpinpoint specific objectives underlieswhat may be one absolute goal of fish­eries management: the maintenanceand provision of a broad range of actualand potential opportunities (Wilkins,1968). The mosaic of criteria relevantto fisheries management and thediverse populace of the United Statesindicate that massive managementprograms tailored to one set of needsare inappropriate. An array of oppor­tunities which can accommodate adiversity of interests seems more de-

21

sirable in terms of limited fisheriesresources and growing demands. Ur­ban fishing is an example of a man­agement alternative which had longbeen ignored despite the increasingurbanization of the U.S. population(McFadden, 1969). While such pro­grams sacrifice many traditional as­pects of "quality" fishing, they canaccommodate the recreational needs ofa large block of people who cannotparticipate in other fisheries programs.

CONCLUSIONS

Placed within historical perspective,the predominance of MSY as a philos­ophy seems unequal in kind to eitherthe recognition of exhaustibility orOSY. MSY seems more comparable tothe circa 1850 condemnation of trawl­ing as the cause of all decreases incatch per unit of effort. The dominanceof MSY has been one step in the recog­nition of a larger problem. Trawlingeventually took its place among de­struction of immature fishes by allmethods, environmental degradation,and overfishing in general, as comple­mentary forces which eventuallyproved the exhaustibility of fisheries.Similarly, maximizing physical yieldnow takes its place among maximizingnet economic revenue, maximizing aes­thetics, and maximizing total recrea­tional benefits, as complementary cri­teria which have melded to reflect thedesirability of optimizing the overallyield from fisheries resources.

Neither the recognition of exhausti­bility nor the philosophy of OSY havebeen the direct outgrowths of theoret­ical or scientific analyses. They rep­resent instead the forced acceptance ofnew ideas when the established ideascollapsed. Inexhaustibility was dis­carded only when the practical realitiesof declining catches and decliningprofitibility in commercial fisheriescould no longer be denied. The recog­nition of OSY is currently being forcedon fisheries scientists and adminis­trators by the unwillingness of theremainder of the world to operateaccording to biological management.One conclusion is therefore rather dis­couraging: fisheries philosophy hasalways lagged behind the facts.

Another conclusion, however, ismore optimistic. It is naive to suggest

22

that OSY philosophy will easily solveall management problems; if, however,recognizing the problem is indeed halfof the solution, OSY philosophy ap­pears to be a significant refinement inmanagement. The formalization ofOSY philosophy provides the oppor­tunity for fisheries management toemerge as a distinct discipline. Se­mantic arguments aside, a fisheriesscientist is primarily an investigator ofbiological, physical, and chemical phe­nomena within the aquatic ecosystem.Under OSY philosophy, the fisheriesmanager should emerge as the co­ordinator and evaluator of knowledgefrom diverse sources; the input re­ceived from fisheries scientists repre­sents just one such source. Other in­puts include those from sociologists,economists, politicians, local interestgroups, concerned individuals, or anyother relevant sources. In this regard,neither biologists nor economists rep­resent the ideal personnel to ade­quately absorb "secondary" objectivesinto their respective disciplines andthereby derive programs reflectingOSY. The promise of OSY as a philos­ophy for fisheries management is thatit implies only an approach to prob­lems, not what the solutions ought tobe.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The manuscript was reviewed byand has benefitted from the sugges­tions of William B. Provine, Robert S.Campbell, David L. Johnson, Bruce T.Wilkins, and Sharon K. Nielsen. Themanuscript was typed by Alice Klock.

LITERATURE CITED

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Bell, F. H. 1970. Management of Pacifichalibut. In N. G. Benson (editor), A centuryof fisheries in North America, p. 209·221.Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. 7.

Bell, F. T. 1936. Proposals for the solution ofthe fisheries conservation problem. Proc.North Am. Wildl.Conf. 1936:201-209

Bertram, J. G. 1873. The harvest of the sea.John Murray, Lond., 340 p.

Blackford. C. M. 1916. The shad-a nationalproblem. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 46:5-14.

Borisov. P. G. 1960. Fisheries research inRussia. A historical survey. U.S. Dep.Commer., Off. Tech. Serv., Wash., D.C.,187 p.

Bower, S. 1910. Fishery conservation. Trans.Am. Fish. Soc. 40:95-100.

Christy, F. T., Jr. 1969. Fisheries goals and

the rights of property. Trans. Am. Fish.Soc. 98:369-378.

Christy, F. T., Jr .. and A. Scott. 1965. Thecommon wealth in ocean fisheries; someproblems of growth and economic allocation.Johns Hopkins Press, Inc., Baltimore, 281 p.

Crutchfield, J. A., and G. Pontecorvo. 1969.The Pacific salmon fisheries: A study of irra­tional conservation. Johns Hopkins Press,Inc., Baltimore, 220 p.

Crutchfield, J., and A. Zellner. 1962. Economicaspects of the Pacific halibut fishery. Fish­ery Industrial Research 1:1-173.

Cushing, D. H. 1972. A history of some of theinternational fisheries commissions. Proc. R.Soc. Edinb. Sect. B, BioI. 73:361-390.

Davis, H. S. 1938. Objectives in trout streammanagement. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 68:76­85.

Evans, A. K. 1907. The influence of politicsupon the work of the fish culturist, and howfish and game protective associations mayassist the latter and the international prob­lem of the proper regulation of the fisheriesof the Great Lakes. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc.36:207-217.

Garstang, W. 1900. The improverishment ofthe sea. J. Mar. BioI. Assoc. U.K., New Ser.6:1-69.

Goode, G. B. 1886. The status of the U.S. FishCommission in 1884. U.S. Comm. Fish andFisheries, Part 12, Report of Comm. for1884;1139-1180.

Graham, M. 1943. The fish gate. Faber andFaber, Ltd., Lond., 196 p.

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Great Britain. 1860. Report on salmon fisher­ies. Parliament, Parliamentary Papers(Commons), 1860. Reports from Commis­sioners, Vol. 19.

_--,--,--_. 1863. Report of the Royal Com­mission on the operation of acts relating totrawling for herrings on the coasts of Scot­land. Parliament. Parliamentary Papers(Commons). 1863. Reports from Commis­sioners, Vol. 28.

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Gulland, J. A. 1968. The concept of themaximum sustainable yield, and fisherymanagement. FAO (Food Agric. Organ.U.N.) Fish. Tech. Pap. 70. 30 p.

Hazzard, A. S. 1954. Committee on the NorthAmerican Fish Policy. Trans. Am. Fish.Soc. 84:377-380.

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Marine Fisheries Review

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freshwater fishes in the British Isles. BioI.Cons. 6:7-14.

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MFR PAPER 1227

Foreign Direct Investment in theU.S. Commercial Fisheries Industry

ROBERT A. SIEGEL

ABSTRACT-This report presents an analysis of data on foreign direct invest­ment in the U. S. commercial fisheries industry. The principal data source is theSurvey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 1974 conducted by theBureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce. At the end of 1974,the total value of foreign direct investment in the U.S. commercial fisheriesindustry was $129 million. The sources of these investments were: Canada,Denmark, Iceland, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Robert A. Siegel is with theEconomic and Marketing ResearchDivision, National Marine FisheriesService, NOAA, 3300 WhitehavenSt., N.W., Washington, DC 20019.

SOURCES AND LOCATIONSOF INVESTMENTS

INTRODUCTION

This is a report on foreign invest­ment activities in the U.S. commercialfisheries industry. It is associated witha larger study undertaken by theDepartment of Commerce, Bureau ofEconomic Analysis (BEA). pursuant tothe Foreign Investment Study Act of1974 (PL 93-479). The principal sourceof information for this report was theSurvey of Foreign Direct Investmentin the United States, 1974, conductedby BEA. The results of the surveydescribe the direct foreign investmentpositions as of 31 December 1974.Other governmental sources are usedto supplement the survey data.

INVESTMENT SCOPE

Foreign investment in the U.S. com­mercial fisheries industry has taken

December 1976

place primarily at the processing andwholesale levels. At the end of 1974, 47firms reported foreign ownership of 10percent or more of the voting stock ofan incorporated U.S. business enter­prise or the equivalent interest in anunincorporated U.S. business enter­prise. The total value of this invest­ment was $129 million 1.

Much of the foreign investment inU.S. fisheries is of relatively recentorigin. More than half the firms in­volved received these investmentssince 1970 (Fig. 1). During 1974 directinvestment rose 30 percent to itspresent level.

'Investment is defmed as the value of theaffiliated foreign groups' direct claims on theassets of their U.S. affiliates, net of claims ofthe U.S. affiliates on the assets of affiliatedforeign groups.

Over half of the total value of foreigndirect investment is from sources inEuropean countries (Fig. 2). A moredetailed breakdown indicates that 87percent originates from only threecountries: United Kingdom, Japan,and Canada. The remainder is frominvestors in Denmark, Iceland, Nor­way, Kuwait, and Mexico.

The 47 firms operate 107 establish­ments, which include business officesas well as production facilities. A largenumber of these establishments arelocated in the States of Alaska andWashington, but there are also opera­tions in several other states, particu­larly along the east coast in New York,New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Flor­ida.

Abo.ut one-third of the establish­ments are located in Alaska. Disclosure