Title: Recovering from overexploitation: the European fisheries of the North Sea

Authors: Sean Pascoe, Amy Burnett

Addresses: Centre for the Economics and Management of Aquatic Resources, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK; CSIRO Division of Marine Research, 233 Middle Street, Cleveland 4163, Australia. ' Centre for the Economics and Management of Aquatic Resources, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK; Department of Environmental Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK

Abstract: In the last two decades, the fisheries of the North Sea have experienced substantial declines in the population of a number of commercially harvested species. The fisheries have also experienced the development of considerable overcapacity as a result of ineffective management and subsidies. Management of the fishery is complicated by the existence not only of multiple species and gears, but also multiple countries. Concerns about regional employment have also influenced management decisions to the detriment of the resource and industry. In this paper, the underlying factors that have shaped the current situation in the North Sea fisheries are discussed and potential solutions are explored.

Keywords: North Sea; European fisheries; fisheries management; overcapacity; overexploitation recovery; individual transferable quotas; ITQs; subsidies; global environmental issues; overfishing; fish stocks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2007.013572

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2007 Vol.7 No.2/3, pp.158 - 173

Published online: 08 May 2007 *

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