Cost of Overfishing
Attributes
Medium: Animals, Plants and/or Others
Country: Philippines
Analytical Framework(s): Economic Analysis, Least Cost Concept
Study Date: 2002
Publication Date: 2003
Major Result(s)
| Resource/Environmental Good | PHP (2002) |
PHP (2014)1 |
USD (2014)2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NPV of shiner ban3 | 1,422,310.00 | 2,260,790.19 | 50,548.01 |
| NPV of shiner and fish cage ban4 | 2,294,790.00 | 3,647,614.60 | 81,555.41 |
About the Inflation Adjustment: Prices in Philippines (PHP) changed by 58.95% from 2002 to 2014 (aggregated from annual CPI data), so the study values were multiplied by 1.59 to express them in 2014 prices. The study values could be expressed in any desired year (for example, to 2024) by following the same inflation calculation and being sensitive to directional (forward/backward) aggregations using your own CPI/inflation data.
Study Note: This report attempts to fill this information gap about the reasons for the policy failure. Drawing on data from secondary sources and an original survey, it uses a bioeconomic model to simulate the effects of changes in the enforcement levels of three current policies - ban on electric shiners, regulation on fish cage, as well as both electric shiners and fish cages. Government investments on different levels of enforcement were assessed using benefit cost analysis (BCA).
Study Details
Summary: This study assesses the sustainability of fisheries of Lamon Bay in the Philippines and investigates the effectiveness of fishery conservation policies. It finds that current policies are failing and that a substantial investment would be required to ensure full compliance with current regulations. It also finds that the benefits of achieving high levels of compliance would exceed costs by only a tiny margin. It concludes that current regulations to deal with overfishing are neither cost-effective nor address the underlying problems of overexploitation of fish stocks and open access to fishing areas. The study suggests that a tradable quota system may provide one answer to the problem and outlines government policies that would back up such an approach.
Site Characteristics: The contribution of fisheries to the Philippine economy is significant. The Philippines was the twelfth largest fish producer in the world until the early eighties. In 1998, the total fish production from commercial fisheries was 941,000 metric tonnes (mt), comprising 35% of the total national commercial fish catch. Municipal fisheries 1 was 34% of the total national municipal fish catch. The rest was attributed to aquaculture production (31%). Fisheries provide more than 60% of the edible protein in the country. Threatened by overfishing and habitat destruction, municipal fisheries production has been declining by 5.4% annually since 1991. In 1998, this decreased slightly to 4.8%. The rapidly growing population, increased fishing efforts, expansion of fishing areas and illegal fishing have caused harvesting to be uneconomical for fishermen. Many nearshore and traditional fishing areas of the country are already fully exploited with most of the enclosed bays and gulfs overexploited. To address this problem, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) implemented several administrative orders among which include the establishment of fish sanctuaries in the overexploited areas, replanting of mangroves, regulating the use of fine meshed nets in fishing and seasonal policies on commercial boats.
Comments: This study was undertaken to evaluate the economic benefits and costs of implementing various fishery policies and the changes in fisheries resource quality. At the same time, it also considered the institutional effectiveness and efficiency of the system in the current situation and future scenarios. This study serves as a tool for recommendations relevant to municipal fishery policies formulation in Lamon Bay and in other coastal sites.