Past Work Programmes

For its 2003-2005 Programme of Work the Committee for Fisheries worked on three major studies as follows:

Follow up to the fisheries market liberalisation

Taking into account the need to contribute to the WTO negotiations, this work will build on the existing analysis in the Liberalising Fisheries Markets: Scope and Effects and focus on new elements where a more detailed analysis is needed. In particular the Study will endeavour to provide more in-depth analysis of the links between fisheries subsidies and sustainable development and in this regard analyse subsidies from the sustainable development paradigm to assess both the economic, social and environmental issues of subsidies. In addition, the Study will also analyse the foreign investment and trade in services in the fisheries sector. Financial Support to Fisheries: Implications for Sustainable Development (2006) is the publication that encompasses this work. It explores the range of economic, environmental and social effects of financial support to the fisheries sector in OECD countries. The analysis is undertaken within a sustainable development paradigm, emphasising the effects within, and the interactions between, the three pillars of sustainable development under various fisheries policy settings. This is a follow-up and more detailed study to the work started in the publication on Fisheries Market Liberalisation. 

Environmental, economic and social issues and effects of IUU/FOC fishing activities

This Study provides policy makers with environmental, economic and social arguments in support of measures in relation to IUU/FOC fishing activities, including the International Plan of Action on IUU Fishing. It examines the effects of overexploitation and possible depletion of stocks as a consequence of IUU fishing and focus on the economic and social impacts of IUU/FOC, including an analysis of the conditions of competition between IUU/FOC vessels and vessels fishing consistently with adopted measures consistent with international obligations (i.e. the implicit support that non-intervention in the fisheries sector gives rise to and its impact on fisheries sustainability and the environment). Finally the Study surveys investment rules and review the rules that allow transfer and re/flagging. The publication is available under the name : Why Fish Piracy Persists: The Economics of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (OECD).

Examination of economic aspects relating to the transition to sustainable fisheries

This work Using Market Mechanisms to manage Fisheries: Smoothing the Path (2006) discusses how reform towards the shared objective of sustainable and responsible fisheries of fisheries management can be constructed using market-like instruments/incentives. The Study will explore the different ways Member countries have used such instruments and are dealing, or have dealt with, the inevitable tradeoffs between competing interests of stakeholders in the fishery during the reform process. Obstacles and incentives to the achievement of sustainable fisheries, including how different fishing/non-fishing interests are treated in the process, will also be subject of further analysis.

The following studies have been approved by the Committee for Fisheries and are publications available for purchase through the OECD Online Bookshop.

1. Fisheries Management Costs, 2002

        Improving the management of fisheries continues to be an important priority for governments. However, governments have increasingly recognised that fisheries management is not an inexpensive activity. In an era of declining budgets, governments are seeking more efficient and cost-effective means of delivering fisheries services. These developments raise a number of significant policy questions. How much do governments spend on managing fisheries? Who pays for the fisheries management services? Who actually delivers the services? How effective are the services in meeting their objectives?

      These questions are addressed in this report which examines the costs of managing fisheries in OECD countries. Each year, OECD governments spend around USD 2.5 billion in managing their fisheries, accounting for nearly 40% of the total transfers made by governments to the fisheries sector. The report has found that there is an increasing application of cost-recovery and user-charging principles in OECD countries. In addition, the provision of some research, management and enforcement functions by the private sector is becoming more common as governments seek to improve the cost-effectiveness of fisheries management.

2. Liberalizing Fisheries Markets: Scope and Effects, 2002

      Over the past several decades, the fishing sector has experienced dramatic changes. Production and trade have increased considerably. The relative importance of developing countries has grown as they expanded their fishing efforts and as a result of over-fishing in OECD countries. Aquaculture production has expanded significantly. And many of the stocks of fish species in international trade are either fully or over-exploited while a number of other stocks are depleted or recovering.

      The purpose of this Study is to explore world and regional fish trade flows, issues and problems. The Study, published in March 2003, include an analysis of how fisheries trade and production are likely to be affected by reductions in present tariff levels and by changes in non-tariff barriers. In addition, the study will explore the effects of changes in restrictions on investments, access to services, subsidies in the fisheries sector, as well as other relevant factors.

      Previous rounds of multilateral trade negotiations have produced positive outcomes for the trade in fish products. However, there remain a number of market measures that can hinder trade. Is there scope for further liberalization in the world fisheries sector? What are the key trade and market measures on which policy attention should be focused? What will further trade liberalization mean for the sustainability of fish resources? This publication reviews the significant changes that have taken place in the world fisheries sector and provides an in-depth analysis of the prospects for and potential effects of further market liberalization in the sector. It also contains an inventory of market measures and policies in place in OECD countries. A principal outcome of the study is that there is room for further market liberalization in the trade in fish and fish products.

3. Fisheries Sustainability Indicators, 2002

      This study, which is included in the Review of Fisheries as a special chapter, seeks to develop economic and social fisheries sustainability indicators to be used as tools in policy analysis.

4. Transition to Responsible Fisheries, 2000

From 1997 to 2000 the Committee for Fisheries main thematic work revolved around assessing the costs associated with the transition towards sustainable fisheries and the long term benefits of such a change. Recognizing the increasing importance of responsible fisheries (signified for example by the FAO Member countries' adoption of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries), the Committee observed that a transition towards that ultimate objective would entail financial impacts on fishers, on the fishing industry and on the society as a whole during the transition period.

The Study, published as " Transition to Responsible Fisheries - Economic and Policy Implications", was finalised in Spring 2000. It has four main components:
1. Fisheries labour and adjustment to responsible fisheries;
2. Post harvesting practices and responsible fisheries;
3. Government financial transfers and resource sustainability;
4. Modeling the transition to responsible fisheries.

This Study is complemented by a Statement synthesizing the main findings and results from the analysis.

5. Towards Sustainable Fisheries, 1997

      Prior to embarking on the Transition to Responsible Fisheries study, the Committee was assisted by an Expert Group to deepen its comprehension of the economic aspects of fisheries management. In fact, having noted that all measures applied in fisheries take effect against the background of the fisheries management system in place, the Committee decided to carry out more in-depth work on the economic aspects of fisheries management.

      The subsequent study, published in 1997 under the title " Towards Sustainable Fisheries - Economic Aspects of the Management of Living Marine resources", successfully assesses the likely consequences of different management approaches from an economic perspective. Based on Member countries' management performance, the fisheries management outcomes were assessed in biological, economic and administrative terms.

      Unique in terms of its coverage and in-depth analysis, the Committee adopted a Statement enumerating the main conclusions that could be drawn from the Study. The key concluding observations were that there is no universal solution to the problems facing fisheries. Instead, the appropriate combination of management instruments should take account of the unique combination of biological, technological, economic and social characteristics making up each fishery.

6. Other

      During 1995 and 1996 the Committee for Fisheries considered various aspects concerning the interface between the coastal zone and fishing and aquaculture interests. The result of this work, published in 1996 under the title "Reconciling Pressures on the Coastal Zone - Fisheries and Aquaculture", contains a number of country experiences from which it was possible to deduct general observations on two themes:

1. Resource user conflicts in the coastal zone; and

2. Coastal zone responses to changing fishing possibilities.

      Also, in the early 1990s the Committee invested a serious effort in understanding the linkages between financial transfers either emanating directly from public coffers or indirectly through market price support mechanisms. This work was an important contribution to furthering the understanding of particulartrade policy aspects inherent in a natural resource like fisheries. All documents presented for this study are available free of charge from the website.