Rent dissipation and efficient rationalization in for-hire recreational fishing

Recreational fisheries are increasingly important in fisheries management; for some species, recreational take rivals or exceeds the amount harvested by commercial fishermen. Most recreational fisheries are regulated with gear restrictions, bag limits, and time/area closures, but there is increasing interest in the market-based solutions employed in commercial fisheries — this despite the lack of an adequate bioeconomic theory of the joint commercial/recreational aspects of many recreational fisheries. This paper integrates a detailed production specification with traditional bioeconomic tools in order to better understand the implications of rationalization schemes targeted at the charter sector. While confirming some of the qualitative conclusions of the commercial fisheries literature on open access and regulated open access our model also generates rich and novel predictions with respect to input choices, the number of vessels and congestion externalities. We devise a system of instruments that generate efficient outcomes and extensively discuss issues associated with their real-world implementation.     

The ozone source–receptor model – A tool for UK ozone policy

The Ozone Source–Receptor Model (OSRM) is a Lagrangian trajectory model developed to describe photochemical ozone production in the UK. The OSRM builds on existing boundary layer trajectory models used previously for assisting the development of UK ozone policy, but has a number of notable differences. A novel feature of the OSRM is a surface conversion module to represent the vertical gradient in ozone arising from chemical loss and deposition to the surface. This has significantly improved the performance of the model, especially in urban areas. In this paper, the modelling system is described and its performance against measured ozone concentrations and metrics and other UK ozone models is discussed. The model has been used to calculate future ozone concentrations in the UK and thus to assess a number of possible control measures developed for the UK Air Quality Strategy.     

A ranking index to characterize polynuclear aromatic pollutants in environmental samples

This study investigated the use of a screening procedure to provide a ranking index (RI) for characterizing polynuclear aromatic (PNA) species in atmospheric samples. The ranking procedure employs a cost-effective and rapid screening technique based on synchronous luminescence spectroscopy. The efficacy and usefulness of the ranking procedure are demonstrated by comparing the RI values with data expressed in terms of the benzene-soluble standard, benzo[a]pyrene values, and the total content of fourteen PNA compounds.     

Verifying emission factors and national POPs emission inventories for the UK using measurements and modelling at two rural locations

Different approaches are used to verify the adequacy of emission factors (EFs) and their use in emission inventories of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The applicability of EFs was tested using atmospheric dispersion modelling to predict atmospheric concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and resulting toxic equivalents (SigmaTEQ) and particulate matter <10 microm (PM(10)) in two rural locations in northern England (UK). The modelling was based on general assumptions of fuel composition, consumption and heating needs to simulate emissions of POPs from the domestic burning of coal and wood where ambient measurements were made in the winter of 1998. The model was used to derive the local contribution to ambient air concentrations, which were estimated independently based on comparative air measurements. The results support the hypothesis that in both villages, the majority of PAHs and the lower chlorinated PCDFs were locally released. The situation for PCBs and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) was different. While the EFs show the release of both compound groups from the domestic burning of coal and wood, the ambient levels of these "legacy POPs" in the villages were still clearly dominated by other sources. Rural areas relying mainly on fossil fuels can exceed the proposed UK ambient air quality standard for benzo[a]pyrene during winter. The measured EFs were then used to estimate the importance of the domestic burning of coal and wood to national emission inventories for these compound classes. Extrapolations to the UK suggest that the domestic burning of pure wood and coal were minor emitters for chlorinated POPs but contributed strongly to PAH and PM(10) levels in 2000. Finally, the UK's national POPs emission inventories based on source inventories and EF, as used here, were compared to estimates derived using the increase in atmospheric concentration of selected POPs.