Integrated Models of Fisheries Management and Policy

An overview of the structure and elements of integrated models aimed at studying fishery management policies using static and dynamic optimisation techniques is presented. Continuous and discrete time models are considered under both open-access and sole-owner settings. A variety of economic and biological processes that affect the fishery as a whole is examined. It turns out that overseeing important fish population characteristics such as metapopulation dynamics and multi-species interaction can lead to serious misrepresentation of the fishery and suboptimal controls. Adequate understanding of the economic conditions and considerations potentially affecting the fishermen is necessary to model their behaviour and address their concerns. Misrepresentation of these economic and biologic processes will have an impact on the success of management policies in attaining a sustainable fish population.