ABSTRACT
The solution to the central problem of intertemporal allocation has been elusive for the following reasons. First, renewable natural resources, such as fish stocks, are often “common property,” in which several entities have fishing rights to the resource (e.g. Sumaila, 2012a). In particular, certain fisheries are transboundary and/or straddling in nature. 2 Second, some species of fish are long-lived, such that whether juveniles or mature fish are caught can have important biological and economic consequences. Third, in multispecies systems, there is usually some form of natural interaction between species, which has both biological and economic consequences. Fourth, different vessel types employed in the exploitation of the resource have different effects on the health of the stock, and the economics of the fishery. Fifth, capital embodied in the exploitation of natural resources is often non-malleable, which can have an impact on management plans. Sixth, there is the problem of uncertainty about the biology and economics of the resource. Seventh, the problem of market interaction in both factors and products must be dealt with. A related topical issue is how global warming is likely to complicate fisheries management (Sumaila et al., 2011). As demonstrated in the sections that follow, the fisheries economics literature is rich in attempts to address problems of intertemporal allocation, except the challenge posed by global warming where work is beginning to trickle in (e.g. Miller and Munro, 2004).
