Sablefish after the individual fishing quota program: an international economic market model

Abstract

Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) are distributed from Baja California to western Japan. Alaska is the world's principal supplier of sablefish with the majority of commercial landings occurring in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. This demersal, long-lived fish is harvested in one of Alaska's highest valued commercial fisheries, primarily with fixed gear. The total value of the sablefish fishery is comparable to that of the Pacific halibut fishery, which is managed under the similar programs such as the federal IFQ program and various state programs. Although sablefish came to be managed under IFQs at the same time as halibut, the outcomes of IFQ implementation in this fishery have not received as much as attention as in the halibut fishery. Even twenty years after IFQ implementation, there is little published research on the impacts of IFQs on prices and revenues for sablefish. In this thesis project, I have described the various sablefish fisheries within Alaska and the international market conditions. A simultaneous equation market model for sablefish is developed to examine linkages between harvests, prices and revenues. The model is then used to examine the Alaska exvessel price and revenue effects that result from changes in landings, changes resulting from the implementation of the IFQs and changes to the Japanese economy.