The Ecoval technique for Fisheries Evaluation*

Fishing rights are based on certain assumptions about the productivity of marine ecosystems. But the vast overcapacity of modern commercial fishing changes marine ecosystems in ways that impact existing rights by foreclosing options. Ecoval is a new decision-support technique that allows fishers, scientists, managers and policy-makers to compare the ecological, economic and social benefits of different states of a marine ecosystem and thereby establish a basis for agreeing and monitoring management goals. Before Ecoval can be employed, alternative ecosystems, including their embedded fisheries, are constructed using ecosystem simulation techniques (Ecopath and Ecosim). Alternatives may include past ecosystems using the Back to the Future methodology. Ecoval then draws on three techniques, "classic" economic assessments, "damage schedules" and 'Rapfish', a new rapid appraisal technique that can be used to compare quantitatively the status of fisheries in alternative ecosystems, thus determining the implications for rights. Moreover, Ecoval is a user-friendly and transparent valuation technique that encourages stakeholders to cooperate and compare the ecological, economic and social costs and benefits of different rebuilding scenarios simulated with Ecosim. It may also evaluate the trade-offs that may be required for sustainability and rebuilding. Ecoval does not provide rigid definition of property rights, but makes explicit the potential value of resources that are part of a natural ecosystems. By so doing it provides an incentive for adversarial interests to combine their knowledge and skills to protect and rebuild the resource base rather than deplete it. A case study is based on two existing Ecopath models of the Gulf of Thailand, one at the onset of industrial fishing in the early 1960s, a second after resource depletion in 1980.

* Abstract by Tony Pitcher to the FishRights 99 Conference 11-19 Nov 99

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