Objectives
Studying
this Economics topic students will become aware
that:
Fishing is important to New Zealand.
New Zealand's fish stocks need managing if fisheries
are to remain sustainable.
Because fish stocks are subject to both human
and environmental pressures there is a large element
of uncertainty in planning a management strategy.
The Quota Management system was introduced to
conserve and manage fisheries.
MFish's role in fisheries management and conservation
includes contracting for research, and some access
and allocations decisions and enforcement.
Market failure and externalities illustrated by
introduced marine pests and methods of Government
can use to compensate for market failure.
Important
ideas
This
resource kit deals with the concepts of scarcity
and allocation. Although fish stocks are renewable,
they are limited. Knowledge of fish stocks and
a system to control catch levels are necessary
to ensure present and future availability of fish.
Remember
that any decisions about safe harvesting levels
for fish stocks will always be tempered with an
element of uncertainty. Although scientific methods
for stock assessment are becoming more sophisticated,
it is impossible to measure stocks and predict
population dynamics with 100% accuracy. This element
of uncertainty is reflected by a certain "safety
margin" when setting Total Allowable Catch levels
for quota species.
Values
Managing
fisheries is more about educating people than
managing fish stocks. Management issues have social,
political, equity, environmental and cultural
implications. For example, in New Zealand, people
from diverse cultural backgrounds are involved
in both recreational and commercial fishing and
their different expectations and approaches need
to be taken into account.
Skills
The
activities in this resource kit are designed to
encourage students to develop their skills in:
Thinking
Statistics
Investigation
Decision-making.
On
to Activity Descriptions on Page 2
The
economics section is based on material originally
prepared by Phil Stewart and Mary Morel and
subsequently updated.
Unless otherwise stated all
photographs in the economics section are provided
courtesy of NIWA.
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