The Role of Microeconomic Studies in Decision-Making of Fishery Management

Abstract

The need for fisheries management arises as the surplus production from fish stocks is overtaken by the catching capacity of fishing fleets. In general, terms the goals in fisheries management can be divided into four subsets: biological; ecological; economic and social, where social includes political and cultural goals. Identifying such goals is important in clarifying how the fish resources are to be used to benefit society, both at the economic and policy level. Without such goals, there is no guidance on how the fishery should be operated and managed. The study was yielded some microeconomic analysis results such as value of gross output, variable and fixed costs, gross and net profit, average fishing income, non-fishing income and household income. This research aimed at computing the income level of the fishermen, fishing of the Northern part of Turkey in the Sea of Marmara and examining the cost-profit relationship with regard to vessel size. 231 vessels sorted with respect to size and grouped under four classes. Stratified random sampling method was used to determine survey sample size. 156 vessels from the first group, 46 from the second, 15 from the third, and 14 from the fourth group were included into the survey.