Effects of Fuel Costs and Market Product Price on Catch of Small Pelagic Fish: Market Study of the Sardine Fishery in the Gulf of California

Abstract

From a management perspective, what is the best use of forage fish? Global landings of forage fish comprise approximately 16% of the global wild marine fish catch. Forage fish provide livelihoods and a protein source for millions of people worldwide. Also, forage fish are a critical food source for transferring energy from plankton to higher trophic levels in marine ecosystems. Knowing their significance, should forage fish be made into fish meal and used in agriculture, canned for domestic human consumption, frozen fresh as feed for blue fin tuna mariculture, or left in the ocean to serve ecological functions? Recognizing that this is a complex topic, this projects aims to analyze the sardine Mexican fishery solely from an economic standpoint and identify externalities or relationships in the market that, if managed differently, could have significant effects on economic incentives for the use of sardines. Fuel subsidies are analyzed as a potential tool to influence fishing behavior. It’s found that higher fuel prices and differences between high and low quality market sardine prices, incentivize a greater percent catch of high quality sardines. This implies higher production of canned sardine products and thus potentially addressing food security concerns. This economic analysis of the use of the sardine resource in Mexico can consequently be complemented by social, environmental, or other tailored analyses.