James Innes

Offshore oil and gas extraction has become a major component of the blue economy over the last few decades, and is expected to continue to grow over coming decades. The development of an oil and gas industry in an area potentially has both positive and negative economic impacts on existing fisheries and marine-based aquaculture. Of considerable concern is the potential negative economic impact of an oil spill, a concern highlighted by the large spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Assessing the economic damage arising from such a spill is complicated, and a range of different approaches have been historically applied. In this paper, the full range of potential economic impacts arising from the development of an offshore oil and gas industry are reviewed based on international experiences, as well as the economic impacts of oil spills. Approaches used to assess these economic impacts are also reviewed, as is the role of management in reducing these impacts.

Internationally, marine biodiversity conservation objectives are having an increasing influence on the management of commercial fisheries. While this is largely being implemented through marine protected areas, the use of market based instruments (MBIs) has proved useful in other areas of fisheries and biodiversity conservation management. This paper explores the potential of MBIs as biodiversity conservation management tools for mitigating the undesirable impacts of fishing industries operating in the marine environment, examples of which are still relatively limited in the marine context. We assess the potential of several alternative measures by reviewing and considering the successes and limitations of previous applications and how these would translate in the case of commercial fishing. Several fishing methods and conservation values are considered and the circumstances in which MBIs may be most applicable are identified. Where appropriate, and by either replacing or (more likely) complementing existing management arrangements, MBIs have the potential to improve environmental performance. This has a number of implications. From the environmental perspective they should enable levels of undesirable impacts on conservation values such as sensitive habitat or protected species of turtles, marine mammals and seabirds to be reduced. MBIs can also increase management cost-effectiveness and reduce the costs imposed upon industry by allowing them greater flexibility when developing solutions. Further, in the increasingly relevant case of MPAs, the potential cost of structural adjustment packages to government may also be significantly reduced if improved environmental performance makes it possible for some industry members to continue operating.

A theoretical basis is required for comparing key features and critical elements in wild fisheries and aquaculture supply chains under a changing climate. Here we develop a new quantitative metric that is analogous to indices used to analyse food-webs and identify key species. The Supply Chain Index (SCI) identifies critical elements as those elements with large throughput rates, as well as greater connectivity. The sum of the scores for a supply chain provides a single metric that roughly captures both the resilience and connectedness of a supply chain. Standardised scores can facilitate cross-comparisons both under current conditions as well as under a changing climate. Identification of key elements along the supply chain may assist in informing adaptation strategies to reduce anticipated future risks posed by climate change. The SCI also provides information on the relative stability of different supply chains based on whether there is a fairly even spread in the individual scores of the top few key elements, compared with a more critical dependence on a few key individual supply chain elements. We use as a case study the Australian southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii fishery, which is challenged by a number of climate change drivers such as impacts on recruitment and growth due to changes in large-scale and local oceanographic features. The SCI identifies airports, processors and Chinese consumers as the key elements in the lobster supply chain that merit attention to enhance stability and potentially enable growth. We also apply the index to an additional four real-world Australian commercial fishery and two aquaculture industry supply chains to highlight the utility of a systematic method for describing supply chains. Overall, our simple methodological approach to empirically-based supply chain research provides an objective method for comparing the resilience of supply chains and highlighting components that may be critical.

Innes, J., O. Thébaud, A. Norman-López, and L. Little. 2014. Does size matter? An assessment of quota market evolution and performance in the Great Barrier Reef fin-fish fishery. Ecology and Society 19(3): 13.http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06637-190313

Bycatch of threatened, endangered or protected species by commercial fishers is a universal problem. Technical solutions are often applied that may impose inefficiencies across the fleet, even in periods or areas when the risk of bycatch is low. These may include gear specifically designed to avoid the bycatch which may also reduce the targeted catch, or designation of marine protected areas that exclude fishing from whole areas. In this article, we examine the effectiveness of a variable penalty system that can provide incentives for fishers to redirect their effort away from problem areas. The system is examined using a case study of fishery, which is currently subjected to gear and closure controls to limit bycatch of turtles and seabirds. An alternative incentive-based management policy using a series of differential hook penalties has been proposed as a flexible tool to discourage vessels operating in certain areas. The effects of various hook penalties and closures in key areas on fishing effort in those areas and elsewhere as well as vessel economic performance are assessed using a location choice model. The results suggest that incentive-based approaches may result in lower costs to industry than closures provided some level of residual bycatch is acceptable.

Rock lobster fisheries are Australia's most valuable wild fisheries in terms of both value of production and value of exports. Different states harvest and export different lobster species, with most of the landings being sent to the Hong Kong market. A perception in the Australian lobster industry is that the different species are independent on the export market, such that a change in landings of one species has no impact on the price of the others. This study investigates the market integration of Australian exports to Hong Kong for the four species and different exporting states. Our results indicate all four species and producers/export states are perceived to be substitutes for one another, so that, in the long run, prices paid to operators in the industry will move together. The integrated nature of the Hong Kong export market for Australian lobster suggests that the potential impacts of alternative fisheries management and development strategies at state and species levels cannot be considered in isolation, at least from an economic perspective. In addition, impacts of external shocks affecting production in one state (e.g. climate change) can be expected to affect all Australian lobster fisheries.