Reducing Fishing Capacity: Best Practices for Decommissioning Schemes

Too many fishing vessels chasing too few fish is a persistent problem in many countries. To address this, governments often turn to vessel decommissioning schemes as a means of adjusting fishing capacity to match available fish resources. However, experience has shown that many of these schemes have failed to relieve the pressure on fish stocks due to poor design and implementation. Overcapacity in fishing fleets is generally a symptom of poor fisheries management and enforcement, and so efforts to adjust fishing capacity will not be successful unless underlying management problems are addressed. Decommissioning schemes therefore need to be used as part of broader efforts to reform fisheries management so that the fishers have a stronger incentive to automatically adjust fishing capacity. Nevertheless, governments still have a role to play in assisting the industry to adjust fishing capacity. This report presents a set of best practice guidelines on the design and implementation of decommissioning schemes. By drawing on case studies of decommissioning schemes from OECD and non-OECD countries, it provides policy makers and fisheries managers with detailed analysis of the economic issues surrounding decommissioning schemes. The report also presents practical policy guidance that can assist in ensuring that the schemes are cost-effective and meet their objectives.