Insurance mechanisms to mediate economic risks in marine fisheries
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Mumford, JD
Leach, AW
Levontin, P
Kell, L
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Uncertainty affects the behaviour of fishers and fisheries regulators in a way that can adversely affect the sustainability of fish stocks, fisheries income, and productivity. In agriculture, there has been a long history of using levy funds and public and private insurance schemes to mediate economic risks to growers resulting from environmental variability and quarantine risks. In the United States, the federal government continues to underwrite funds (collected by contracted private agents) that are used to protect contributors from the effects of extreme weather and pest and disease losses. In Europe, there are examples of industry-based mutual funds to mediate risks from exotic agricultural diseases. In agriculture, insurance mechanisms have been successful in reducing risk-inducing behaviour by contractual compliance to risk-reducing codes of practice. For fisheries, insurance may provide a tool to address some elements of uncertainty in a way that would help both the fishing industry and the regulators achieve objectives of sustainability, income security, and productivity. This paper presents a brief review of insurance in agriculture and capture fisheries and uses a stochastic model to illustrate how insurance funds could protect revenue and encourage increased sustainability of fisheries and improve compliance with and enforcement of fisheries regulation. Although insurance may be a partial solution to unsatisfactory fisheries management and fishing performance, some potential challenges to this novel approach are also discussed.
Date Issued
2009-06-01
Date Acceptance
2009-03-23
Citation
ICES Journal of Marine Science: journal du conseil, 2009, 66 (5), pp.950-959
ISSN
1054-3139
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
950
End Page
959
Journal / Book Title
ICES Journal of Marine Science: journal du conseil
Volume
66
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2009 The Author(s). International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. This is an Open Access article.
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000266350100017&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Physical Sciences
Fisheries
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Oceanography
capture fishery
feedback dynamics
fisher behaviour
harvest
indemnity
insurance
price
regulation
revenue
risk
sustainability
uncertainty
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
000–000
Date Publish Online
2025-04-20