Non-cooperative exploitation of multi-cohort fisheries—The role of gear selectivity in the North-East Arctic cod fishery

North-East Arctic cod is shared by Russia and Norway. Taking its multi-cohort structure into account, how would optimal management look like? How would non-cooperative exploitation limit the obtainable profits? To which extent could the strategic situation explain today’s over-harvesting? Simulation of a detailed bioeconomic model reveals that the mesh size should be significantly increased, resulting not only in a doubling of economic gains, but also in a biologically healthier age-structure of the stock. The Nash equilibrium is close to the current regime. Even when effort is fixed to its optimal level, the non-cooperative choice of gear selectivity leads to a large dissipation of rents. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. § We would like to thank Anne Maria Eikeset, Kjell Arne Brekke, an anonymous reviewer, and the editor for comments and suggestions. All remaining errors are our own. This work was in part financially supported through a stipend from the CEES as well as from the Norwegian Research Council via the project ‘‘Socio-economic effects of fisheries-induced evolution’’. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +47 2285 8479; fax: +47 2285 4001. E-mail address: [email protected] (F.K. Diekert).