The Value of Information in a Congested Fishery

doi:10.1596/1813-9450-10543

Publication:
The Value of Information in a Congested Fishery

dc.contributor.author	Englander, Gabriel
dc.contributor.author	Karp, Larry
dc.contributor.author	Simon, Leo
dc.date.accessioned	2023-08-16T16:09:10Z
dc.date.available	2023-08-16T16:09:10Z
dc.date.issued	2023-08-15
dc.description.abstract	Congestion can reduce the value of a fishery, resulting in a lower total catch for the same amount of labor, fuel, and equipment expended in fishing activities. Absent the congestion externality, better information about the location and size of fish stocks enables fishers to make more efficient decisions. However, more precise information can cause fishers to converge on the same location or increase fishing at the same time. The cost of the resulting increased congestion can outweigh the direct benefit of better information. This paper identifies the circumstances where an increase in the precision of public and/or private information (about stock size or location) lowers industry profits. Using high-resolution data from Peru’s anchoveta fishery, the world’s largest by catch volume, the research reveals that despite considerable congestion, more precise private information would increase expected profits. On the other hand, the profit impact of more precise public information is positive but significantly smaller. This difference reflects the fact that public information increases congestion to a much greater extent, compared to private information. The policy implications are that improving private information about fish stocks—for example through firms investing in forecasting and decision-making technology—could increase industry profits. But anchoveta fishers would not necessarily benefit from more precise public information. As fishery managers control the accessibility and disclosure of information, decisions to make private information public, such as publishing near real-time catch data, could potentially lower fisher profits.	en
dc.identifier	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099328108102340668/IDU0fa7aeaa202f26047da0a9180a5b921e47a97
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/1813-9450-10543
dc.identifier.uri	https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/40211
dc.language	English
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Policy Research Working Papers; 10543
dc.rights	CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subject	VALUE OF INFORMATION
dc.subject	FISHERY CONGESTION
dc.subject	PERUVIAN ANCHOVETA
dc.subject	FISHERY PROFITS
dc.subject	FISHING DATA
dc.subject	FISHING EFFICIENCY
dc.title	The Value of Information in a Congested Fishery	en
dc.type	Working Paper
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.crossref.title	The Value of Information in a Congested Fishery
okr.date.disclosure	2023-08-10
okr.date.lastmodified	2023-08-10T00:00:00Z	en
okr.doctype	Policy Research Working Paper
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.docurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099328108102340668/IDU0fa7aeaa202f26047da0a9180a5b921e47a97
okr.guid	099328108102340668
okr.identifier.docmid	IDU-fa7aeaa2-2f26-47da-a918-a5b921e47a97
okr.identifier.doi	10.1596/1813-9450-10543
okr.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-10543
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum	34133646
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum	34133646
okr.identifier.report	WPS10543
okr.import.id	1508
okr.imported	true	en
okr.language.supported	en
okr.pdfurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099328108102340668/pdf/IDU0fa7aeaa202f26047da0a9180a5b921e47a97.pdf	en
okr.region.country	Peru
okr.topic	Industry::Fishing Industry
okr.topic	Agriculture::Fisheries & Aquaculture
okr.topic	Agriculture::Agricultural Knowledge & Information Systems
okr.topic	Private Sector Development::Competitiveness and Competition Policy
okr.unit	DEC-Sustainability & Infrastruct (DECSI)