RURAL COMMUNITY QUOTAS IN NORWAY - INTENTIONS AND IMPACTS

摘要

In many fisheries, the harvesting pattern shows considerable intra-year variation. These fluctuations give challenges for downstream firms in value chains where predictability and continuity in the flow of production are important. Seasonal harvestingmay well be rational from an economic perspective, as migration patterns can give huge variations in catch per unit effort. With limited quotas, profit can be maximized through fishing intensively in short periods. This strategy is particularly presentin the Norwegian cod fisheries, where approx. 80 per cent is landed from January to April. During the lean season, fish-processing firms have low capacity utilization, and employees are often laid-off. In order to ease these problems, several schemes have been employed, all aiming at changing the harvesting pattern towards more landings of cod during the autumn. In 2006 and 2007, rural community quotas (RCQs) were re-introduced to improve supplies of raw material to particularly exposed communities in the lean season. An exclusive quota was allocated to an autumn fishery. This was allotted to vessels through a lottery among applicants. Quotas were to be delivered fresh to a specified geographical area. This paper describes and analyses the implementation and impacts of this quota system. The empirical findings reported focuses on the selection of vessels and communities and impact on harvesting pattern and processing.