Measuring Transaction Costs of Fisheries Co-Management

Abstract

"Fisheries co-management as an alternative to centralised command and control fisheries management is often suggested as a solution to the problems of fisheries resource use conflicts and overexploitation. Various researchers have talked of the importance of studying the role of transaction costs between different institutional arrangements for managing fisheries resources. There have however been no attempts to verify empirically by measuring the transaction costs involved in fisheries management. This paper provides some measurements of the transaction costs under a fisheries co-management system. The transaction costs can be categorised into three major cost items. These are (1) information costs, (2) collective fisheries decision-making costs, and (3) collective operational costs. The transaction costs of fisheries co-management in San Salvador Island, Philippines is presented. The method of collecting information about transactions cost of fisheries co-management had not been attempted anywhere before. Information on the cost of a wide range of transaction costs variables were collected. The costs are used to assess the relative importance of the various transactions costs in a co-managed and a centrally managed system. The difference in the transaction costs between a centraly managed and a co-managed system is used as a basis for public policy decisions on the choice of alternative institutional arrangements for managing a fishery."