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Removing illegally-fished seafood products from the Australian market can increase the profits of domestic fisheries

par Spiessens, Anna
Promoteur Cannicci, Stefano
Co-Promoteur Cottrell, Richard;Pascoe, Sean
Publication Non publié, 2024-08-29

Mémoire

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Résumé :

Seafood from Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing infiltrates global supplychains, with estimates of 8 to 14 million tonnes traded annually. Australia imports 65% of itsseafood and trades with countries at high risk of IUU fishing, yet the impact of these importson the domestic market is poorly understood. My study aims to assess how IUU importsaffect domestic seafood prices and the profitability of Australian fisheries. I used previouslyestimated price flexibilities (i.e., the sensitivities between prices and quantities supplied),seafood import data from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics,global seafood trade flows, production data, and illegal fishing probabilities in the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission region. I estimated that 14.2% of imported seafood contains IUUproducts, resulting in 21,406 tonnes imported annually. Moreso, 19% of imports from toptrading partners -Vietnam, New Zealand, and China- are likely IUU derived. My findingsindicate that removing IUU imports would increase average prices by 2.4% for wild-caughtprawns and 0.1% for finfish, resulting in higher average profits for all four assessed fisheries,with prawn fisheries benefitting most. In years with initially low or negative profits, theremoval of IUU imports could turn losses into gains, emphasizing the critical role ofrestricting IUU seafood imports in supporting domestic fisheries, particularly in challengingtimes. These findings provide a critical basis for discussing policies to restrict IUU seafoodimports to Australia, helping to protect and enhance the domestic fishing industry.