151 Marine Resource Economics, Volume 15, pp. 151–177 0738-1360/00 $3.00 + .00 Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved Copyright © 2001 Marine Resources Foundation Maximizing Resource Rent From the Western and Central Pacific Tuna Fisheries MICHEL BERTIGNAC Secretariat of the Pacific Community HARRY F. CAMPBELL University of Queensland JOHN HAMPTON Secretariat of the Pacific Community ANTHONY J. HAND Economic Insights Abstract Rent generated by the tuna fisheries occurring in the waters of Pacific Islands Nations is estimated for various levels and combinations of purse-seine, pole-and-line, frozen tuna longline, and fresh tuna longline fishing effort, using a multi-species, multi-fleet bioeconomic model. The underlying population model in- tegrates available information on the population dynamics of skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye, and Southern albacore tunas in the Pacific Ocean. The economic model uti- lizes the most recent data on fishing effort costs for the purse seine, pole-and-line, and longline fleets operating in the western and central Pacific Ocean, along with recent estimates of prices by species, method of capture and market, and estimates of demand elasticities. The results of the model indicate that fishery rent could be increased substantially above the current level by decreasing the size of all fleets, with the possible exception of the tuna longline fleet. The results also suggest that the countries of the region could benefit significantly by changing the level and structure of access fees levied as a percentage of total catch revenue. Key words Bioeconomic model, Western Pacific tuna fishery. Introduction The substantial changes which have occurred in the level and composition of fishing effort in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) in the past 20 years have taken place in the context of an evolving management regime. However, manage- Dr. Michel Bertignac was a senior fisheries scientist at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community when this work was carried out. He is currently a fisheries scientist at Ifremer (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer), Boite Postale 7, 17137 L'Houmeau, France, email: michel.bertignac@ifremer.fr; Harry F. Campbell is professor in the Department of Economics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 4072, email: h.campbell@economics.uq.edu.au; Dr. John Hampton is a principal fish- eries scientist at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia, email: JohnH@spc.int; and Dr. Anthony J. Hand is a senior economist at Economic Insights, Level 1 50 Leichhardt Street, Spring Hill, Queensland, Australia 4000, email: thand@economicinsights.com.au. At the time of writing Michel Bertignac and John Hampton were with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, New Caledonia, and Harry Campbell and Anthony Hand were with the University of Queensland, Australia. The views expressed in the paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization with which they are affiliated. The research was funded by The Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, Project 9405.