A multi-species multi-fleet bioeconomic simulation model for the English Channel artisanal fisheries

Considering the large number of technical interactions between various fishing activities, the English Channel (ICES divisions VIId and VIIe) fisheries may be regarded as one large and diverse multi-country, multi-gear and multi-species artisanal fishery, although rarely studied as such. A whole-scale bioeconomic model has been constructed. It does not take into account biological interactions, but focuses on competition among fleets. A large amount of biological and economic data have been preliminarily gathered, leading to a substantial increase of the quantitative knowledge available. The main purpose of the model is to study the long-term consequences of various management alternatives on the economic situation of the English and French fleets fishing in the area and on exploited resources. The model describes this feature through the links between three entities on the one hand (stocks, fleets and metiers, i.e. gear x target species x fishing area), and three modules on the other hand (activity, biological production and economics). The model is described and some simulation results are presented. An example simulating a decrease of one fleet segment effort illustrates these technical interactions among fleets and underlines the interest of a large-scale approach for these fisheries. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.