Optimal Management of Global Tuna Resources

A global bionomic model capable of evaluating management policies for the world tuna resources is developed. The model integrates the biological and economic forces into an analysis framework. It is made up of two major modules: a Population Dynamics Module (PDM) and an Economic Module (EM). The model has been coded and tested on a computer. The PDM tracks the variations in the populations of the different tuna stocks throughout the world. The EM computes the profit-maximizing fishing efforts of the various countries at different fishing grounds, given the available standing crops and a world ex-vessel price of tuna. This computation of fishing efforts is accomplished using a linear programming model. The model as currently formulated is particularly useful for evaluating the various tuna management alternatives. It is useful as a screening tool to reduce the numerous tuna management alternatives (and their combinations) into a smaller set of options for more detailed assessment.