A regional computable general equilibrium model for fisheries: results of the EU PECHDEV project

This paper presents 1-an application of the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE, hereafter) technique to fisheries using data from five EU regions: Bornholm (Denmark), Salerno (Italy), Cornwall (England), Finistere (France) and Pontevedra (Spain); 2-the biological production functions for these NUTS 3 1 EU regions (County in England, Departement in France, Province in Italy and Spain, Municipality in Denmark) and ; and 3some key ecological aspects to take into account when modelling fisheries. The data requirements for regional CGE and biological models are explained, and the process to be used to develop applied static CGE models for the fisheries sector is also presented. The main purpose of this paper is to present the use of a CGE model for policy and decisionmaking purposes by looking at the empirical relationship between fisheries and regional economics. For this, two policy scenarios are considered: (i) an increase in taxes, and (ii) a decrease in production quota. The Pechdev model offers some interesting conclusions that help us 1-to better understand fisheries economic modelling when considered as a separate sector in interaction with the rest of the economy; 2-to give inputs to the European Common Fishery Policy. The results of scenarios are limited to the economy as the link between economic and biological models has not been successfully set up for various reasons, particularly the data problems with the selected regions.