Economic structure of fishing activity: an analysis of mackerel fishery management in the Basque Country

This paper analyses the activity of the Basque fleet during the mackerel fishing season and presents an economic analysis of the equilibrium of this fishery. It seeks to determine whether its economic structure represents an internal factor explaining the fishermen’s behaviour. The inverse demand function and the average cost function are therefore estimated. Moreover, the analysis conducted here also takes into account the institutional dimension by factoring in current fishery regulation measures. Conclusions are drawn as to whether the incentives provided by the management measures and the strategy of fishermen are optimal on the basis of the estimated economic functions.