Analysis of the Fishing Behavior among Fishing Units of Production (FUPs) from the Galapagos Islands: The Case of the Red Spiny Lobster Fishery

The Galapagos Islands fisheries are facing a critical period, the outcome of which may determine the future biological and economic health of the near-shore marine ecosystem. The two most profitable resources of the near-shore system, red spiny lobster (Panulirus penicillatus) and sea cucumber (Isostichopus fuscus), are currently in a state of emergency with population levels on the verge of collapse. This state of affairs has emerged because of imperfect understanding of the effect of economic incentives over the exploitation rates of commercial marine species. This dissertation proposes an economic framework to describe and explain the fishing behavior in the Galapagos Islands and with that to determine the factors that influence that behavior.;The first chapter of this dissertation provides a general background about the fishing sector in the Galapagos Islands. Specifically we talk about the composition of both the Galapagos fleet and fishermen pool in the archipelago. We then provide a description of the institutional framework and management system for the Galapagos Islands' fisheries as well as an historical perspective of the development of the commercial fisheries in the archipelago. In the second chapter we describe the factors that are determinants of the participation decision of Fishing Units of Production (FUPs) for the Red Spiny Lobster Fishery as well as factors that are relevant for FUPs frequency of participation after they have decided to participate. In the third chapter we estimate a set of econometric models to forecast how changes in the immediate circumstances (economic, biological, climatic and oceanographic) impact voluntary fishing choices via the personal costs and benefits of various decisions. We focus on the factors that affect not only the frequency of participation decision but also the fishing location decisions; that is, decisions about where to fish once the decision to participate has occurred. Afterwards in the fourth chapter, we used the models obtained in Chapter 3 to conduct two types of analysis. First, we determine the revenue elasticities for each fishing zone; and second, we analyze the overall response of FUPs in each of the three ports (i.e. Baquerizo Moreno, Ayora and Villamil) after a closure of a fishing zone.;Finally we provide a set of conclusions. Our results contribute a methodology and some empirical benchmarks from which it is possible for decision-makers to identify in advance problems related to the management of the Red Spiny Lobster Fishery and their potential solutions when designing new types of management schemes, such as spatial allocation of areas.