A practical approach to assess equity in fisheries management
Abstract
A corner-stone of fisheries management is the regulation of access to the fisheries stocks through the allocation of fishing opportunities which aim to limit the “race-to-fish”, leading to increased economic efficiency. It is widely recognized that the equitable distribution of fisheries access rights is key to the acceptability and effectiveness of such regulatory systems. This dimension, however, remains largely underexplored. We develop a practical approach to assess equity in fisheries management systems. Building on the conceptual foundations of the fisheries social contract, we define equity through a three-tiered framework and propose a scoring system for its evaluation. We empirically test the approach through a comparative analysis of the French and Spanish allocation regimes for the Bay of Biscay Hake ( Merluccius merluccius ) fishery. The findings highlight the importance of explicitly incorporating equity into fisheries governance alongside ecological and economic objectives.
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BibTeX
@article{dudouet2026practical,
title = {{A practical approach to assess equity in fisheries management}},
author = {Benjamin Dudouet and Olivier Thébaud and Arne Kinds and Sebastian Villasante},
journal = {npj Ocean Sustainability},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s44183-026-00210-4},
url = {https://univ-brest.hal.science/hal-05757541v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A practical approach to assess equity in fisheries management
AU - Benjamin Dudouet
AU - Olivier Thébaud
AU - Arne Kinds
AU - Sebastian Villasante
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/03
JO - npj Ocean Sustainability
DO - 10.1038/s44183-026-00210-4
UR - https://univ-brest.hal.science/hal-05757541v1
AB - A corner-stone of fisheries management is the regulation of access to the fisheries stocks through the allocation of fishing opportunities which aim to limit the “race-to-fish”, leading to increased economic efficiency. It is widely recognized that the equitable distribution of fisheries access rights is key to the acceptability and effectiveness of such regulatory systems. This dimension, however, remains largely underexplored. We develop a practical approach to assess equity in fisheries management systems. Building on the conceptual foundations of the fisheries social contract, we define equity through a three-tiered framework and propose a scoring system for its evaluation. We empirically test the approach through a comparative analysis of the French and Spanish allocation regimes for the Bay of Biscay Hake ( Merluccius merluccius ) fishery. The findings highlight the importance of explicitly incorporating equity into fisheries governance alongside ecological and economic objectives.
SN - 2731-426X
ER -