La Gestione della Risorsa Ittica: il caso della Laguna di Venezia

Recently, Mediterranean lagoon environment, mainly in the North Adriatic area, has been threatened by the overexploitation of fishery. Fishing has been rapidly growing since clam (Tapes phippinarum) culture has spread over several lagoons. Fishing growth has been accomplished by capital intensive fish farming increasing fishing capacity beyond the sustainable biological growth. This pattern is driven by myopic behaviour and common property fisheries with free entry or open access. Institutional arrangements on fish resources may encourage a fishing farming matching the biological capacity. In this study a bioeconomic dynamic model is used to describe the optimal resource allocation in case of private and open access resource. This model has been applied to a specific fishery, namely Gô (Zosterisessor ophiocephalus), located in the lagoon of Venice. Results confirm biological overfishing and stock depletion has occurred. Mainly factors affecting bioeconomic equilibrium such as prices, interest rate and fishing effort are fixed by market. New institutional arrangements such as catch quotas ensure stock rehabilitation and highly productive fisheries only if they are supported by adequate trade policies.