THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT STRATEGIC VARIABLES IN NONCOOPERATIVE FISHERIES GAMES

In this paper, we use stock size, harvest quantity, and fishing effort as strategic variables. We model a two‐agent noncooperative fishery game, where the agents (nations) harvest a common fish stock. The planning horizon is infinite. The model is solved successively using one instrument at a time as the strategic variable in the game. The net present values of fishing and the escapement stock level from the three different models are compared to show how the choice of variables affects the results. The choice of strategic variable is not a trivial one, as the results are shown to be sensitive to the discounting, the stock's rate of growth, and the assumptions about the distribution of the fish in response to harvesting.