Economic benefits of management reform in the northern Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery

Controlled access management in the northern Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery has not achieved key management objectives. We estimate the economic benefits of replacing controlled access with tradable harvest permits. Results suggest that eliminating market gluts caused by periodic seasonal closures could have raised revenues by $3.206m in 1993, the year of our data. Eliminating per-trip catch limits and seasonal closures could have reduced harvest costs by $8.078m. The total 1993 potential benefits, at $11.284m, suggest property rights-based management is an attractive alternative for the northern Gulf reef fish fishery.