Sustainable Harvests under Different Bio-economic Scenarios of Chilika Wetland’s Fisheries

Abstract

The primary goal of fisheries management is to control overfishing and unregulated fisheries to protect stocks and boost the value of fish resources. In this study, we compare harvesting and fishing efforts in the maximum economic yield (MEY), maximum sustainable yield (MSY), and open access (OA) scenarios using Gordon-Schafer’s bioeconomic model to examine the economic status of Chilika’s fisheries. This paper also measures the effectiveness of Chilika Lake’s restoration measures. An independent sample t-test with bootstrap confidence intervals indicates the results’ robustness and concludes that the fisheries’ output has increased in the post-restoration period (2003–04 to 2020–21) in a statistically significant way. The estimated measures serve as the focal points for designing sustainable and optimal fisheries management strategies. They add to the ongoing research on stock evaluation, which helps determine harvesting effectiveness and strengthens the fishing stock to avoid exhaustion. Therefore, the expectation is that the outputs in the forms of optimal extraction and an enhanced management tool will improve livelihood opportunities and enhance other socioeconomic components of the fisheries sector. As a result, the findings will aid policymakers and other interested parties in creating a suitable harvesting strategy to attain economic optimality.