Bioeconomic Analysis of Habitat-Fishery Connections: Fishing on Cold Water Coral Reefs

We develop a bioeconomic model to study habitat-fishery connections such as cold water coral habitats, which are negatively affected by bottom trawling but remain unaffected by stationary gear harvest. Using dynamic optimization, we derive optimum optimorum values for both fish and cold water coral stocks. We find that when coral is a preferred habitat, the fish and coral stocks become substitutes in terms of unit cost savings of harvest, while an essential habitat implies competing cost and growth effects. Data are from the North East Arctic cod fishery, and the results are robust and in line with our theoretical prediction.