Optimising the benefit-cost ratio of fishing grounds for a multi-species fishery in the waters of northern Taiwan

Abstract

For multi-species fisheries, identifying the distribution of different species could help fishers prioritise fishing grounds and avoid catching unwanted species. In this study, we identified the most cost-beneficial fishing grounds by considering four major taxa caught in the torchlight fishery of Taiwan. We used logbook data of 56 vessels during 2009-2020 to predict the distribution for each taxon using maximum entropy models. We determined optimal fishing areas by considering overlap among taxa, each taxon's economic value and traveling costs. Sea surface height was a critical factor in determining occurrence for all taxa. Fishing at these optimal areas varied across vessel sizes. Small vessels could not access the most profitable areas because of mobility constraints and larger vessels fished in areas with relatively lower benefit-per-cost. Our findings could help fishers enhance their spatial selectivity, given increasing catch restrictions on some species in the fishery.