A review of EU bio-economic models for fisheries: The value of a diversity of models

The lessons learned from a review of thirteen existing European bio-economic models used in the evaluation of EU policies are presented. How these models compare and differ in terms of their biological and economic components, the integration between the components, which indicators are selected and how they are used, are described and analysed. The article concludes that the multitude of construction differences reflects the necessity of adapting the modelling approach to answer different questions. Since real life questions in fisheries are so diverse, answering them requires a diversity of models.

► BEMs are used to understand the feedback between human activity and natural resources.
► When a model is built initial attention must be given to the fishery management problem.
► The simulation of fisherman behaviour is not extensively included in the models.
► A tradeoff between simplicity and usefulness emerges when integrated models are used.
► New research questions will stimulate the development of new models.