The role of property rights in bycatch reduction: Evidence from the British Columbia Groundfish fishery

We seek to contribute to the literature by examining the effectiveness of the individual vessel bycatch quota (IVBQ) system as an incentive structure for the mitigation of halibut bycatch in the British Columbia Groundfish fishery. An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration is used as the empirical method. We find that the IVBQ system has proven to be highly effective, confirming the significance of private property rights as a tool for the reduction of bycatch within British Columbia. Policy makers can utilize the information provided in this paper to design more feasible and effective policy options to promote the preservation of ecological balance in the management of marine resources.