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Fish stocks are living capital which, when combined with other inputs, are capable of producing food and recreational experiences on a potentially continuing basis. Using a standard welfare economics approach, economically efficient utilization of fish stocks requires obtaining the time path of harvest that will maximize the net present value of production taking into account the full opportunity cost of all inputs involved. For fisheries management purposes, it is imperative that the focus on the time path of harvest (an output measure) should not detract from the necessity of using the most efficient combinations of inputs to produce any level of output. Because both the net annual value of production and the recruitment, mortality and growth of individuals in fish stocks can depend upon where, when, how and at what size the fish of any one stock are captured, the determination of the optimal utilization paths can be an enormously difficult problem. It is made more demanding because the production functions and population dynamics are stochastic and not subject to complete specifications given existing knowledge. This collection of international research of fisheries economics offers a comprehensive source of contemporary research on key topics in the field as well as presenting the history of how the economic theory of fisheries exploitation has developed.
