A mixed integer programming model of a multicohort single-species fishery

Many marine fisheries are under pressure from overfishing. Fisheries management is a complex process because of the need to consider the interaction of the biological components of the fishery, the technical characteristics of the fishing fleet, and the economic aspects of the fishing industry. In this paper, a mixed integer programming (MIP) model for determining the policy to maximize the long-run economic benefit from a single-species multicohort fishery is developed. The model takes account of the biological, technical, and economic characteristics of the fishery, using integer variables to model the fishing activities. An iterative pocedure for solving the model using commercial MIP software is described, and the viability of this procedure is illustrated using data for the western mackerel fishery.