Bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean were perceived as overfished for nearly 20 years, in large part because of incidental catch in the much larger skipjack tuna fishery. Efforts to halt the overfishing of bigeye stalled because of disagreements over the distribution of costs and benefits from reform. An alternative Coasean-style approach to setting both harvesting levels and the allocation of costs and benefits might offer a path forward. We calculate the costs and benefits of achieving bigeye conservation goals and describe an exchange through which benefits could be realized via removal of fish-aggregating devices (FADs). Through trade, aggregate benefits and costs are more apt to be in balance relative to mandated protection controls. The realities of bargaining costs in a multilateral setting are not underappreciated, but in light of existing stalemates in this and other fisheries, consideration of Coasean-style approaches is warranted.

中文翻译：

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解决过度捕捞的科斯方法：西太平洋和中太平洋的大眼金枪鱼保护

近 20 年来，人们认为西太平洋和中太平洋的大眼金枪鱼被过度捕捞，这在很大程度上是由于规模更大的鲣鱼渔业的偶然捕获。由于对改革的成本和收益分配存在分歧，阻止大眼鱼过度捕捞的努力停滞不前。另一种科斯式的方法来设定收获水平以及成本和收益的分配，可能会提供一条前进的道路。我们计算了实现大眼动物保护目标的成本和收益，并描述了一种交换，通过这种交换，可以通过移除集鱼装置 (FAD) 来实现收益。通过贸易，总体收益和成本相对于强制保护控制更容易达到平衡。多边环境中讨价还价的现实并没有被低估，