A Model of Marine Litter in Sustainable Fisheries

This paper studies the dynamics of an economy specialized in fisheries facing a rising marine litter problem. We present a dynamic optimization model to explain the mechanism through which marine litter causes inefficiencies in the fishery sector. We study the dynamic properties of the model when the externality of marine litter is not taken into account and when it is internalized via the price of fish. We find that when the litter is internalized through the price of fish, the ocean quality is improved but fish catch decreases. We explore the possibility of introducing an incentive scheme where marine litter can be traded on a hypothetical market. The introduction of a market removes the inefficiencies caused by marine litter and provides the right incentive for fishermen to maximize the overall welfare.