article · Social Sciences & Humanities Open
A bioeconomic model evaluates the effects of harvesting pressure on competing marine species in Moroccan coastal waters, specifically the guitarfish and European plaice. These two species share habitats and food sources, meaning harvesting decisions directly influence their ecological balance. Using coupled growth models and economic optimisation under sustainability constraints, simulations demonstrate stark trade-offs between short-term financial gains and long-term conservation. While aggressive, simultaneous fishing boosts immediate profits, it risks depleting plaice populations unless strict regulatory limits are imposed. More restrained fishing practices safeguard stock persistence and ecosystem balance. Sensitivity analyses show that small shifts in competitive interactions between the species significantly affect their coexistence. The resulting framework provides a method for setting fishing effort limits and can be adapted to manage other multi-species fisheries facing joint exploitation pressure.
Managing fisheries that catch multiple interacting species is difficult because targeting one fish directly alters the food supply and survival of another. This model demonstrates how economic goals can be balanced with conservation rules to prevent stock collapse, offering fishery authorities practical tools to set quotas that preserve both marine biodiversity and local livelihoods over the long term.
The primary application is a decision-support and quota-setting tool for fisheries authorities and marine resource managers. The research demonstrates a theoretical and simulation-based model, placing it at an early stage of development. Moving towards real-world adoption would require integration into regional fishery monitoring software and calibration with local fleet operational data.
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This study develops a bioeconomic model to examine the interaction between ecological competition and harvesting decisions in Moroccan coastal fisheries. The analysis focuses on the Guitarfish ( Raja undulata ) and European Plaice ( Platichthys flesus ), two species sharing similar habitats and food resources. Ecological dynamics are described using coupled logistic growth equations with asymmetric interspecific competition, while system stability is investigated through equilibrium and local stability analyses. To incorporate economic considerations, harvesting strategies are optimized using Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) conditions under sustainability constraints. Numerical simulations reveal significant trade-offs between short-term profitability and long-term resource conservation. Intensive simultaneous harvesting increases immediate economic returns but may lead to rapid declines in Plaice biomass without strict regulatory measures. Conversely, more conservative harvesting strategies promote long-term stock persistence and ecological stability. Sensitivity analysis highlights the critical influence of competition coefficients on population dynamics, showing that small parameter variations can substantially affect species coexistence and stability. The proposed framework provides practical guidance for fisheries management through optimized harvesting policies and effort regulation. Although motivated by Moroccan coastal fisheries, the model is adaptable to other competing fisheries systems and supports broader objectives of sustainable marine resource management.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.ssaho.2026.103430
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