6


regime, lead to economically inefficient levels of catch and fishing

effort (Gordon, 1954). Generally, a fishery is said to be biologically

overfished if fishing effort being expended is greater than that

required to capture MSY, while the fishery is considered to be economi-

cally overfished if aggregate fishing effort exceeds the point where the
 3
marginal cost of effort equals marginal revenue.

 Production in the GMRFF has followed a competitive regime through-

out most of its long history.4 Whether or not his competition has led

to a situation of economic and/or biological overfishing remains largely

unanswered. To date, only limited aggregate economic analysis has been

conducted on this fishery. The most notable exception has been the pre-

liminary management plan constructed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery

Management Council (GMFMC, 1979). Although some basic MSY calculations

presented in the plan suggest that the fishery is currently operating

near MSY, the bulk of the study is descriptive in nature. The basic

questions of economic efficiency, price structure and possible conse-

quences of instituting various management strategies on catch and effort

levels remain unanswered.

 Objectives


 The passage of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976

 (PL94-265) has made it necessary to develop management plans for all


 3The yield from a fishery that results from a level of fishing
 effort such that marginal cost equal marginal revenue is called maximum
 economic yield (MEY).

 4Minimum legal size limits for certain species of reef fish have
 been instituted in some states.