CHAPTER IV
 EMPIRICAL RESULTS


 Previous chapters in this study have developed a theoretical model

indicative of the GMRFF and presented the specification of the empirical

equations to be utilized in analyzing the fishery. The various esti-

mators for the empirical equation were also discussed and derived. This

chapter presents a discussion of the empirical results obtained.

 The first section contains an analysis of the estimated state catch

equations. The following section presents a similar analysis for the

estimated state price equations. The third section develops the com-

plete reef fishery model used to determine maximum economic yield.

Further, the results of profit maximization in the fishery are presented

and discussed in detail. The final section of this chapter compares the

results of this analysis with those obtained by the Gulf of Mexico

Fishery Management Council.

 Analysis of Production in the
 Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery


 The state catch equations were characterized in equation (52) as a

system of seemingly unrelated regression equations with autoregressive

disturbances and cross equation parameter restrictions. As such, a four

stage Aitken's estimator (FSAE) was utilized in estimating the catch

equation parameters. To a certain extent, the validity of the a priori

specification of the catch equations can be measured by the gains in