Spatial and temporal fishery management assessment using DEA: Case study of spanner crabs in Queensland, Australia

The aim of this case study was to assess potential temporal and spatial differences in productivity measures of vessels operating in the Queensland spanner crab fishery. This fishery’s logbook records of catch and effort data allowed analysis of the impact of fishery management changes on productivity measures. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) with a ‘window analysis’ approach was used to derive estimates for measures of technical efficiency, capacity utilisation and scale efficiency over time for five different spanner crab fishing regions. The results suggest that average technical efficiency and capacity utilisation were relatively low over time and across fishing regions, implying a high level of technical inefficiency and the existence of excess capacity in the fishery. Scale efficiency was found to be high historically but decreased slightly since 2006 for all regions. The results suggest that this decline is likely not caused by the fishery management changes, but instead is due to other factors. Additional data (e.g., revenue, profit, costs, skipper experience) and analysis is needed to assess the causes for the low technical efficiency and capacity utilisation and reasons for the decrease in scale efficiency as a baseline for specific fishery management recommendations. The study shows that temporal and spatial efficiency and productivity analysis of fisheries can help identify potential issues that are not otherwise apparent.