Dakio Paul was not an economist, but his personal quest centered around his childhood home on Black Coral Island in
These results remind me of an article in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (JEEM) by Christopher Costello and Stephen Polasky titled “Optimal Harvesting of Stochastic Spatial Resources.” The article is a breakthrough in that it provides a method for determining whether or not to temporarily close a single harvest area (not necessarily a fishery- the method could be applied to a logging area or to reserves of deer populations), in this case Black Coral Island, in order to economically maximize all harvests, including harvests from other local fisheries, over time in terms of present value.
Costello and Polasky state in the article,
“Our focus on optimal harvesting with spatial externalities facilitates analysis of current policy questions regarding reserves and their economic implications. The rapid worldwide increase in reserve designation is driven in part by a largely unsubstantiated assumption that creating reserves can increase profit from harvest. We have shown that reserves can indeed increase profits when harvest is efficiently managed outside reserves. But our analysis also emphasizes that careful design, by incorporating economic, rather than just biological reasoning, is essential to their success and efficiency.”
While Dakio Paul seemed only concerned about the welfare of his island, he has created a biological reserve that predictably benefits the surrounding fishing grounds. It is pleasing to know that personal conservation and prudent economics have something in common, but whether or not the waters around Black Coral Island will be preserved permanently depends on whether or not it will be economically efficient, and thanks to Costello and Polasky, those methods are available and accurate.
