Remuneration systems used in the fishing sector and their consequences on crew wages and labor rent creation

Abstract

In most fisheries worldwide, crew are paid through different shared remuneration systems rather than a fixed wage. In shared remuneration systems, wages can significantly increase when the economic performance of vessels improve, and consequently provide incentives to workers. However, in recent years, mainly due to high overexploitation levels that lead to reduced productivity and consequently lower salaries shared remuneration systems have lost their attractiveness. Different remuneration systems applied in fisheries world-wide are described and analyzed comparatively. Results explain how crew wages and rent distribution outcomes vary between the different remuneration systems depending on the state of exploitation of the resource.