The Effects of Non-cooperative Fisheries Management on South Korea’s Squid Catch

This study examines the impacts of Chinese fishing and rising sea surface temperatures (SST) on Korea’s squid (Japanese flying squid) fisheries using a non-cooperative resource management framework. The analysis incorporates geographic and environmental factors to assess the inter-dependencies between Korean and Chinese fleets and the effects of upstream fishing and SST variability on stock availability. Using annual squid catch data aggregated at national and maritime region levels (East China Sea, Yellow Sea, East Sea) from 1982 to 2019, alongside SST data, a fixed-effects panel regression is employed to control for regional heterogeneity. The results show that Chinese squid catch has a statistically significant negative effect on Korean squid catches, confirming the theoretical expectation that upstream fishing reduces downstream stock availability. However, SST effects are not statistically significant, suggesting a complex interaction between environmental factors and squid migration. The findings underscore the need for cooperative fisheries management, particularly for migratory species like squid. Establishing multilateral agreements could mitigate the adverse impacts of non-cooperative practices and climate change.