Anchoring to determine negotiated catch limits: a case study of an industrial fishery in Oman

Despite refinement in scientific methods of setting total allowable catches (TACs), the choice of values is affected by uncertainty that arises as a result of incomplete information and the behavioural intentions of resource users, among others. In this context, this paper promotes ‘anchoring’ – which is a subject of behavioural economics and is generally practised in decision-making when faced with uncertainty – as an approach to TAC setting. We estimate a set of anchor points for nine demersal species by employing two modelling scenarios, the first using catch-and-effort data and the second only catch data collected from the demersal trawl fishery. A non-parametric test yielded no significant difference between the sets of anchor points generated from the two models. It is hoped that the use of anchoring would constitute a proactive management approach that could serve as a mechanism of promoting knowledge integration and effective communication, developing mutual trust, and improving management outcomes in the future.