Dataset Information

Fish market prices drive overfishing of the 'big ones'.

ABSTRACT: The relationship between fish market price and body size has not been explored much in fisheries science. Here, the mean market prices and fish body size were collected in order to examine the hypothesis that large fish, both among- and within-species, are being selectively targeted by fisheries because they may yield greater profit. Trophic levels, vulnerability to fishing and global landings were also collected because these variables may also be related to the market fish price. These relationships were examined using generalized additive models (GAM), which showed that, among species, fish market price was positively dependent on maximum total length (P = 0.0024) and negatively on landings (P = 0.0006), whereas it was independent of trophic level (P > 0.05) and vulnerability to fishing (P > 0.05). When the fish price vs. size relationship was tested within-species, large individuals were consistently attaining higher market prices compared to their medium and small-sized counterparts. We conclude that the selective removal of the larger fish, which is driven by their market price and to a lesser extent by their availability, may contribute to their overfishing.

SUBMITTER: Tsikliras AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4226641 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Fish market prices drive overfishing of the 'big ones'.

Tsikliras Athanassios C AC Polymeros Konstantinos K

PeerJ 20141104

The relationship between fish market price and body size has not been explored much in fisheries science. Here, the mean market prices and fish body size were collected in order to examine the hypothesis that large fish, both among- and within-species, are being selectively targeted by fisheries because they may yield greater profit. Trophic levels, vulnerability to fishing and global landings were also collected because these variables may also be related to the market fish price. These relatio ...[more]

PMID: 25392754

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Project description:Sedimentation and overfishing are important local stressors on coral reefs that can independently result in declines in coral recruitment and shifts to algal-dominated states. However, the role of herbivory in driving recovery across environmental gradients is often unclear. Here we investigate early successional benthic communities and coral recruitment across a sediment gradient in Palau, Micronesia over a 12-month period. Total sedimentation rates measured by 'TurfPods' varied from 0.03 ± 0.1 SE mg cm-2 d-1 at offshore sites to 1.32 ± 0.2 mg cm-2 d-1 at inshore sites. To assess benthic succession, three-dimensional settlement tiles were deployed at sites with experimental cages used to exclude tile access to larger herbivorous fish. Benthic assemblages exhibited rapid transitions across the sediment gradient within three months of deployment. At low levels of sedimentation (less than 0.6 mg cm-2 d-1), herbivory resulted in communities dominated by coral recruitment inducers (short turf algae and crustose coralline algae), whereas exclusion of herbivores resulted in the overgrowth of coral inhibitors (encrusting and upright foliose macroalgae). An 'inducer threshold' was found under increasing levels of sedimentation (greater than 0.6 mg cm-2 d-1), with coral inducers having limited to no presence in communities, and herbivore access to tiles resulted in sediment-laden turf algal assemblages, while exclusion of herbivores resulted in invertebrates (sponges, ascidians) and terrestrial sediment accumulation. A 'coral recruitment threshold' was found at 0.8 mg cm-2 d-1, below which net coral recruitment was reduced by 50% in the absence of herbivores, while recruitment was minimal above the threshold. Our results highlight nonlinear trajectories of benthic succession across sediment gradients and identify strong interactions between sediment and herbivory that have cascading effects on coral recruitment. Local management strategies that aim to reduce sedimentation and turbidity and manage herbivore fisheries can have measurable effects on benthic community succession and coral recruitment, enhancing reef resilience and driving coral recovery.

Project description:ImportanceDuring the last decade, increases in drug prices for commonly prescribed dermatologic medications have outpaced the rate of inflation, national health care growth, and reimbursements. Among nondermatologic medications, studies have shown a role for robust generic market competition in reducing drug prices. The association between competition and the costs of topical dermatologic generic drugs has not been evaluated.ObjectiveTo characterize the association between changes in drug price and the number of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved manufacturers among the most commonly used topical dermatologic generic products.Design, setting, and participantsThis retrospective cost analysis of the most commonly prescribed topical dermatologic generic drugs used cumulative annual claims data from the Medicare Part D Prescriber Public User File to identify 597 dermatologist-prescribed drugs with more than 10 claims. The number of manufacturers and the price per unit were identified from the FDA Orange Book and the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) database, respectively, for 2013 through 2016. Drugs that were nondermatologic, were not topically administered, were missing NADAC data, were lacking a generic formulation, or had fewer than 400 claims were excluded.Main outcomes and measuresPrimary outcomes included per-unit drug price and number of FDA-approved manufacturers. Pricing measures were adjusted for inflation and are reported in 2016 dollars.ResultsThe present analysis included 116 topical dermatologic generic formulations, representing 70.5% of the total Medicare Part D dermatologist-coded claims from 2015. Drug formulations with 1 to 2 manufacturers during the study period sustained a median percentage increase in price of 12.7%, whereas those with more than 6 manufacturers had a median percentage decrease in price of 20.5%. Formulations with 1 to 2 manufacturers had a 20.6%, 19.5%, and 33.2% higher percentage increase in price than those with 3 to 4 manufacturers, 5 to 6 manufacturers, and more than 6 manufacturers, respectively. There was a statistically significant inverse association between the percentage change in drug price and median number of manufacturers (Spearman correlation coefficient, -0.26; P = .005).Conclusions and relevanceThe negative association between the change in drug price and the median number of manufacturers of generic topical dermatologic drugs indicates a role for market competition in controlling the costs of generic drug prices within dermatology. These findings support policies that facilitate robust market competition among topical dermatologic generic drugs produced by a limited number of manufacturers.

Dataset Information

Fish market prices drive overfishing of the 'big ones'.

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Fish market prices drive overfishing of the 'big ones'.

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