The effects of trade policies on the Philippine fish markets

This paper analyzes the effects of various trade policies that artificially create either an economic protection or penalty to the Fisheries sector. It conducts a quantitative analysis of trade regulations using the AsiaFish model, a partial equilibrium model that relates production, consumption, and trade of various fish commodities that are disaggregated by type or species group. The model estimates the magnitude and direction of the effects of current changes in trade policies on the Philippine fish markets, specifically on domestic demand and supply of Fish and on importation and exportation of the country's fishery products. The disaggregated treatment of the fisheries sector in the model allows the evaluation of the distribution of benefits/costs of the trade policies on the different stakeholders in fisheries (i.e., producers, consumers, and traders).