However, the licensing system, proposed here, is more
appropriate to Sre Ambel Lagoon than the often-advocated
ITQ system because ITQs must be established based on a
TAC. Determining TAC for Sre Ambel Lagoon is not
feasible due to three factors. First, the Lagoon’s production
is highly dependent on environmental factors and season
opening; hence, there is a high degree of uncertainty in
each season—the TAC could vary widely from season to
season, and it would be impossible to know this (at a
reasonable cost level) in time to set the TAC each season.
Second, as most of the Lagoon margins are easily
accessible to anyone, surveying all fisher landings would
be difficult, thus making monitoring and enforcement of an
ITQ system overly costly. Third, because many fishers sell
shrimp directly to consumers, estimating the Lagoon’s total
production from middlemen’s booklets is inaccurate. These
last two factors also make a resource depletion tax
inappropriate for maintaining the Lagoon resource at a
sustainable level.