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The four purposes of this study are to understand the development and the current status of Taiwan’s far seas longline tuna fisheries through a review of the literature and interviews; to investigate the attitude of Taiwanese fishing vessel operators fishing in the Indian Ocean concerning the use of transportation under the influence of various factors; to analyze the relationship between changes in the transportation behavior of Taiwanese fishing vessel operators and various factors; and to provide suggestions to government and industry associations concerning the development of viable response strategies.

This paper uses methods including factor analysis and the analytic hierarchy process to analyze questionnaires collected from industry personnel and governmental personnel involved in the supply chain system of the longline tuna fishery in the Indian Ocean.

It is found that 16 assessment criteria in four major dimensions have major influence on the choice of cold chain transport. An assessment of all dimensions indicates that reefer ships are still the preferred means of transshipping frozen catch.

This paper seeks to investigate factors affecting choice of cold chain mode of transport from the perspective of Taiwanese companies operating longline tuna fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean, which are chiefly motivated by the need to reduce operating costs, and also looks at their choices of means of transport.

This study investigates whether higher catch rates near a marine protected area (MPA), and/or in other fishing areas within a choice set, attract more fishers. A survey conducted in the fishing grounds near an MPA located in south east of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean shows concentration of fishers in regions with lower catch rates. This contrasts with the predictions of the “fishing the line” hypothesis and the ideal free distribution (IFD) that fishers are likely to be attracted near the MPA with higher resource abundance.

Using the random utility model as the framework and the random parameter logit (RPL) model, the study attempts to explain spatial behaviour of fishers. Expected catch and catch variability are modelled using the Just and Pope (JP) production function. The study also estimates effort elasticities with respect to expected catch and catch variability and simulates the relocation of effort from area closure.

The paper concludes that higher catch does attract fishers but is a partial and very restrictive explanation of fishers' behaviour. The “fishing the line” hypothesis does hold to some extent, but it should not be taken for granted that rising catch rates in adjacent waters will increase fishing pressure. The paper concludes that factors such as catch variability, distance from homeport to fishing ground, potential physical risk and attitudes towards risk of fishers affect spatial behaviour of fishers and should be considered for the placement and size of MPAs. The study also finds that the responsiveness of effort to catch rates is lowest in areas which are already heavily fished and easily accessible.

The identification of fishing areas as complements (when fishing in one area increases fishing effort in another) and substitutes is valuable information for determining the placement and size of an MPA. A larger reserve is likely to have more displacement effect in this case than a smaller one. Therefore, a small or a network of a small reserve may be appropriate. The premise to select the site and size of the reserve is to avoid overconcentration of fishers in alternative fishing areas, which can be vulnerable to excessive fishing and unintended effects from fishers.

The paper contributes to an understanding of fishing behaviour and its impact on the configuration of marine reserves. It discusses the importance of effort elasticities to determine the placement and size of an MPA. Studies on this topic are very scanty in the Indian Ocean region. It also shows the application of location choice model, the RPL model and the JP production function in the fisheries sector for a small island.