Size-Selective Threshold Harvesting under Nonlocal Crowding and Exogenous Recruitment

Abstract

In this paper, we formulate and analyze an original infinite-horizon bioeconomic optimal control problem for a nonlinear, size-structured fish population. Departing from standard endogenous reproduction frameworks, we model population dynamics using a McKendrick--von Foerster partial differential equation characterized by strictly exogenous lower-boundary recruitment and a nonlocal crowding index. This nonlocal environment variable governs density-dependent individual growth and natural mortality, accurately reflecting the ecological pressures of enhancement fisheries or heavily subsidized stocks. We first establish the existence and uniqueness of the no-harvest stationary profile and introduce a novel intrinsic replacement index tailored to exogenously forced systems, which serves as a vital biological diagnostic rather than a classical persistence threshold. To maximize discounted economic revenue, we derive formal first-order necessary conditions via a Pontryagin-type maximum principle. By introducing a weak-coupling approximation to the adjoint system and applying a single-crossing assumption, we mathematically prove that the optimal size-selective harvesting strategy is a rigorous bang-bang threshold policy. A numerical case study calibrated to an Atlantic cod (\textit{Gadus morhua}) fishery bridges our theoretical framework with applied management. The simulations confirm that the economically optimal minimum harvest size threshold ($66.45$ cm) successfully maintains the intrinsic replacement index above unity, demonstrating that precisely targeted, size-structured harvesting can seamlessly align economic maximization with long-run biological viability.