Bioeconomic assessment of refuge availability under various scenarios: impact on species biomass, fishing effort, and profits

This study presents a bioeconomic model of prey-predator interactions incorporating the presence of refuges for prey species to mitigate predation. The main objective is to assess the impact of prey refuges on prey biomass, predator biomass, catches, fishing effort, and profits for fishermen exploiting these marine species. The model analyzes system positivity and boundedness, examines equilibrium points and their stability, and conducts numerical simulations by varying the refuge availability parameter (m) to interpret the effects on fishing effort, catches, and profits across different scenarios. The findings shed light on the dynamics of the ecosystem and highlight the importance of refuge availability in sustainable fisheries management, supporting the conservation of marine resources and the well-being of fishermen.