Optimal impulsive harvesting on non-autonomous Beverton–Holt difference equations Original Research Article

Many recent advances in the theory of the optimal economic exploitation of renewable fish resources have been gained by applying optimal control theory. However, despite these successes, much less is known about how seasonal environments affect the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) (or population persistence) and any effects of relations between intensity and frequency of harvesting. Assuming that fish populations follow Beverton–Holt equations we investigated impulsive harvesting in seasonal environments, focusing on both economic aspects and resource sustainability. We first investigated the existence and stability of a periodic solution and its analytic formula, and then showed that the population persistence depends on the intensity and frequency of harvesting. With the MSY as a management objective, we investigated optimal impulsive harvesting policies. The optimal harvesting effort that maximizes the sustainable yield, the corresponding optimal population level, and the MSY are obtained by using discrete Euler–Lagrange equations and product formulae, and their explicit expressions were obtained in terms of the intrinsic growth rate, the carrying capacity, and the impulsive moments. These results imply that harvest timing is of crucial importance to the MSY. Since impulsive differential equations incorporate elements of continuous and discrete systems, we can apply all results obtained for Beverton–Holt equations with impulsive effects to periodic logistic equations with impulsive harvesting.