Elena and Emmanuel live on the Black Sea in Bulgaria and own a small fishing boat. A crew of four is required to take the boat out fishing. The current wage paid to the four crew members is a total of 5,000 levs per day. (A lev is the Bulgarian unit of currency.) Assume that the cost of operating and maintaining the boat is 1,000 levs per day when fishing and zero otherwise. The following schedule gives the appropriate catch for each period during the year.
a. What is the marginal product of a day’s worth of fishing during prime fishing season? during month 7? during month 8?
b. What is the marginal cost of a kilogram of fish during prime fishing season? during month 7, during month 8, and during the rest of the year?
c. If you were Elena and Emmanuel, how many months per year would you hire the crew and go out fishing? Explain your answer using marginal logic.