Abstract

The hard choices being made in an effort to save the Atlantic cod fishery today are all too common, as policymakers continue to employ and rely upon failed conservation policies, leaving fisheries the world over poorly managed and under stress. By some measures, a majority of exploited fisheries are depleted or in decline. Even more troubling, new research suggests that those fisheries about which scientists know the least may be in the worst shape. Yet all is not lost—perhaps not even for the great Atlantic cod. These same assessments conclude that, with proper management, fishery yields could double while remaining sustainable. Proper fishery management can both conserve fisheries and maintain their value as a resource for human consumption.

One approach long recommended by economists has been the allocation or recognition of property rights in fisheries. This can be done in various ways, including recognizing rights in fishing territories or allocating portions of the catch among fishery participants. Once the subject of academic theory, ecologists, economists, and marine policy analysts have now had decades of experience with so-called “catch shares.” The ability of such methods to enhance economic efficiency is no longer a matter of academic speculation or economic theory. There is ample empirical evidence that such institutional reforms encourage more efficient fishery exploitation, reduce over-capitalization, and eliminate the dreaded “race to fish.” At the same time, there is increasing empirical evidence that property-based reforms produce social and ecological benefits as well, increasing safety for fishery participants and encouraging greater resource stewardship. The use of property-based management aligns fisher incentives with the underlying health of the resource and appears to reduce the adverse environmental effects of commercial fishing.

This article reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence showing the superiority of property-based approaches to fishery management, stressing recent findings on the environmental effects of such reforms.

This abstract has been adapted from the author's introduction.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Publication Information

31 UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy 150-197 (2013)

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