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Ownership and Productivity of Marine Fishery Resources
Author(s) -
Keen Elmer A.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(1991)016<0018:oapomf>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - overfishing , incentive , fishing , commons , business , productivity , fishery , fisheries management , marine fisheries , natural resource economics , resource (disambiguation) , environmental resource management , economics , ecology , market economy , economic growth , biology , computer network , computer science
The incentives of the commons ceased to suffice as a management framework for marine fishery resources during the 1960s. The laws of demand and supply went awry. Demand rose; supply of the more valuable species declined as fishing effort increased. Measures taken to solve the resulting overfishing problem have failed to remove the root cause, the incentives of harvester rights inherent in a commons. The resulting management system creates ill will and friction that severely impede management of the resources. The efficacy of a management framework based on ownership of the ocean pastures is compared to one based on rights to harvest. The conclusion is reached that a full owner framework provides a well‐tested basis for management of marine fishery resources that can result in a large increase in resource benefits.