Ocean fisheries management: recent international developments☆

This paper is concerned with ocean fisheries management with particular emphasis on the application of economic theory to fisheries management practice. The paper begins by briefly discussing the common property nature of ocean fisheries and explains how the common property problem gives rise to the need for a specific management of fisheries. It goes on to examine various proposed methods of fisheries management arguing that only property-rights-based fisheries management systems, such as individual transferable quotas (IT&) or fisheries management based on the imposition of the appropriate tax on catch seem to be capable of delivering the full potential economic benefits of ocean fisheries. Finally, it reviews recent developments in the management of actual ocean fisheries with special reference to Australia, Iceland and New Zealand. The paper concludes that an economic rationalization of ocean fisheries is probably historically inevitable. Moreover, judging from historical trends in fisheries management, this rationalization will probably be accomplished by a property-rights-based management system such as the ITQ system.