Common in custom, uncommon in advantage: Common property, local elites, and alternative approaches to fisheries management

Fisheries social research has attracted increasing attention in recent debates concerning alternative approaches in the design of fisheries management systems. This essay examines case study and fisheries social research literature with a view to highlighting conceptual‐analytical strengths, shortcomings, and lessons with respect to management concerns. It is argued that effective and sustainable management regimes require that central consideration be given the principles of social justice and distributional equity. Approaching these goals, in turn, requires that research and management design attend to issues such as local‐level social structures, gender/ethnic relations, and the distribution of socioeconomic power and material benefits.