The Common Wealth In Ocean Fisheries

By examining international fishery resources from a primarily economic and political viewpoint, this book highlights the common property aspects of fisheries, physical productivity of the ocean, supply and demand, and the legal and institutional framework within which the fisheries industry operates. Originally published in 1966

The task of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1967-82) was to create a new ocean regime. Participants negotiated every major issue of ocean use: jurisdiction in the coastal and contiguous zones, the territorial sea, and the new two-hundred-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ); transit and overflight through straits and archipelagos; fisheries management in the EEZs and high seas; ocean environmental obligations; the right to conduct ocean science; and the management of deep seabed mineral exploitation. Negotiating the treaty required more than fifteen years and the consent of more than one hundred and fifty nations. The resulting treaty, composed of three hundred and twenty articles plus seven major annexes, represents the final product of the largest, longest, and most complex formal negotiation in modern times. Negotiating the New Ocean Regime analyzes both the substance of the problems at hand - what should be done about the oceans - and the process of the bargaining and negotiating. With law and history as a background, Robert Friedheim uses regime theory and resource economics to analyze ocean problems and bargaining/cooperation theory of negotiation. To evaluate the treaty through the eyes of the stakeholders, the author employs a multi-attribute utility model. Finally, he assesses the bargaining system - parliamentary diplomacy with consensus as the decisive rule - for its usefulness, limitations, and applicability to other current global problems.

This report describes and evaluates the impact of the major changes in the management of Canada's marine fisheries in recent decades. The report covers the historical and jurisdictional context; biological and economic aspects; objectives of fisheries management; techniques of resources management in general and those used for specific species; managing the common property through allocation of access, limited entry licensing, and individual quotas; the international dimension; the social dimension; habitat management; fisheries enforcement; and fisheries management in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland, and the European Community.

The maintenance of the freedom of fishing in the face of the changing circumstances that were occurring at the time of this title’s original publication in 1973 had produced several damaging consequences. It had led to considerable waste, in both biological and economic terms, and had been the source of increasing conflict. This waste can only be prevented by the adoption of management measures and by the removal of the condition of free and open access. This book explores various techniques for this, and will be of interest to students of environmental management.

This handbook is the most comprehensive and interdisciplinary work on marine conservation and fisheries management ever compiled. It is the first to bridge fisheries and marine conservation issues. Its innovative ideas, detailed case studies, and governance framework provide a global special perspective over time and treat problems in the high seas, community fisheries, industrial fishing, and the many interactions between use and non-use of the oceans. Its policy tools and ideas for overcoming the perennial problems of over fishing, habitat and biodiversity loss address the facts that many marine ecosystems are in decline and plagued by overexploitation due to unsustainable fishing practices. An outstanding feature of the book is the detailed case-studies on conservation practice and fisheries management from around the world. These case studies are combined with 'foundation' chapters that provide an overview of the state of the marine world and innovative and far reaching perspectives about how we can move forward to face present and future challenges. The contributors include the world's leading fisheries scientists, economists, and managers. Ecosystem and incentive-based approaches are described and complemented by tools for cooperative, participatory solutions. Unique themes treated: fisher behavior and incentives for management beyond rights-based approaches; a synthesis of proposed 'solutions'; a framework for understanding and overcoming the critical determinants of the decline in fisheries, degradation of marine ecosystems, and poor socio-economic performance of many fishing communities; models for innovative policy instruments; a plan of action and adoption pathways to promote sustainable fishing practices globally. Collectively, the handbook's many valuable contributions offer a way forward to both understanding and resolving the multifaceted problems facing the world's oceans.

Territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) have existed for centuries. They are widely available for sedentary resources. In addition, however, they have appeared in a number of marine fisheries in traditional communities and are also being acquired, legally or extra-legally, for such techniques as floating fish aggregation devices and other forms of fixed gear. TURFs provide interesting opportunities for dealing with two major aspects of fisheries management -efficient production of net benefits and equitable distribution of benefits. Further exploration of the possible adoption of TURFs as a means for management seem desirable. This paper explores some of the definitional elements of TURFs and the distinctions between territorial rights and common property. It also exercises some of the conditions that may have an effect on the creation and maintenance of TURFs. And it discusses briefly some of the implications for equitable distribution of benefits.