Hi,

Thomas Palm wrote:
Tim Worstall wrote:

As has been pointed out by a number of people, not limited to myself,
on this and other newsgroups, fisheries are simply the Tragedy of the
Commons writ large. Check out some of the other recent threads to see
the full arguments. But at root, that is the primary cause, not the
proximate, it is the economic structure of the industry that is at
fault. Until that is changed there will be no lasting solution.
I would also note that two countries have lasting solutions : Iceland
and Norway. And they´ve done it by making the fishermen own the fish
directly. Just as Hardin said in his original essay, one can have
either private or social solutions to the overuse of a Commons
resource. Yet at present, fisheries are still run as commons. Absurd.


The Soviet Union also managed to manage salmon stocks in the NW
(The practice was older, the Soviets just didn't disrupt it). There
they simply banned capture of salmon at sea. By the time the salmon
reach the rivers you could put up nets capturing most salmon and
letting enough of them pass for reproduction. Since salmon come back
to the same river it's ideal for local management. This was really
neither a capitalist or a propertly communist solution but one that
predated both.

And most fisheries are not run as commons today, but are (inefficiently)
managed by governments. If you happen to have a link to how Norway and
Iceland manage their fisheries I'd appreciate it. My impression isn't
quite as rose as yours.


A quick overview can be read at
http://odin.dep.no/fid/engelsk/00804...000-b-n-a.html
(for Norway).

The main point is that Norway uses a particular version of the quota
system. Concessions and licenses are granted/given for vessels, and the
quotas are assigned per vessel- or gear- group. The fisheries access is
effectively closed, as about 90% of the economically interesting
fisheries are regulated.

The quota are not transferrable per se, so it is not a ITQ system
proper. The quotas are assigned to and follow the vessel. So, to
*purchase* a second quota, one fisherman has to buy the vessel which has
the quota assigned.

The main problem is that of over-capacity and over-capitalization of the
fishing industry. The aim of the quota system is to reduce both (there
is also a decommissioning program).

Now, there is a long-term right of exclusive access to the fisheries
resource (concessions are granted for an undetermined period of time,
while licenses on a yearly basis, but usually renewed "by default"), and
thus of economic exploitation, but this does not translate into
ownership of the resource.

thanks
ciuao
Vito

--
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Searching for the hermit in vain

I asked a boy beneath the pines.
He said, "The master's gone alone
Herb-picking somewhere in the mounts,
Cloud-hidden, whereabouts unknown."

Chia Tao (777-841)
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