Rights-based Fisheries Management: An Environmentalist Perspective

Fisheries management regimes take many forms, but most fail to designate shares of the catch. This failure creates strong incentives for individuals to maximize their share without regard to long-term sustainability, because the benefits of conservation actions do not accrue to individuals. The key to protecting fish stocks, habitats, and the communities that depend on them will be to implement Designated Access Privileges (DAPs) that are appropriate for each fishery or community, making investments in sustainability, and creating financing mechanisms that are themselves sustainable, drawing on the increased value that DAP fisheries can produce.