Fisheries Governance: The Search for Effective Management and the Illusion of Control

Abstract

The fish we catch are a very small part of all creatures that live in the oceans. Once put on land many fish products circulate in complex auction, processing, distribution and consumption patterns. The history of ‘governance’ of marine fisheries includes cases that are considered clear successes—the global effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission—and others resulting in abject failure like the cod fishery near Newfoundland; most documented cases seem to straddle somewhere in between, a fisheries purgatory. This essay suggests that the outcome of our focus in the recent past: i.e., to privatise fishing rights in mostly advanced economies and apply theories and markets maximizing single objectives has been a mixed bag. To better address evolving energy efficiency requirements, strong demands to protect the marine environment and coastal communities, and international political developments an approach will be required in the future whereby multiple parties are given more responsibility to negotiate a politically acceptable consensus defining the—short and long-term—future of the sector and its governance.