TURFs, collective fishery management, and fishery cooperatives

Abstract

The present study examines the role of territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) in the context of co-management, where the latter is defined as collective management by a group of fishers and termed a fishery cooperative. Here, I argue that underneath sociodemographic characteristics of fisher groups that affect the outcomes of co-management, there is a set of common economic factors that affect the likelihood of successful cooperatives. The theory of clubs is applied as a theoretical foundation, in which the role of TURFs is characterized. Next, I present several case studies, mostly from Japanese coastal fisheries, to illustrate the claims that the incentives of fishers matter, more so than group size and homogeneity of members, for successful collective management.