Common pool resources and contextual factors: Evolution of a fishermen's cooperative in Calcutta

The CPR school has successfully rebutted Hardin's pessimistic Tragedy of the Commons model. However, in recent years, critics have focussed on the inward orientation and lack of contextual analysis characterising the writings of the CPR school.Oakerson [A Model for the analysis of common property problems. Working Paper R86-13. Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, 1986] and Ostrom [Governing the Commons. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990] have detailed the list of variables that have to be studied to understand the mechanics of collective action. However, these factors are internal to the community. Recent critics' point out that the actions of individual agents are also influenced by the alternatives embedded outside the system. These variables are collectively labelled contextual factors.In our paper, we have analysed the case of a fishermen's cooperative in the Calcutta Metropolitan District to show how the historic and economic context shapes targets of resource users and affects the feasibility of alternative courses to achieve the target by determining opportunity and transaction costs of actions. This indicates the importance of contextual factors in explaining the formation and evolution of the resource regime.     

Open access,common property and scarcity rent in fisheries

Open access resources are frequently not managed efficiently, resulting in falling stock levels and a declining income for fishermen. In the late 1970's, the policy response to this problem was the implementation of 200-mile fishing zones, which enabled the European Union to formulate and implement the Common Fisheries Policy, aimed at (among other things) conservation and distribution of available stocks. In Germany, this shift from an open access regime towards a common property regime had favourable outcomes. The trend of falling prices was reversed. The conclusion was that intertemporal efficiency had increased as a result of (inter)governmental policy. Apparently, a wedge was formed between price and marginal harvesting costs, implying that scarcity rent had returned as a component of prices.     

The tragedy of the commons: property rights and markets as solutions to resource and environmental problems

In one way or another, all environmental and natural resource problems associated with overexploitation or under provision of public goods, arise from incompletely defined and enforced property rights. As a result private decision makers do not consider or internalize social benefits and costs in their production or investment actions. The gap between private and social net returns results in externalities – harmful effects on third parties: overfishing, excessive air pollution, unwarranted extraction or diversion of ground or surface water, extreme depletion of oil and gas reservoirs. These situations are all examples of the 'The Tragedy of the Commons'. In this paper, I consider options for mitigating the losses of open access: common or group property regimes, government tax and regulation policy, more formal private property rights. I briefly summarize the problems and advantages of each option and describe why there has been move toward rights-based instruments in recent years: ITQ (individual transferable quotas), tradable emission permits, and private water rights. Introductions to the papers in the special issue follow.     

Nile perch and the hungry of Lake Victoria: Gender,status and food in an East African fishery

Lake Victoria supports Africa’s largest inland fishery, and its most valuable product is the Nile perch, much of which is exported. This has given rise to arguments claiming a direct linear relationship between perch exports and disturbingly high rates of malnutrition along the lake’s shores. In this paper, we argue that this argument is seriously flawed for it is unable to explain how it is that the income from the Nile perch fishery fails to translate into a well-fed riparian population. We draw on field work carried out in 2001 that (a) set out to establish exactly how much malnutrition there was on the lake’s shores; and (b) sought to identify what happened to the income the fishery generates. We argue that because men control much of the fishery, and women are held responsible for the upkeep of their families, little of this income makes its way back into the households of the region, giving rise to the levels of malnutrition we observed.     

密克罗尼西亚联邦金枪鱼渔业现状与我国发展前景

本文分析了近几年在密克罗尼西亚联邦(FSM)海域围网、延绳钓和竿钓三种渔具捕捞金枪鱼的渔业现状,结合我国在FSM海域的金枪鱼渔业现状及中西太平洋金枪鱼主要目标鱼种资源状态,探讨了我国在FSM海域进一步发展金枪鱼渔业的前景及对策。     

福建省水产业二十年改革与发展

改革开放２０年来,福建省水产业有了突飞猛进的发展。主要经验：一是解放思想、开拓思路;二是改革渔业经济体制;三是实施科教兴渔;四是扩大国际交流与合作;五是加强法制建设     

中水集团的发展战略

此文主要介绍了中水（集团）总公司2001年及今后一个时期的工作重点,在明确了“三大两新战略”、“三步走的目标”和“四个着力点”的指导思想基础上,认真贯彻党的十五届四中、五中全会精神,进一步加快企业改革发展的步伐,提出了结构调整,机制转换、科技创新、强化管理等四项措施。     

Investing in natural capital as management strategy in fisheries: The case of the Baltic Sea cod fishery

Many of today's fish stocks are officially managed following the precautionary approach. Yet, different political objectives and uncertainties among fishermen about their economic future make its implementation difficult. Over 75% of all commercially valuable stocks are exploited, overused, or collapsed and in a state of recovery [FAO, 2004. The state of the world fisheries and aquaculture. FAO, Rome. Managing fish stocks with an ecosystem-based approach is likely to stop the divestment of natural capital by combining sustainable use strategies with the preservation of marine ecosystems. Using the example of the Baltic Sea cod fishery, we show that a recovery program is economically and ecologically viable and reduces negative externalities. While policy makers must assist fishermen during the early years of the program, fishermen will experience greater landings and profits in subsequent years.     

渔业股份合制探析

本文以江泽民同志十五大报告为指导,对渔业股份合作制的性质、特征及如何进一步完善进行了分析探讨     

Asian development and poverty reduction strategies: Integrating fisheries into the development discourse

Asia is the world’s foremost capture fishery and aquaculture producer. It is also home to the majority of the world’s fishers and marine fleet (decked and undecked). Consequently, there is every reason to expect that this importance is reflected in national development discourses. This article identifies the socio-economic importance of fisheries in the region in terms of its contribution to primary exports, domestic protein consumption, employment and poverty alleviation. We then analyse national development and poverty reduction strategy documents using a content analysis methodology previously applied to measure the extent to which environmental or forestry issues had been mainstreamed into national policy documents. This enables us to identify those countries that have currently integrated fisheries into the national development discourse – and those that have not. We conclude by proposing two strategies to enable the more effective integration of fisheries into the development agenda.