Capturing the Commons
Subtitle: Devising Institutions to Manage the Maine Lobster Industry
Edition: 1st edition
Publisher: University Press of New England
Published: April 1, 2003
Language: eng
Format: Library Binding
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9781584653172
Subjects: Fisheries & related industries; Management of land & natural resources; Lobster industry; Industries - General; Nature; Business / Economics / Finance; Nature/Ecology; Maine; Nature / Natural Resources; Government policy; Natural Resources; Citizen participation; Lobster fisheries; Lobster fishers
Description: "James M. Acheson, author of the best-selling Lobster Gangs of Maine (the seminal work on the culture and economics of lobster fishing), here turns his attention to the management of the lobster industry. In this new book, he shows that resource degradation is not inevitable. Indeed, the Maine lobster fishery is one of the most successful fisheries in the world." "Rational choice theory frames Acheson's down-to-earth study. Rational choice theorists believe that the overexploitation of marine resources stems from their common-pool nature, which results in collective action problems. In fisheries, what is rational for the individual fishermen can lead to disaster for the society. The progressive Maine lobster industry, lobster fishermen, and local groups have solved a series of such problems by creating three different sets of regulations: informal territorial rules; rules to control the number of traps; and formal conservation legislation. In recent years, the industry has successfully influenced new regulations at the federal level and has developed a strong co-management system with the Maine government."--BOOK JACKET.