Researchers may have found a away to avert the doom many predict for commercial fisheries around the world. A system in which individuals are apportioned a fixed share of each year's catch shows great promise in averting the collapse of fish stocks, according to a new study, in contrast to traditional "open access" rules in which fishermen compete to bring in the biggest load.
"Under open access, you have a free-for-all race to fish, which ultimately leads to collapse," said [lead researcher] Christopher Costello.... "But when you allocate shares of the catch, then there is an incentive to protect the stock, which reduces collapse. We saw this across the globe" [Reuters].
The results are a rare bit of good news in the debate over what's to be done about the world's fisheries; in a previous study, researchers
predicted that if overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction continue unabated, all of the ...
