Expanding the Scope of Property Rights in American Fisheries
By Susan Hanna
ABSTRACT
Property rights in American fisheries define bundles of legal relations that govern the interactions of people and ecosystems. Rights, responsibilities and immunities are reflected in rules governing exploitation, management and public process. Over time the scope of property rights - the range of application and breadth of function - has expanded as fishery conditions have changed. Rights and responsibilities over direct exploitation of fish stocks have intensified. Enforcement has broadened. Rules governing decisionmaking have become more complicated as the number of legal authorities has increased. The array of public interests has widened. The expanding scope of property rights is a direct outcome of fishery conditions that favor the enhanced clarity provided by specified rights. However, the expansion of rights has taken place without a clear appreciation of their associated costs, or a specific definition of their desired intent. The expansion has created transactions costs that are sometimes heavy in their magnitude and controversial in their distribution. This paper identifies the components of these transactions costs, discusses the management problems they create, and offers recommendations for their reduction.
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