Develop New Approaches to Preserve Ocean Resources

The world's fisheries face severe decline. Because many of the world's ocean resources are not "owned," they tend to be overexploited—as everyone attempts to fish out of the ocean as much as possible before competitors can consume the resources. Several governments actively subsidize such destructive practices in attempts to protect traditional fishing industries. However, where genuine, tradable rights have been assigned to ocean resources (as in New Zealand), owners of these rights help ensure long-term conservation and at the same time increase their profitability. Meanwhile, where those rights are bureaucratically controlled, as with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) "catch share" program, fishermen have instead suffered needlessly.

Similarly, private establishment and ownership of artificial reefs have helped preserve habitats, while government attempts to create artificial reefs have been catastrophic failures. Many of these man-made structures provide critical habitat and ensure plentiful fish supplies.

Iain Murray

Develop New Approaches to Preserve

Ocean Resources

The world’s fisheries face severe decline. Because many of the world’s ocean resources are

not “owned,” they tend to be overexploited—as everyone attempts to fish out of the ocean as much

as possible before competitors can consume the resources. Several governments actively subsidize

such destructive practices in attempts to protect traditional fishing industries. However, where

genuine, tradable rights have been assigned to ocean resources (as in New Zealand), owners of 

these rights help ensure long-term conservation and at the same time increase their profitability.

Meanwhile, where those rights are bureaucratically controlled, as with the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) “catch share” program, fishermen have instead

suffered needlessly.

Similarly, private establishment and ownership of artificial reefs have helped preserve habi-

tats, while government attempts to create artificial reefs have been catastrophic failures. Many

of these man-made structures provide critical habitat and ensure plentiful fish supplies.

Such promising policies hold the key to ensuring long-term sustainability of the world’s

fishery resources. A recent study published in Science magazine found that if property rights

in fisheries had been instituted globally from 1970, then the incidence of fishery collapse

would have been reduced by two-thirds. Fish stocks, furthermore, would be rising rather than

falling. Failure to implement such schemes—or implementing such schemes in a distorted man-

ner—for ideological reasons represents a gross disregard for the future of our oceanic ecology

and resources. Congress should end NOAA’s bureaucratic schemes and extend genuine prop-

erty rights to this valuable resource.