Recent attempts at regulating the harvesting of Norwegian Arctic cod

Abstract

Fishery resources of north Norwegian waters are abundant and fishing is traditionally the prime occupation and basis of coastal settlements in that part of the country. Any solutions for regulating fisheries that are perceived as unjust by the coastal population are impracticable, as there are few natural or technical barriers to partication. Many coastal people have boasts and fish can be caught with cheap gear. In addition to keeping the actual harvest within sustainable limits and avoiding zero-sum competition among fishermen, a regulation system must also keep the right to fish open for the whole coastal population. The article compares alternative regulating systems: dualism or the currently practised 35/65 percentage share between offshore trawlers and coastal fishing boats, boat quotas, group quotas, company quotas, individual quotas, tradable quotas and area regulations. The author supports the idea of quotas for individual fishermen and strongly argues against any system that may lead to tradable quotas, as this will lead to marginalization of the coastal population.