The failure of ‘command and control’ approaches to fisheries management lessons from Australia

Abstract

The traditional ‘command and control’ approaches to fisheries management – ones that focus on input restrictions and total catch limits – fail to provide the incentives for those who fish to do so efficiently and in a manner that gives industry a long-term stake in the future of the fishery. This paper provides a discussion of the failure of these ‘command and control’ approaches to fisheries management in two specific cases: the Australian northern prawn and southeast trawl fishery, drawing valuable policy and management insights that may prove useful to the management of other fisheries around the world.