visserijregimes

Visserijregimes are the governance arrangements that regulate the exploitation of living marine resources. They encompass formal laws and regulations, customary practices, property arrangements, and the institutions and processes that implement them. The aim is to balance biological sustainability with economic efficiency and social equity, while adapting to ecological uncertainty and market pressures. Regimes are shaped by national policy, regional fisheries management organizations, local communities, science, and the political economy of fishing.

Key components include who has access and rights to fish, how decisions are made (rules for allocation, effort, and gear), how extraction is controlled (quotas, licenses, effort ceilings), and how compliance is monitored and enforced. Information systems, such as stock assessments and catch reporting, support decision-making. Regimes operate at multiple scales—local, national, regional and international—and involve state authorities, fishers and fishing communities, industry groups, scientists, and NGOs. Effective regimes typically combine clear rights and responsibilities with transparency, legitimacy, and adaptiveness.

Common regimes include: centralized regulatory regimes with top-down quotas and licenses; rights-based or catch-share regimes that allocate portions of a stock to individuals or groups; co-management arrangements sharing decision rights between government and communities; and community-based management with local enforcement and traditional knowledge. The choice of regime affects enforcement costs, incentives for compliance, stock status, and livelihoods.

Assessment and challenges: regimes are evaluated on stock status, economic performance, and social outcomes such as income and resilience of fishing communities. Challenges include data gaps, enforcement, illegal fishing, power imbalances, climate change impacts, and political interference. Ongoing reform often emphasizes participation, better information, and flexible rules to cope with ecological and market change.