It went even as far as stopping all fishing of herring in 1977-1982. That worked (in the sense of “herring didn’t go extinct, so there still is something to catch”)
The EU probably has the worst system in the world, at least by total impact.
> "every year, the European Commission makes recommendations on the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to the Council of Ministers based on scientific evidence. The Council of Ministers, however, often disregards these recommendations because, as a rule, the priority for these ministers seems to protect jobs in the short term, not to maintain sustainability. As a consequence, the annual catch agreed to by the Council of Ministers is generally around 48 per cent more than the scientists’ recommended figure. The fact that 88 per cent of European fish stocks, measured against maximum sustainable yield (MSY), are overexploited is due in part to these excessively high catch quotas."
AFAIK herring is now at very healthy levels again in the North Sea, right? I was under the impression that it's one of the few "good" fish you could still eat nowadays, or should I adjust those dietary habits again?
I’m not an expert, but I think it’s more or less sustainable, but not at the levels just before the moratorium (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274558008_Recruitme...), and a lot lower than historical levels (can’t find a simple reference, but there’s data that on that. Found https://edepot.wur.nl/317580, which isn’t that clear and certainly not succinct)
New Zealand has fisheries management with a lot of quota provided to Maori Iwi (tribes) who in turn might sell the quota or run a fishing business outright or in partnership. Additionally Maori have customary fishing rights for funerals and other customary events.
I am not quite sure what you mean by property rights and what it means in reference to other places.
On a side note, New Zealand just changed a number of significant fishing rules for commercial and recreational fisherman. The new restrictions on types of fishing that are allowed are to help protect both the Hectors dolphin (est. 10,000 left) and the Maui dolphin (est. 50 left.
It is good to see these unilateral efforts are possible in NZ due to their being no competing interests who have legal entitlement to the same waters.
Annecdotally, It is still relatively easy to go to the beach in NZ and catch a few fish of 2 - 6kg in size.
> I am not quite sure what you mean by property rights
The "property" is the quota, the proportion of the total allowed catch of a species. As you say quotas can be bought and sold, so they are ordinary property.
(The total catch is set annually, sometimes even based on the recommendations of fisheries experts.)
Have you seen Elinor Ostrom's work[1]? She gives the conditions under which commons resource sharing works. Globalized fishing doesn't meet them. I believe she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prizein economics too.
It turns it into a self regulated market. For example one of the principles is that the self regulation of the participants must be recognised as autonomous by higher authorities.
The basic principle is that it makes the long term health and viability of the resource in the interests of those exploiting it, by putting the ability to effectively manage the resource long term in their hands.
Some might even call it a tragedy.