Economics and Ecology of Open-Access Fisheries

In open-access fisheries, participation and harvest by fishermen are unregulated. Under these conditions, the amount of fishing is greater than the socially optimal level, the economic profits from fishing are dissipated, and fish stocks are depleted and can even be driven to extinction. A large body of theoretical and empirical research has demonstrated the robustness of these results.Although the basic outcomes hold across a variety of systems, the behavior of an open-access fishery can be complex. Simple models of fish ecology coupled with harvester behavior can explain boom-and-bust cycles in a fishery and fishing communities and complex supply responses. More complex ecological models of open-access fisheries illustrate the interactions among fishing, fish populations, and other parts of the ecosystem, as well as explain why some fishing regulations produce unintended consequences. Studying open access provides a foundation for understanding fishery economics, a baseline from which to measure the gains of implementing fishing regulations, and lends insight to the design of better regulatory systems.