Guide Answers to Questions for Study and Review

Guide answers to questions for study and review

Check your answers to questions from the book against these guide responses.

OLC chapter

Fisheries Policy

1. What do we mean by the problem of ‘commons’ and how does it apply to fisheries?

Guide answer

Analysis of ‘commons’ owes much to the work by Hardin (1968):

Hardin, G. (1968) ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’, Science, Vol.162, pp.1243-47.

The term ‘common’ traditionally refers to a field in an English village whose use by the villagers is free and unrestricted. If there is free access to the common, each villager will fail to take into account the fact that grazing his animal on the common will reduce the output of other animals grazed there (i.e. the social cost is ignored), and the common will be overused. The diagram in the chapter can be used to show how the problem of ‘commons’ applies to fisheries.

1. How has the Common Fisheries Policy evolved over the years?

Guide answer

The Treaty of Rome envisaged a Common Fisheries Policy, but differences between the member states meant that the CFP was not set up until 1970, and only became fully operative from 1983. In 1970, two regulations established free and equal access to all EC fishing grounds for all EC fishermen subject to certain exceptions for sensitive coastal waters. Market support and structural measures were also introduced. The revised CFP was finally introduced in 1983 and was a 20-year agreement lasting until 2002. The instruments envisaged by the 1983 agreement were access arrangements, quotas or total allowable catches (TACs), market support measures and structural policies. In 2002, there was a reform of the CFP. The reform entailed a long-term approach, a new policy for the fleet, better application of the rules and an increase in shareholders involvement. A more complete answer would describe and criticise the mechanisms of the1983 and 2002 reforms.

1. What measures should be taken to ensure conservation of fish stocks?

Guide answer

Measures include recovery plans to help rebuild stocks in danger of collapse and management plans to help maintain other stocks at safe biological levels. Targets can be set, and progress is assessed against these targets. The targets may be expressed in terms of the minimum weight of adult fish to be reached and maintained in a given stock. The various instruments to reach these targets include limits on fishing possibilities and access (such as closing off areas for depleted species, limits on fishing days etc.) and encouraging fishermen to use selective methods (for instance, through gear specifications). Another possible measure is a system of tradable fishing concessions, as proposed by the Commission in 2011. Regulatory measures can also be used to reduce catches of younger fish, by-catches in mixed fisheries and discards. Measures can also be used to promote aquaculture. See, for example the website of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea:

4.What are the advantages and disadvantages of developing aquaculture?

Guide answer

The advantages are that aquaculture could help resolve the problem of overfishing, but the disadvantages are that present methods of aquaculture often seem to have negative environmental consequences. Moreover, there may be cross-breeding with wild species reducing biodiversity. This could be treated as a question for student research, using, for example, the following websites:

The website of the Aquaculture Network Information Centre: the website of the World Aquaculture Society: the website of Aquaculture Magazine online:

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