Managing Namibia's Fisheries as a Vehicle for Development: A Common Pool Resource or Candidate for Tradable Pool Rights?

Abstract

"The Namibian fisheries sector has been managed, since independence in 1990, under an evolving system based on TAC's and quotas, licenses and recovery of resource rent through quota fees. The system has been designed with the intention of spreading the benefit of the resource more widely, particularly among previously disadvantaged groups in Namibian society, and of rebuilding fish stocks. Namibia considered, but decided against, a system of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) principally because of the question of equity. Some evidence exits that ITQs leads to greater concentration of the resource in the hands of a few companies who then act as a monopoly. There is evidence that a concentration of power in the industry is currently taking place in the Namibian industry thus threatening the development objectives of Government. The paper assesses the progress that has been made in the implementation of Namibia's management system and examines its advantages and shortcomings. The degree of incompatibility between an ITQ system of management and questions of equity and development is assessed."