Ownership and Belonging in the Bluff Oyster Fishery

Abstract

"The Bluff oyster fishery became part of New Zealand fisheries Quota Management System (QMS) in 1998 and management responsibility fell to the owners of individual transferable quota (ITQ). A group of conservation-minded Bluff oyster fishermen believe that the owners of ITQ are locked into a need for exploitation that will ultimately result in the fishery's demise. The proposition that private property rights encourage conservation through the self-interest of owners is questioned in a situation where establishing those property rights has meant the exclusion of conservation-minded fishermen. Conservation-minded fishermen play an important role in the fishery viewed as a socio-ecological system. The concept of belonging is proposed as a complement to the idea of ownership in the theory of property-rights regimes aimed at managing local resources."