Publisher's Synopsis
More than 70 per cent of the planet Earth is covered by oceans where property rights are poorly defined and enforced. Since ocean resources are fully exploited (because of new technologies and population growth), conventional regulatory methods (command and control) have failed to prevent pervasive overexploitation and conflicts. Some places are more or less considered as dumping sites and/or overexploited. The ancient and numerous regulations have generally failed to address growing pressures on fish and other ecological resources. Of course the idea of "fencing the oceans" may appear improbable but for ages private, often common property, institutions have succeeded in regulating fishing activities.;Today "Individual Transferable Quotas" may pave the way for rationalizing uses, conserving natural resources and reducing conflicts, or maybe not. As for the two previous International Conferences (1996, 1998) dealing with "Property Rights, Economics and Environment" the 3rd Conference (2000) has set up a lively and fruitful debate and discussion among academics and managers in order to imagine and design a new setting for property rights, market instruments and regulation in the seas.
