MARKET REGULATION VERSUS COMANAGEMENT - 2 PERSPECTIVES ON REGULATING FISHERIES COMPARED

The crisis of fisheries management is also a crisis of governability; somehow governments almost everywhere seem to run into trouble while m anaging fisheries. This article compares two alternative styles of reg ulation that are put forward as solutions to this crisis: market-based regulation and comanagement. In particular the contradiction is analy zed between an apparently strong theoretical basis for market-based re gulation and actual practice which often opts for co-management. The t heoretical basis of the market-based perspective is challenged and on the basis of an analysis of flatfishery management in the Netherlands, it is concluded that there are often sound arguments for restructurin g the management responsibilities between public authorities and civil society. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd