Change without redistribution: an institutional perspective on South Africa's new fisheries policy

In 1994 the new South African government started a policy process in the fi sheries sector. It was acknowledged that although the fisheries resources w ere reasonably well managed, the distribution of wealth and power within th e fisheries was extremely uneven in favour of a few white-owned companies. A large national commission (FPDC) with members from all stakeholders worke d out recommendations that later were turned into a White Paper and eventua lly into a new fisheries act. South Africa's new fisheries policy is based on a modified ITQ system, which to a large degree accommodates existing own ers. New entrants have been offered a small part of the available resources and some state support in a transitional period - a result falling far sho rt of the expectations of the formerly dispossessed groups. Our key concern is to explain why institutions, in this case fisheries management institut ions, change so slowly, even in a "revolutionary" context. The evident para dox in the case of South Africa is that the state, which was supposed to re present "the solution" in terms of a new and more equitable fisheries polic y has turned into being "the problem". (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.