Closing the Commons

Book excerpt: Closing the Commons traces the development of limited fishery access from the 1930s—when a licensing system was first established for trawlers operating in Norwegian waters—through the closing of offshore fleets in the 1970s and the coastal fleet in the 1990s. Today, more than ninety percent of all Norwegian fisheries have been closed through various license systems and mandates. Noted researcher Bjørn Hersoug analyzes this process and related issues, exploring the policy options available for future fisheries development. Extensively researched, the book is the first to fully examine the entire closing process for an English-speaking audience.