This book identifies possible transition paths to responsible fisheries, assesses their consequences and provides policy recommendations on how to enhance prosperity in this sector.

This is a book about fishermen's reasons for obeying fisheries law. The fish harvesting industry has become subject to state interference to an increasing extent over the past twenty years. As natural resources become scarce and subsequent fisheries regulations abound, the question of law-abidingness is brought to the public agenda. However, there is still little empirical data as regards the dynamics of compliance in this field, and this book aims to meet a demand for in-depth knowledge. The cases studied can be regarded as instances of economies dependent on the harvesting of natural resources for both household and the market, and the study aims to contribute to the building of more adequate theory on the dynamics of compliance in such economies. However, focusing on a specific type of setting seldom constitutes a safe escape route for getting away from more pervasive sociological questions, and it certainly does not in this case. As any attempt to explain social phenomena, this study is faced with the fundamental sociological question of how the acts of individuals can best be understood. The question concerns the interface between the individual and the collectivity – between collective morality and self-interest. It thus deals with classical sociological issues such as the nature and regulatory capacity of group norms and sanctions, and the forms and roles of rationality and strategic action.

Expanded from a study begun in 1982 to predict the consequences on fishing in New England and Canada of an adverse decision by the World Court on a fishing dispute between Canada and the US, to consider the structure of the industry, opportunities for cross-border cooperation, and the impact of public policies in the two countries. Tracking the industry for over a decade into the decline of fish stocks in the 1990s has allowed early predictions to be tested and results to be altered. Canadian card order number: C95-930998-5. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR