Open Access Fishery

An open-access fishery is one any qualified operator may enter without a binding limit on participants, the condition that produces the race to fish and stock depletion. With no secure share, each operator captures fish before rivals do, so effort and capacity build past the sustainable level, the dynamic Gordon described in 1954 and the textbook case of the tragedy of the commons. Rent dissipates to zero as costs rise to meet revenue. Managers close access through limited-entry licensing, individual transferable quotas, or catch shares that give each holder a stake in the stock.