To the first settlers, the Great Plains posed the same problem as the oceans today: a vast, open area where there seemed to be no way to protect animals. But animals thrived once the settlers divvied up the land and devised ways to protect their livestock. Today, the oceans are much like an open range. Fishermen catch as much as they can this year, even if they are overfishing. They figure any fish they don’t take for themselves will just be taken by someone else.
a. What are the similarities between the problems faced by the earliest settlers in the West and today’s fishers?
b. Can the tragedy of the commons in the oceans be eliminated in the same manner used by the early settlers on the plains?
c. How can ITQs change the short-term outlook of fishers to a long-term outlook?