Tragedy of Commons Scenario in Fishing Industry Essay

One of the classic examples of the tragedy of the common is the fishing industry. The scenario occurs when there are incomplete property rights and any fishing agent can access the resources, fish, openly. Therefore, the fishing activity is non-excludable because the migratory aspect of fish species provides a challenge on developing protection rights to the fish in the fishing grounds, mostly in sea. However, as the number of the fishermen increases, the aggregate level of fish catches increases, hence reducing the population of fish species on the fishing ground. Therefore, due to this factor the fishery is considered as a sub-tractible activity.
In the long run, the aggregate catch and the individual catch, as well, decreases. Consequently, the fishermen financially pressurizes on the fishing activities in an attempt to increase their catch. As the fishermen become more aggressive, the population of fish declines further. For instance, the Canadian fishermen were forces to sail further in the sea to maintain the level of catch while some of the fishing industry, such as Grand Banks fisheries, collapsed.
In order to reduce the level of over-exploration of the fish, as the common resources, effective measures have to be undertaken. One of the measures involves developing privatized commons. This involves establishing and providing private property rights to the individuals involved in the common-pool resources. Therefore, for the fishing industry to derive economic and substantial ecology benefits, commons have to be at least be partially privatized. The rights provides an effective measure that ensures safer fishing exercise, less spoiled fish in the fish stocks, and most significantly, the number of resources required to derive a particular harvest is reduced.