Meshing A Tight Net
A Cultural Response To The Threat Of Open Access Fishing Grounds

The 1968 paper by Garrett Hardin on the 'Tragedy of the Commons' triggered a vivid discussion on how the depletion of renewable, yet limited, common pool resources can be prevented. Since then, a whole string of case studies has been carried out in order to specify regulatory measures for successful management. Differing from Hardin, these came to the conclusion that even jointly used resources are not necessarily doomed to be ruined. On the contrary, if communities of resource users craft institutions that regulate and monitor the exploitation of the respective resource, sustainability can be achieved (e.g. Casimir and Rao 1998; Feeny et al. 1990; McCay and Acheson 1987; Ostrom 1992).