Fisheries Policy & Economics

When “overfishing” became the crisis of the 1970s, governments turned to market logic to save the sea. The Individual Transferable Quota promised order and sustainability, but instead it changed who could fish, who couldn’t, and who owned the ocean. The Birth of the Quota explores how a policy built on good intentions transformed an industry and the people behind it.

When “overfishing” became the crisis of the 1970s, governments turned to market logic to save the sea. The Individual Transferable Quota promised order and sustainability, but instead it changed who could fish, who couldn’t, and who owned the ocean. The Birth of the Quota explores how a policy built on good intentions transformed an industry and the people behind it.

Commercial fishing is being pushed out of local estuaries in the name of “protecting the fishery,” while charter boats, fishing media and tackle retail are celebrated. The public is told this is conservation. It is not. It is a handover. This story asks a simple question: who gets the estuary, the people who feed the community or the people who film the catch.

An Indian minister claims unpeeled Indian prawns are now approved for Australia. Negotiations may be driving it, but BICON has not changed. The danger is not to consumers’ health; it is to local supply, jobs and the wild-caught fleet after years of white spot losses. I want the Trade Minister to state Australia’s position.

Western Australia’s Western Rock Octopus Fishery is thriving, showing rare growth in Australia’s commercial fishing sector. But as it’s hailed as a sustainable success, questions remain about why we still pay foreign certifiers to validate what our own scientists already know.

NSW commercial fishing licensing: price signals over paper. How NSW commercial fishing licensing has shifted to rigid caps and shares, choking estuary flexibility, while rec rules stay simple. Mulloway caps examined.

The Death of Generational Occupations