The Unseen Currents - Series

This article uses the ideas of Ludwig von Mises and Hayek to examine Individual Transferable Quotas in fisheries. It argues that turning fishing rights into tradeable assets centralises power, severs effort from reward, and triggers an endless cycle of intervention that weakens both markets and the sea.

Australia is an island nation where most seafood on the shelf is imported, while local catch is locked behind quota rights and export contracts. This article argues that Individual Transferable Quotas have turned the ocean from a shared resource into a financial asset, weakening Australians’ right to eat their own fish and asking how we can reclaim local seafood as a public good.

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.

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.

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.

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.