Sea Cucumbers, from distant St. Pierre Bank, to distant China

Tragedy of the Commons: Bio-Economic Model EFFORT YIELD COSTS E (oa) E(msy) E(mey)

Last Cod Trap Skiff in Joe Batt’s Arm, 2002

Tragedies of the Commoners –Economic, cultural & social costs of the above –Disincentives for conservation Vulnerability –Poverty and indebtedness; return of “merchant power” –Social divisions within and between communities –“intensification traps” –Competing interests and limits to local and regional autonomy

“tragedy of the commons” …but what kind? Tragedy of the Open Access Commons? Case of Folly? AND/OR of …Incursion & International Politics (the foreign fisheries) …Welfare State (family allowance, fishermen’s unemployment) …Scientific Hubris –lag in coming to terms with problems in stock assessment models) –resistance to anecdoctal information (inability to incorporate info. from inshore fisheries) …Political translation (Ministerial resistance to scientists’ recommendations) …Failure to Learn from History?

Tragedies of the Commons: more than fish Mis-management and decline of cod, salmon, and much more (lumpfish, flounders, capelin…) Moving “down the food chain” (from cod and salmon to shrimp and crabs and sea cucumbers and sea urchins….) Privatization and industrial transformation of natural resource economies… Suburbanization of rural communities

Enclosure of the Commons: ‘Tilly’ and foal, Oliver’s Cove (Albert Cluett’s Garden), July 2001