The common fisheries policy and UK quota management
Abstract Exclusive Economic Zones and the formulation of a Common Fisheries Policy have profoundly reshaped the political geography of the NE Atlantic fisheries. Outlining the characteristics of the new management framework, the paper draws attention to the use of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) as a mechanism for attempting to reconcile the need for stock conservation with demands for equitable allocation of catches between member states and the creation of an orderly market. Member states are free to manage their fisheries within the parameters set by TACs. For Britain, two systems have evolved: a centralised system for Area VII and a devolved system of ‘sectoral quota management’ for Areas IV and VI in which Producer Organisations can assume the role of quota managers on behalf of their members. The paper examines the latter system in detail and points to the inevitable conflicts between equity and efficiency.