This book reveals how a privatization of fish resources has paved the way for a wide-reaching concentration and change in ownership. It is a thought-provoking contribution to the debate on the future of European fisheries and the possible solutions to overfishing in Europe. Readers will discover a timely, critical insight into the social, cultural and economic aspects and consequences of market-based fisheries management. The privatization of fish quotas in Denmark represents one of the most far-reaching and comprehensive privatization schemes of its kind and has been widely promoted as a market-based system with innovative social safeguards. This work critically examines this privatization of fish resources, combining quantitative and qualitative material to provide new understanding of fish quotas and their social value. Scholars with an interest in privatization and the socio-economic aspects of fisheries, and those working with NGOs, fishers and fisheries, and concerned with political conflicts will all value the research presented here.

• Introduction....Pages 1-12
  Growth and Management....Pages 13-43
  Society and Market....Pages 45-79
  The Commodity and its Exchange....Pages 81-108
  Access and Fishing Activities....Pages 109-136
  Transformation and Modes of Production....Pages 137-164
  Postscript: Everyday Life and Mediated Fisheries....Pages 165-171