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Nature 455, 1044-1045 (23 October 2008) | doi:10.1038/4551044a; Published online 22 October 2008

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Economics: Sustainable fisheries

Geoffrey Heal1 & Wolfram Schlenker1

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Fishermen's aims of increasing their catch seem at odds with preserving fish stocks by limiting catch. A study of more than 11,000 fisheries shows that 'individual tradable quotas' can reconcile these goals.

The destruction of the world's major fisheries has been widely documented, with a general consensus that the biomass of top marine predators is now some 10% of what it was half a century ago1. Many of these species — such as the bluefin tuna, Atlantic cod, and swordfish in the Atlantic and Indian oceans — are expected to be extinct within decades.

  1. Geoffrey Heal is at Columbia Business School, and Wolfram Schlenker is at the School of International and Public Affairs and Department of Economics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
    Email: gmh1@columbia.edu
    Email: wolfram.schlenker@columbia.edu

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