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24 Ecology L.Q. 833 (1997)
Overcoming the Political Tragedy of the Commons: Lessons Learned from the Reauthorization of the Magnuson Act

handle is hein.journals/eclawq24 and id is 845 raw text is: Overcoming the Political Tragedy of the Commons: Lessons Learned from the Reauthorization of the Magnuson Act David A. Dana* CONTENTS Introduction ............................... .................... 833 I. The Political Tragedy of The Commons ................. 835 A. Why Resource Harvesters May Dominate Regulatory Politics .................................. 835 B. Why Resource Harvesters May Not Support Conservation Regulation ............................ 838 C. The Magnuson Act As Political Tragedy ............ 840 II. Overcoming the Tragedy of the Commons: The Sustainable Fisheries Act Of 1996 ...................... 843 A. The Sustainable Fisheries Act ....................... 843 B. Two Caveats Regarding Centralization as a Means of Overcoming the Political Tragedy of the Com m ons ........................................... 845 1. Centralized Review Can Favor Racing Interests ................................ 845 2. Centralization of Regulatory Authority is a M eans, Not an End ............................. 846 C onclusion ..................................................... 846 INTRODUCTION The standard account of the tragedy of the commons involves the overexploitation of a common resource such as a forest or an ocean. To maximize the value of a resource, the members of a com- munity should practice conservation by limiting the total amount of the resource harvested at any given time. However, forbearance on the part of some members of the community might allow other mem- Copyright © 1997 by ECOLOGY LAW QuARTERLY * Associate Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law. I would like to thank my co-panelists at the ELQ Symposium Session On Fisheries, Alison Reiser, James Wilen and Shi-Ling Hsu, for their helpful comments.

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