Yamamoto, Tadashi. 1993. A fishing right to co-op as a basis for Community Based Fisheries Management. Presented at the International Conference on Fisheries economics, which was sponsored by the Centre for Fisheries Economics of the Foundation for Research in Economics and Business Administration, Bergen, Norway.

In Japan, a fishing right is granted to a group of coastal fishermen which is organized at a community level. Such a fishing right system has been developed over the past 250 years. During this period, three were three fishery laws in effect, i.e. ‘Ura’ law (1743-1867), Old Fishery Law (1901-1948) and Current Fishery Law ((1949 onward). Under the first two fishery laws, the fishing right was granted in an attitude that the government was the resource manager. Conversely, under the current fishery law, fishermen are allowed to participate in the formulation of a coastal fisheries management plan within a legal framework set out by the law. This has given a great motive to fishermen to create their own community based coastal fisheries management systems.