Fish quotas are working, or so says a survey of 50 years of catch across 11,135 fisheries worldwide; in the vast majority of those sampled, competitive fishing is rapidly leading to economic collapse, but in the sliver sample of the 121 cases imposing individual quotas, the long-term prospects were remarkably improved.

Costello said he was surprised to find that the data showed such clear support for a fundamental tenet of resource economics: A change in incentives can remove the motivation to out-compete someone else and switch to longer-term conservation.
He likens it to handing a milkshake to five kids with five straws. "The incentive is for the kids to slurp like hell even if they get a brain freeze," Costello said. "Contrast that to dividing the milkshake into five little cups. The kids can enjoy it as long as they want and get a higher payoff." That's exactly what we find in fisheries."
[ Sharing the catch is good for fishermen -- and fish ]