The Behavior of Fishers After Implementation of the Project to Exterminate Nonindigenous Fish in Lake Biwa, Japan.

The project to exterminate nonindigenous fish was initiated in Lake Biwa in April 2002 because nonindigenous fish, especially large-mouth bass ( Micropterus salmoides) and bluegill ( Lepomis macrochirus), had adversely affected the diversity of indigenous fish. This project allowed fishers to catch nonindigenous fish whenever, wherever, and however they wished and to sell their entire daily landing to the Shiga Prefectural Government (SPG) on a fixed-price basis. That is, the SPG regarded nonindigenous fish as an "open-access resource." This project defined success as the extermination of nonindigenous fish. This study focused on how the fishers behaved after the project began and attempted to identify the factors influencing their behavior. I observed that the ranks of fishers increased because of the policies pertaining to nonindigenous fish. At one level, this result supports the model of "the tragedy of open-access resources." However, this study also found that the behavior of fishers did not always result in "tragedy." In Okishima, fishers' behavior is strongly influenced by merchants. More specifically, fishers must abide by their contracts with merchants, and these effectively prevent them from catching nonindigenous fish even when these appear to bring greater profits. This local mechanism served to limit excessive levels of fishing and impeded "the tragedy of open-access resources." Consequently, the results of this project did not meet the expectations of the SPG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]