Ignoring market failure in quota leasing?

This short communication is, in part, a response to the Bruce Turris' rejoinder (Marine Policy…2010) to Pinkerton et al., The elephant in the room: The hidden costs of leasing individual transferable fishing quotas (Marine Policy, July 2009). In responding to this article on the unacknowledged problems of unregulated and even unrecorded leasing of individual transferable fishing quotas (ITQs), Turris illustrated the point of the original article well by minimizing the status of leasing as a major influence leading to problems with the fishery: an elephant in the room. Turris focused instead on relatively small and less relevant details, misrepresented the argument, and largely ignored or skirted our discussion of the absent structural conditions important for open competition and efficient outcomes. This response addresses several of his concerns, elaborates on some of the initial points in the original article and contributes some new ones.