Performance of an inshore fishery in the absence of regulatory enforcement

The principal inshore fishery in the southwest Irish Sea is currently for whelk Buccinum undatum, which expanded in the 1990s and yielded almost 10,000 t in 2003. The fleet exploiting it consisted largely of old boats many of which previously used a variety of gears but which cannot any longer compete with more modern towing craft. Whelk is the only target species for the majority. The fishery is in open access and is not regulated and the paper examines the consequences of this for the fishers, particularly the problems associated with maintaining a way of life traditionally associated with remuneration by share rather than wage. Lack of regulation, it is argued, encourages a short term, opportunistic harvesting regime, which is not conducive to maintain a biologically sustainable fishery.