This book explores how the state can foster collective action by fisher’s communities in fisheries management. It presents a different perspective from Elinor Ostrom’s classic work on the eight institutional conditions that foster collective action in natural resource management and instead emphasizes the role of the state in fisheries co-management, engaging a state-centric notion of ‘meta-governance’. It argues that first, the state is required to foster collective action by fishers; and secondly, that the current fisheries co-management arrangements are state-centric. The study develops these arguments through the analysis of three case studies in Japan, Vietnam and Norway. The author also makes a theoretical contribution to governance literature by developing Ostrom’s ‘society-centric’ framework in a way which makes it more amenable to the analysis of state capacity and government intervention in a comparative context. This book will appeal to students and scholars of global governance, fisheries management, co-management, and crisis management, as well as practitioners of fisheries management.

Introduction (Hoang Viet Thang)....Pages 1-24
Critiques of Ostrom’s Approach: A View from Fisheries Governance (Hoang Viet Thang)....Pages 25-49
The Fisheries Co-management Approach: Critiques and Theoretical Framework of the Research (Hoang Viet Thang)....Pages 51-73
Akita Fisheries Cooperative Associations, Japan (Hoang Viet Thang)....Pages 75-98
Vinh Giang Fisheries Association, Vietnam (Hoang Viet Thang)....Pages 99-128
The Norwegian Fishers’ Association, Norway (Hoang Viet Thang)....Pages 129-154
Conclusion (Hoang Viet Thang)....Pages 155-161
Back Matter ....Pages 163-215