The Reconstitution of Property Relations in New Zealand Fisheries

This article discusses structural transformations in small-scale fisheries in a New Zealand community. Expressions of fishing practice and the people who pursue these practices are subject to three different management regimes Commercial, Recreational and Customary Regulations each of which is rooted in a particular model of ownership. The community is simultaneously subject to globalization as represented by the local fish processing plant, a burgeoning tourist market, and the Quota Management Regime. These factors intertwine in complex ways to threaten community cohesion; yet, fishers, irrespective of category, express sentiments indicating an emergent level of solidarity based on a shared productive activity and a common distaste for various elements of globalization.