Hanover: University of New England Press, 2003
James Acheson’s three-decade commitment to studying the culture and economy of Maine’s lobster industry is powerfully articulated in Capturing the Commons. This much anticipated book continues a discussion begun in 1988 with Lobster Gangs of Maine, a must read for all who care about Maine’s coast and its culture, where Acheson introduced the world to Maine’s lobster industry and how its culture, born of kinship and the tides – comes to life as fishermen secure territory.
Capturing the Commons explores how Maine’s lobstermen are unique in the world of fisheries management because of their ability to organize and negotiate in ways that allowed them to shape public policy rather than fall victim to it. Acheson recognized the significance of this sea change early in his career. Academic circles recognize Acheson for being one of the first scholars to seriously consider the culture of U.S. fishing communities. Thus Capturing the Commons takes the emergence of the lobster Zone Management Law in 1995 as his case study, following the economic and social history that led up to and followed this breakthrough in fisheries co-management.
Acheson asks: “Under what conditions do resource management laws emerge?” The answer to this question is of universal import to fisheries managers. Rather than providing an overly simplistic answer, Acheson shows the complex intersection of economic influences, individual interests and scientific research that culminated in the production and implementation of this law.
Acheson’s rapport with a host of key individuals that operated behind the scenes and in the public eye provide the reader with a rare perspective on fisheries management. The implementation of zone boundaries, trap limits, trap vents, time allotments and other important restrictions are detailed to discover how social norms become law and, in some instances, how laws become social norms. Throughout, Acheson balances his observations against expert opinions from the state and local level.
One of the innovative inquiries in Capturing the Commons explores the role of lobster scientists in the development and implementation of the Zone Management Law. Close investigation shows that marine science is not always the objective source of information one might suspect. Acheson demonstrates the level of politics inherent in what gets studied: how state and federal interests as well as the goals of industry can influence the questions asked by scientists.
Acheson’s inquiry reveals an instructive example of how local groups can organize to protect their livelihoods. For this and other reasons, Capturing the Commons is a classic case study that should be read by all fishermen, fisheries managers, students of common property and the co-management movement, not to mention lobster industry history enthusiasts in general.
(Jim Acheson discussed and signed his new book at the Island Institute as part of its summer lecture series on Wednesday, July 30, at 6 p.m.)