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.