Resource+Regime


 * Resource Regime**

A resource regime is regulated distribution of property and its uses. There are a variety of different regimes in place for different resources, ranging between the extremes of a purely private regime to open access. Open access refers to the economic theory of the commons, whereby access to the resource in question is open to anyone. It is generally argued that an open access resource regime is inconsistent with the efficient utilization of natural resources without some form of government intervention, and that given the impediments to effective intervention private property rights are the safer option.

"No economy can survive if the majority of its scarce resources are commonly owned." Cheung, Optimal Resource Regimes

It has been put forth by Shashi Kant et al., in reference to [|optimal resource regimes], that a regime somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, such as a community regime or a joint regime (among community and state, community and private, or private and state), will be the most efficient.

//Figure One: Alternating Regimes in Consumer and Resource Populations//

Figure One shows the shifts between collapse and recovery that occur for renewable resources under different regimes. In relation to oil, however, this is not applicable; oil is a non-renewable resource, and when it collapses there can be no cycle of recovery.

//Figure Two: Regime Change in Relation to Resource Scarcity//

Figure Two, in a scenario more applicable to the depletion of oil reserves, shows the emergence of an [|institutional resource regime] as the resource becomes scarcer: in the beginning of the resource's exploitation there is little to no regulation, as it is regarded as being part of the commons. As the resource is depleted, however, an increasingly complex institutionalized resource regime is put in place, whereby the resource is regulated and made available to fewer people.

In relation to the Atlantic seal hunt there are many differing ideas of which resource regime should be used mainly because there are many different stakeholders involved in the seal hunt. First Nations seal hunts have been occuring for much longer than any other culture has been involved and their regime of the hunt is based on a community shared resource not owned. On the other hand many corporations take part in the hunt reducing the stock of seal in the state owned regime.

In Canada the seal hunt falls under the jurisdiction of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The North Atlantic fisheries, including the cod fishery, are also the responsibility of the DFO. The research analyzing whether the seal hunt is advantageous or detrimental to the North Atlantic cod fishery is also primarily taking place within the DFO. This creates both bias and a conflict in regard to the seal hunt. Having many different levels of government ruling on these issues can have a negative effect on the outcome of the issue at hand.

In the case of the Atlantic seal hunt, the resource regime ultimately in charge is the Federal government (state) through the DFO. However, the DFOs management of the cod fisheries proves that the DFO is a dysfunctional bureaucracy with only economic ideas in mind. The Native regime, is a local community run one, and is ultimately more efficient due to its lack of greed. It is interesting the that the DFO try to regulate native catches when history has show they are completely dysfunctional at regulating anything.