The tragedy of the commons is a dilemma in which common resources are abused because they are available to everyone, and in the absence of regulations, people will take as much as they can for themselves with little regard for the well being of the commons or their peers. Without property rights, there is not enough incentive for the commons to be preserved, and they will be depleted and destroyed. It is easy to see how this concept applies to the environment, though it is used across a very wide range of disciplines. The term was originally coined by British economist William Forster Lloyd in 1833 in an essay where he used the example of cattle grazing in the British Isles. The concept gained more exposure when Ecologist Garrett Harden wrote an article about the overuse of natural resources of all kinds in 1968, citing the tragedy of the commons as the reason why. Today, one of the biggest places we see the tragedy of the commons embodied is our oceans. Obviously, no one country can claim ownership of the oceans, and as a result it gets abused by way of overfishing and pollution which serves to damage fish populations further.
Fish populations have been dwindling rapidly over the past half a century. For example, the Atlantic bluefin tuna population is down nearly 90 percent since the 1970s as a result of overfishing (marbef). These fish are very worth an awful lot of money, since they can grow to weigh over 500 kilograms and there is no substitute for tuna in sushi. These fish take about eight years to mature, and the massive demand for their meat led to the reckless capture of juvenile fish, meaning there are not nearly enough mature fish left. While there is now a moratorium on catching juvenile Atlantic bluefin, illegal fishing still harms their numbers and is very difficult to police.
Tuna are not the only fish experiencing this problem, but just one example. Most species across the globe have been affected by overfishing, and all sorts of measures have been put in place to try to combat this issue with varying degrees of success. The U.S. and Canada had been trying to regulate fishing of Pacific halibut since the early 1920’s, and found that limiting the amount of vessels allowed to fish halibut and shortening the fishing season from 65 to 14 days yielded catastrophic results throughout the 1980’s. Halibut yields plummeted, leading the Canadian Department of Fisheries to combat the tragedy of the commons just how Lloyd originally suggested; by giving individual property rights to fishermen.
Individual Vessel Quotas, or IVQs were created, giving each fishing vessel rights to a certain percentage of the total allowable catch. The fishing season for halibut is now 245 days, alleviating the pressures that the short season put on fishermen, their equipment, and the ecosystem. Smaller, less efficient fishing operations have had their share bought out by those fishing vessels that operate more efficiently, leading to much safer conditions for fishermen and better equipment which is less likely to break and harm ecosystems as it sits in the ocean and disrupts halibut populations. Additionally, consumers now have fresher fish available to them, since less of the catch has to be frozen, which also benefits the fishermen as fresh fish is more valuable.
While this system is not perfect, it is an important proof that applying economic concepts to common environmental resources is an avenue worth exploring in the fight to preserve the planet. People simply do not respect resources they do not own or have a stake in, so privatizing wherever possible gives them a reason to care for their piece. Think about that one relative you have who refuses to accept climate change as a reality at every family gathering. Most of us know someone like this, and even where facts don’t work, money always talks. While your Ford F-350 driving uncle might not switch from incandescent to fluorescent light bulbs in his home to save the planet, he probably would take it into consideration if he realized it saved him money. The same concept applies in industries that rely on the environment. We have to make changes which benefit the industry as well as the planet, and many will be unwilling to compromise profits unless something is in it for them. Privatization solves this problem.
Sources:
https://www.perc.org/2001/03/01/fisheries-are-classic-example-of-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/
http://www.marbef.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_of_the_Commons_-_The_Tuna_Example
Lloyd, William Forster (1833). Two lectures on the checks to population. England: Oxford University. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
Hardin, G (1968). “The Tragedy of the Commons”(PDF). Science. 162 (3859): 1243–1248. doi:10.1126/science.162.3859.1243. PMID 5699198.