
An Analysis of Sovereign Rights and Fisheries Access Arrangements
Coastal states have compared themselves to owners of orchards from which DWFNs have been allowed to pick the apples. This argument implies that at no point does the party coming to pick the apple own the land, the trees and the apples (or the ecosystem, the fishery and the fish stock). Until the apple is picked (or the fish is caught), the holder of the access right only owns the opportunity to pick the apple (extract the fish), and even then only on a temporary and time-limited basis…