174 Int. J. Global Environmental Issues, Vol. 7, Nos. 2/3, 2007 Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The failure of ‘command and control’ approaches to fisheries management: lessons from Australia Tom Kompas* Crawford School of Economics and Government, Crawford Building (Bldg. 13), Ellery Crescent, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia Fax: +61-6125-5570 E-mail: tom.kompas@anu.edu.au *Corresponding author Peter Gooday Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia E-mail: peter.gooday@abare.gov.au Abstract: The traditional ‘command and control’ approaches to fisheries management – ones that focus on input restrictions and total catch limits – fail to provide the incentives for those who fish to do so efficiently and in a manner that gives industry a long-term stake in the future of the fishery. This paper provides a discussion of the failure of these ‘command and control’ approaches to fisheries management in two specific cases: the Australian northern prawn and southeast trawl fishery, drawing valuable policy and management insights that may prove useful to the management of other fisheries around the world. Keywords: fisheries management; input and output controls; sustainability. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Kompas, T. and Gooday, P. (2007) ‘The failure of ‘command and control’ approaches to fisheries management: lessons from Australia’, Int. J. Global Environmental Issues, Vol. 7, Nos. 2/3, pp.174–190. Biographical notes: Tom Kompas is the Director of the International and Development Economics Program, Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National University and a Senior Research Economist at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Peter Gooday is Branch Manager of the Natural Resources Management Division at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.