Incapacitation and Empowerment of Local Governments in Quota Management:From the Perspective of Responsibility System and Evaluation Mechanism in Fishery Law
Catch quota management represents a key shift in modern environmental rule of law,moving from individual to comprehensive governance approaches.The Chinese scholarly community initiated calls for its adoption in the 1980s,and the Fishery Law of the People's Republic of China integrated the nascent concept of catch quota management(fishing quotas)into its legal framework in 2000.Despite these early initiatives,the practical implementation of catch quota management in China has faced significant challenges.For instance,attempts to reform fishery rights in Z Province through catch quota management encountered numerous impediments.Most existing research on catch quota management has predominantly emphasized on the institutionalization of the system.Nonetheless,this study,informed by extensive fieldwork and interviews,identifies a critical impediment to the reform of fishery rights in Z Province:a lack of impetus in local governance.This inertia manifests in local governments'reluctance to place catch quota management in action over the input factor management,resulting in the delegation of responsibilities like the delineation of fishery rights and the establishment of transfer markets to subordinate governments and fishing associations.Consequently,the slow progress in defining fishery rights and developing a transfer market has compromised fishermen's interests and elicited opposition from various stakeholders within the fisheries sector.The cause of this inertia lies in the disconnect between China's existing fishery legal framework and local governments'execution of catch quota management.The majority of provisions in fishery laws,including the Fishery Law of the People's Republic of China,are predicated on input factors,with performance evaluations also tethered to the efficacy of input factor management.This construct implies that local governments are legally accountable for managing input factors rather than catch quotas.Therein lies the conundrum:local governments are at a loss on how to implement catch quota management in accordance with fishery laws and are unable to gain favorable performance evaluations through such management.Thus,there is a stark absence of motivation for local governments to implement catch quota management.Addressing this issue is pivotal and hinges on empowering local governments through fishery legislation to implement catch quotas.The solution proposed entails revising the fishery law to incorporate a new accountability framework and recalibrated evaluation metrics.This revision aims to ensure that local governments possess the knowledge to enact catch quota management and can secure commensurate recognition for their performance.Empowering local government through legislative means constitutes a vital first step towards the successful enactment of catch quota management in China.Subsequent to this,there remains a pressing need for further in-depth research into catch quota management by both Chinese academia and practitioners.
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