Abstract:“Co‐management”; is among several slogans used to indicate a dissatisfaction with present systems and a movement to more decentralized systems of marine resource management. The authors note the necessary distinction between decentralization and participatory management and use comparative analyses of case studies of fisheries management systems in Scandinavian and North American countries and New Zealand to explore potentials for both decentralization and delegation of authority in fisheries management. The article focuses on issues of representation, domain, and communication in the design of fisheries management systems. It notes the value of the concept of subsidiarity, recently adopted in the process of European integration, and raises the question of sources of more “communicative rationality”; in the social and political processes surrounding fisheries MANAgement.

Associated theories:

• Participatory management (support)