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Jeff's Research
Analyzing Legal/Policy Rules and Frameworks for Fisheries Management in the Great Lakes Basin:
Identifying and Assessing Overlaps, Conflicts, and Gaps
Many people and most fishery managers in the Great Lakes region, believe the goal for
Great Lakes fisheries is sustainability. Attaining this goal is made more difficult due to the multiple
jurisdictions that share management authority over the Great Lakes fishery and the multitude of
activities that affect it.
Each authority creates its own bodies of laws, rules and regulations, or legal framework, for the
fisheries or activities that impact the fishery. Although, there has been some coordination in the
creation of these legal frameworks, the laws are by no means uniform or consistent.
The goal of my research is to assemble the basic legal framework for fishery management in the
Great Lakes Basin, specifically, to outline the structure of management authority in the Basin
and some of the basic legal mandates and powers of the fishery management authorities.
I will outline gaps, overlaps, and conflicts in management authority and legal requirements
with respect to the main threats to Great Lakes fisheries. I will survey the literature applicable to
Great Lakes fishery management in order to locate and define potential strengths and weaknesses. Data
collection will consist primarily of review of legal
materials (namely statutes, regulations and policies) and semi-structured
interviews with fishery managers to obtain their perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of the
current legal framework.
Public Trust Doctrine
The Public Trust doctrine is many things to many people in the realm of natural resource management
and protection. Relic, sleeping giant, environmental savior, and grantor of management authority
to name a few. Most would agree that it is a legal doctrine created in Rome and passed through
England to Canada and the U.S. It basically states that certain resources are owned in common
by the people of a state, and that the state has a responsibility to protect that resource for
the benefit of the public. Adopted by U.S. common law courts, the doctrine played a vital role
in determining the rights of states and people with respect to navigable waterways. Current use
has been nearly non-existent, which is odd given the power that many believe the doctrine
possesses. Perhaps it?s under utilization is due to ambiguity in the scope of the doctrine, or
to the conflict of political ideologies concerning privatization and resource protection, or something
else. Any
potential explanations for this nonuse should be explored in order to overcome barriers to its
increased use to protect water and fisheries. This research looks at how courts in the
Great Lakes provinces and states have interpreted this doctrine, and to what extent it may
apply to Great Lakes fisheries.
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