James Acheson cogently analyzes a 70-year process during which the lobster fishermen of Maine boot strapped modest improvement after modest improvement on the condition of their fishery after suffering through a major bust. By devising rules that protected breeding stock and juveniles, the lobster stock began to expand. By gaining confidence in their rules, those responsible gained confidence to devise still more ways of conserving the stock. Managers of other resource systems and scholars can learn major lessons from reading this carefully documented and theoretically informed volume. I will be assigning this book to my own students and recommending it to resource manager in all parts of the world. All who read this book will benefit.
