For some fisheries in the U.S., the state or federal government imposes "gear restrictions" that limit the size of boats, nets, or other equipment that may be used to harvest the fish in a given body of water. The purpose of the gear restrictions is to:
A) prevent everyone from using the common property resource (fish).
B) make it harder for other members of society to harvest the resource. This reduces the opportunity cost of the resource for other members of society, and the marginal social cost is closer to the private cost.
C) increase the private cost of using the resource so that the private cost is closer to the marginal social cost.
D) maintain traditional ways of harvesting fish, which is valuable for promoting tourism.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The purpose of the gear restrictions is to increase the private cost of using the resource so that the private cost is closer to the marginal social cost. This helps to prevent overfishing and depletion of the fish population, which can have negative economic and ecological impacts in the long run. By increasing the private cost, the government is incentivizing fishers to think more carefully about their harvest and to use more sustainable practices, which benefits society as a whole.

For Some Fisheries in the U