Comment to the article by R. Hannesson “Norway's experience with ITQs”

This paper comments and discuss the article by R. Hannesson “Norway's experience with ITQs” published in Marine Policy 37 2013. He gives a good description of how the management system has developed towards transferable quotas both in the bottom and pelagic fisheries. He concludes that the introduction of transferable quota has improved the profitability in the fisheries and uses several indicators to support his view. This paper concludes that both the use of indicators and data make it difficult to isolate the effect on profitability caused by introduction of quota trading in the Norwegian fisheries.