American Bison are an example which sheds light on the problem. The Bison in the commons were exploited to near extinction, but the Bison on private ranchland a

American Bison are an example which sheds light on the problem. The Bison in the commons were exploited to near extinction, but the Bison on private ranchland are plentiful today. The problem is not commercial fishing or commercial hunting, the problem is a lack of ownership. If you have no means to prevent others from overexploiting a resource, then you have no incentive to protect it; If you don't own the resource and nobody will stop anyone from exploiting it, your best move is to join in exploiting it at whatever rate humanly possible.