Common property rights pose one of the most pervasive problems for fisheries management, legitimising exploitative behaviours among competing resource users and inhibiting the development of effective management regimes for sustainable fisheries. This reference examines issues of property rights and regulatory systems at different levels in the hierarchy of management from local inshore fisheries, through coastal state jurisdiction to international high seas regimes. Contributions include an assessment of the new international regime in the aftermath of the UN Agreement on high seas fishing; the legal interpretations of property rights; key issues for the reform of the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy; and the efficacy of local community management systems.