The 'freedom' of maritime fisheries

The paper discusses limitations on the freedom of marine fisheries in international EU, and Polish laws. The primary motivation behind limiting the freedoms of fisheries is the protection of the marine environment. The regulation on marine fisheries of 2004 includes many limitations of economic freedom, e.g., the necessity of registering fishing vessels, the requirement of licenses and catch permits. The Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union also places many limitations on fisheries. The 'freedom ' of marine fisheries is presented in quotation marks for good reasons. The author concludes that it is currently difficult to assume that marine fisheries are a free economic activity.