A
aquaculture raising fish for harvest in controlled conditions.

B
bycatch fishery catch discarded because it is undersized or non-marketable.

C
carrying capacity the level of population and consumption sustainable by the available natural resource base.

certification the process of certifying products that meet certain standards, such as certifying produce grown using organic farming techniques.

E
ecolabeling a label on a good that provides information concerning the environmental impact of producing the good.

ecological complexity the presence of many different living and nonliving elements in an ecosystem interacting in complex patterns; ecosystem complexity implies that human impact on ecosystems may be unpredictable.

economic efficiency an allocation of resources that maximizes net social benefits; perfectly competitive markets in the absence of externalities are efficient.

economic optimum a result that maximizes an economic criterion, such as efficiency or profits.

economic rent income that accrues to the owner of a scarce resource.

I
individual transferable quotas (ITQs) tradable rights to harvest a resource, such as a permit to harvest a particular quantity of fish.

inflection point the point on a curve where the second derivative equals zero, indicating a change from positive to negative curvature or vice versa.

institutional failure the failure of governments or other institutions to prevent resource overexploitation, or the use of policies that promote resource overexploitation and environmental damage.

L
Law of the Sea a 1982 international treaty regulating marine fisheries.

license fee the fee paid for access to a resource, such as a fishing license.

logistic curve an S-shaped growth curve tending toward an upper limit.

M
market failure the failure of certain markets to provide a socially efficient allocation of resources.

maximum sustainable yield (MSY) the maximum quantity of a natural resource that can be harvested annually without depleting the resource stock or population.

monoculture an agricultural system involving the growing of the same crop exclusively on a piece of land year after year.

O
open-access equilibrium the level of use of an open-access resource that results from a market with free entry; this use level may lead to resource depletion.

open-access resource(s) a resource that offers unrestricted access such as an ocean fishery or the atmosphere.

overfishing a level of fishing effort that depletes fishery stock over time.

P
population biology the study of how a species population changes as a result of environmental conditions.

precautionary principle the view that policies should account for uncertainty by taking steps to avoid outcomes that are damaging to health or the environment, especially when such outcomes are irreversible.

private ownership the provision of certain exclusive rights to a particular resource, such as the right of a landowner to restrict trespassing.

Q
quota (system) a system of limiting resource access through user limits on the permissible resource harvest.

R
renewable resource(s) resources supplied on a continuing basis by ecosystems; renewable resources such as forests and fisheries can be depleted through exploitation.

rent dissipation the loss of potential social and economic benefits in a market because of market failure.

resilience eosystem capacity to recover from adverse impact.

S
sink function the environment’s ability to absorb and render harmless the by-products of human activity.

source function the environment’s ability to make services and raw materials available for human use.

stable equilibrium an equilibrium of, for example, a renewable resource stock level, to which the system will tend to return after short-term changes in conditions.

subsidies government assistance to an industry or economic activity; subsidies can be direct, through financial assistance, or indirect, through protective policies.

sustainable (natural resource) management management of natural resources such that natural capital remains constant over time, including maintenance of both stocks and flows.

T
total product the total quantity of a good or service produced with a given quantity of inputs.

tragedy of the commons the tendency for common property resources to be overexploited because no one has an incentive to conserve the resource, while individual financial incentives promote expanded exploitation.

U
unstable equilibrium a temporary equilibrium of, for example, a renewable resource stock level, that can be altered by minor changes in conditions, resulting in a large change in stock levels.