Rules, norms and strategies of kangaroo harvest

Kangaroos are a common pool resource harvested for commercial markets that utilise meat and skins. Harvest is regulated by legislation that establishes the formal rules of the kangaroo industry. Our recent research, conducted in South Australia, examined the formal rules of commercial harvest and has also uncovered informal institutions in operation. By analysing data from interviews with landholders (pastoral lease holders), kangaroo harvesters and kangaroo meat processors we found that the formal rules imposed by government regulators are not always congruent with efficient and effective harvest regimes. We have used Crawford and Ostrom's (2005) syntax for classifying rules in our examination of the informal institutions fashioned by industry actors. Resource users may not always follow the formal rules of use imposed by government, but when personal livelihoods are at stake they do act to conserve their resource base.D.A. Thomsen and J. Davie