This paper reviews the ways in which policies of enclosure, privatization, and deregulation have unfolded in several regions of North America and examines the consequences they have had for small-scale fisheries in practice. This introductory essay provides a brief overview of the history of neoliberal thought, discusses some of the key ways it has influenced fisheries policies in North America and around the world, and presents a thematic overview of the papers included in this special issue.