> another way to prevent a tragedy of the commons is to get rid of the commons: grant exclusive use of the former commons to a single party, who then has an incentive for good stewardship.
There is a single party, and it is The State of Maine.
> And quite contrary to Kelly's characterization of it, Maine's solution to managing its lobster rights can be seen as an instance of favoring the few over the many
I fail to see your reasoning here. A single corporate entity would would prefer to employ the smallest number of people possible.