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Exploiting protected fish stocks and ecosystems happens far too often with minimal consequences... and the knock-on effects of this trend are terrible for every

Exploiting protected fish stocks and ecosystems happens far too often with minimal consequences... and the knock-on effects of this trend are terrible for everyone. Would love to see someone do a full breakdown on courses of action here that might actually be effective.. along with pros/cons/costs and analysis of why they haven't been pursued already.

dalbasal 5y ago
Courses of action are plenty. These are foreign fleets illegally fishing territorial waters, so there's no real reason for authorities to object to enforcement. In this case, the problem is enforcement, which locals on here seem to think is related to coast guard resources and/or corruption. I would hazard that its an issue of will and/or competency, in this case. Overharvesting in international waters and overharvesting legally within territorial waters is a different issue. The actual solution, IMO, is a blanket ban with certain exemptions. Fishing is very political thought, and constantly underestimated by politicians and MOPs who naively wade in. Financially, fishing is not that big an industry. It does represent a livelihood for a lot of people. It also has huge cultural significance, literally an ancient way of life. For everyone else, it has some cultural significance, culinary significance... so a touches a lot of people. It's genuinely a big ask. I support a ban, but underestimating effects on people is a recipe for failure, and bad blood. Commercial, terrestrial wild harvests at industrial scale famously wiped out US bison herds very quickly. One notable example of many. Inland fisheries, especially salmon, faired similarly. Bans have been far more effective than controlled harvests. Two big examples are Cod and whaling. Cod fishing is one of the oldest modern regulatory history in fishing... but Cod never recovered. Whaling OTOH, most species that were not depleted entirely have recovered. The ban worked. Oceanic fishing is similar to terrestrial harvests and inland fisheries , just bigger and with the added difficulty of requiring international coordination. We can't harvest wild stock sustainably at a commercial scale. Perhaps it's possible in theory, but theory has rarely proven out in practice.

dalbasal 5y ago

Courses of action are plenty. These are foreign fleets illegally fishing territorial waters, so there's no real reason for authorities to object to enforcement. In this case, the problem is enforcement, which locals on here seem to think is related to coast guard resources and/or corruption. I would hazard that its an issue of will and/or competency, in this case. Overharvesting in international waters and overharvesting legally within territorial waters is a different issue. The actual solution, IMO, is a blanket ban with certain exemptions. Fishing is very political thought, and constantly underestimated by politicians and MOPs who naively wade in. Financially, fishing is not that big an industry. It does represent a livelihood for a lot of people. It also has huge cultural significance, literally an ancient way of life. For everyone else, it has some cultural significance, culinary significance... so a touches a lot of people. It's genuinely a big ask. I support a ban, but underestimating effects on people is a recipe for failure, and bad blood. Commercial, terrestrial wild harvests at industrial scale famously wiped out US bison herds very quickly. One notable example of many. Inland fisheries, especially salmon, faired similarly. Bans have been far more effective than controlled harvests. Two big examples are Cod and whaling. Cod fishing is one of the oldest modern regulatory history in fishing... but Cod never recovered. Whaling OTOH, most species that were not depleted entirely have recovered. The ban worked. Oceanic fishing is similar to terrestrial harvests and inland fisheries , just bigger and with the added difficulty of requiring international coordination. We can't harvest wild stock sustainably at a commercial scale. Perhaps it's possible in theory, but theory has rarely proven out in practice.