"Wildlife and Habitat Conservation News." Environmental News Network -- Know Your Environment. Web. 27 May 2010. .
This article is discussing a 12 year research project that studied how where you fish effects fishing yields. In places where fishing is common there are usually some sorts of restrictions, this can be regulating gear or closing certain areas to fishing completely. Interestingly enough, the study found that fishermen brought in more fish when they fished near the places that are closed to fishing. This is due to the fact that larger, more rare fish are entering fisheries indirectly through the closures. Also, the fish in the closure have a higher chance of growing bigger and therefore having a higher reproductive rate which gives the fishermen more fish to catch.
This article reminded me of one of the worksheets we did where we had to choose where to fish and what equipment to use. There is a certain amount of guessing involved in fishing. It is hard to know the fish's migration patterns so it is helpful to fishermen when research is done to help them. It is interesting that the places that are closed to fishing allow for stronger, healthier fish that produce more offspring which helps the fishermen. There are many people who protest fishing restrictions in general and this study helps to prove to them that some restrictions are actually more helpful to fishermen than having unrestricted fishing. A lot of people think that all government restrictions of any kind are unnecessary but what they need to realize is that most government laws are aimed at helping the common citizen and not hurting them. They want the best for their people. This article also brought back thoughts about the Tragedy of the Commons and how some government regulation of some kind is necessary to avoid total environmental degradation.
"There are many people who protest fishing restrictions in general and this study helps to prove to them that some restrictions are actually more helpful to fishermen than having unrestricted fishing" Just a quick question, are these protesters small family owned businesses or the major corporations that can finish up the job and then move on to a new area.
ReplyDeleteKate, I really enjoyed both this article and your analysis, but there seems to be one point which is slightly misstated.
ReplyDeleteYou say, "This article also brought back thoughts about the Tragedy of the Commons and how some government regulation of some kind is necessary to avoid total environmental degradation." The Tragedy of the Commons posits the theory that unless an individual holds a private stake in something, they will not take care of it duly. This creates a system in which publically-owned land is degraded extensively since no one individual is held liable. Acceptance of the TRagedy of the Commons would not lend itself to the belief that we need more public ownership through government regulation, but quite the opposite: that we need privatization of currently degraded public lands in order to counteract the Tragedy of the Commons.
This is quite interesting. I like how the restrictions have proven to help the population grow and fishermen catch more fish. Also what is important is that this article supports the sustainable approach to fishing while helping the economy. Therefore every fisherman should start supporting these restrictions to help the Earth along with their bills.
ReplyDeleteI found this article fascinating in the ways that it combined to analysis and the synthesis that you gathered from the information. This really is a great real world example of what we have learned in class. The tragedy of the commons really plays an integral part in the fishing market, and this is deftly illustrated by Kates beautiful rendition of the situation. If people are not willing to be careful in the ways that they care for their environment, then they should not be allowed to be in our environment. Every person who catches fish for a living needs to be strictly regulated and managed so as to stop to tragedy that is ripping apart our community. We must stick together to stay together.
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