You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Fishing/Hunting’ category.
Stumbling upon the Gourmet and NYTimes articles on “fish shares” last Saturday compelled me to put up a post titled “Fish Shares for MV Striper”. In light of Owen’s comments in response (on the perceived upsides to implementing a fish share system), and after a bit more reading, I want to add a few additional comments.
It wasn’t until this morning that I first read about the novel concept of “fish shares.” Am I behind the times? Perhaps. But regardless of how cutting edge this idea (and practice) is, it merits significantly greater attention. Why aren’t the commercial striper fishermen off the coast of Cape Cod using a fish share system?
What are fish shares? The concept is based on the idea of regulating the fishing industry so that it remains healthy, and fish stocks aren’t depleted. By contrast to the current use of total catch quotas, i.e. X lbs of striper can be caught in a given season, fish shares rely on individual quotas or shares, i.e. each fisherman can bring in X lbs of striper in a given season. What is the result? By removing the pressure from fishermen to go out and get as many fish as quickly as possible to beat out competing fishermen, a system of fish shares encourages catching fish more gradually.
Andrew Maki
Alex Welles
Owen Maloy
Oh no! A small FISH future!
April 7, 2009 in Commentary, Fishing/Hunting | Tags: evolution, fish, fishing, hunting, natural selection, small | by Andrew Maki | Leave a comment
Apparently my fishing habits are altering the size of future fish, and not in a good way, according to a National Public Radio broadcast (January 16th 2009) on fishing and hunting.
Have you ever heard tales of epic battles with gigantic fish that took place many moons ago? Have you ever wondered why the largest fish that you ever caught you caught when you were a kid?
Apparently by catching and keeping big fish, we are all aiding the evolutionary process of natural selection that is leading to smaller fish. Why? Because we anglers who are fishing for dinner throw back the little guys and keep the larger ones. As a result, so says NPR, being small is a strategic advantage, and a characteristic that is transferable through generations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Share this:
Like this: