ever seen what a bottom trawl net does to the sea floor? imagine one of those old, grainy nuclear weapons test films: it's like that. the problem is, not only does it gather up whatever the fishing crew is looking for - it also kills literally everything else. it's kind of like dropping a neutron bomb on the chicago stockyards because you fancy a bit of barbecue.
the problem is, we assume that the supply of fish is endless, and that they belong to anyone that catches them. that kind of thinking will lead to the end of almost every commercial fishing stock within the next 20 years or so.
solution? award ownership of the fishing stocks to the community, almost like a stock grant. because the value of the stock goes up if the fish actually still exist, the community has a vested interest in making sure that the fish continue to exist.
doh!
