One of the earliest means instituted to prevent over fishing was catch limits. While, on the surface it appeared a logical solution, no one considered the consequences. Limit the catch to 100 pounds per boat and problem solved!
But, fishing is an iffy endeavor; no fish one day, more than can be counted the next and what happened to the additional 200 pounds above the 100 pound limit hauled aboard in a net; much of it dead or dying? Laws said the fish had to be thrown overboard, show up at the fish processor with too many pounds and face severe penalties…so 200 pounds were thrown back in the sea, dead or dying, wasted; no benefit to the fishermen, no benefit to the shoppers at the fish markets, fish dead or dying that would never reproduce and propagate their species; but, the fisherman had complied with the catch-limit laws. The cod fishermen on the Georges Bank alone tossed 1,000,000 pounds back into the sea in 2006 in order to comply with catch-limit laws; a discard rate of approximately 30%
According to a recent article in U.S. News & World Report written by Bret Schulte, the fishing regulations that have dictated catch limits, days at sea, restricted areas, and net size are failing miserably. In his article “One Fish, Two Fish, No Fish” Schulte writes that 25% of the fisheries the regulations were supposed to ‘fix’ remain in peril due to continued over fishing.
As it became more and more evident that the ‘keep one pound, throw back two’ laws were not working, and as some fishermen became more educated and realized that the sea’s bounty was not limitless, a new idea began to emerge among some fisheries. Fishermen began banding together in co-operatives with the blessings of the fisheries regulatory bodies. Each side gives a little for the benefit of the whole, that being the sustainability of the fisheries.
