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The Atlantic: Privatize the seas

Posted by: Maven on June 16, 2009 at 7:51 am

From The Atlantic, this column from Gregg Easterbrook:

A few years ago at the Double Musky Inn in Girdwood, Alaska, I had a halibut dinner so delicious, I can still taste that fish. Good restaurant? Yes, but even better fishery management. About a decade ago, the Alaskan halibut catch was switched from a system of “catch all you can” in a very short period, to a system of tradeable permits. Now halibut season does not happen over a few chaotic days marred by colliding boats and overlapping lines, followed by freezing of the fish and a price bust as everything hits the market at once. Instead, fishermen holding an assured right, which they won on the free market (to bid for a permit, go to www.alaskabroker.com), spread their work over many months. Thus halibut coming to the market are just-caught fresh, and the price of fish is less likely to soar and plunge. And halibut stocks, spared a concentrated onslaught of fishing boats, are more sustainable.

Many environmental alarms are overstated, but fishery depletion is not. Numerous fish stocks are shrinking; in 2003, about a third were close to collapse. Because developing nations depend on fish for protein, this issue is not just for sushi aficionados.

Read the rest of this column from The Atlantic by clicking here.

June 16, 2009 · Filed Under Oceans & Beaches

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