The BBC’s Sarah Simpson recently wrote an excellent article on the sorts of problems that fish industries have encountered around the world as traditional methods of regulating the fish stock are increasingly made irrelevant by newer methods of harvesting the oceans.
Simpson reports on the fishing industry in Elmina, Ghana. Traditionally, fishing was (and is) carried out in canoes. As demand for fish has increased and Ghanans have limited economic opportunities, the rather predictable result has been overfishing that has depleted fishing stocks. Of course, this then leads to a cycle of additional overfishing which leads to yet smaller fishing yields which in turn fuels the overfishing problem. In January 2002, for example, the number of fishing permits issued in Ghana had increased by 800 percent.
Like most nation-states, the government of Ghana’s attempt to deal with the problem focuses on command-and-control regulations that try to limit catches by fiat. The problem, of course, is that Ghana lacks the resources to actually enforce such laws.
Meanwhile Simpson reports that even though the fisherman are just one step ahead of bankruptcy, they are resistant to any attempts to diversify the Elmina economy to reduce the reliance on fishing.
Fishing currently contributes an estimated 7 percent of Ghana’s GDP and is a major source of jobs and exports for the country. But handling the transition to intensive production while maintaining stocks will be a major challenge for Ghana and other nations.
Source:
Ghana Fishing Data. Agro-Ind.Com, 2002.
Fishing for a future. Sarah Simpson, The BBC, March 19, 2003.
Overfishing is also linked to the hunting of wildlife for bush meat. If there is a low stock in fish the pursuit for bush meat increases. This puts many animals at risk for extinction and leads to a decrease of predators. Nationals Geographic’s has made a series called “Strange Days” that talks about overfishing and its relationship to hunting wild life. Here is the link if you want to see the episode.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N_TSIMWnvb4
Problems of a craft a fish by separate national groups as costs(stands) and in Russia. Last time in connection with reduction of number a fish in north of the country the problem of a craft at the radical population of north and Far East has become aggravated.