BBC: “There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a major scientific study. Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the rate of decline is accelerating.”
Probably, if Mark Kurlansky’s Cod is accurate. Per that, the entire Canadian fishing industry up in the Newfoundland area depleted cod to the point that they were out of work – and now (well, whenever now was when that was published) as steps are taken to re-introduce cod into the area waters, the fishermen want to jump right back into it full-time, even though the fish are too young, too small, and nowhere near plentiful enough.
As a Newfoundlander (though not a fisherman) I take offense to the above comment. While Newfoundlanders have done their fare share in depleting the cod stocks the major problem has been unregulated foreign over fishing. During the 1990s while Newfoundlanders boats were ‘locked-to-the-docks’ Spanish and Portuguese boats were given free reign over the ocean without the Canadian government so much as asking them nicely to slow down.
As for the comment of ‘the fishermen want to jump right back into it full-time’. I don’t blame them at all for this mentality. Imagine a government – your own government – lambasting you with scorn for destroying a natural resource, then locking up your boat only to turn a blind eye to foreign countries practicing just what has been deemed criminal of yourself. The Canadian government has a responsibility to stick up for its’ citizens – all of its’ citizens – and in this case it has failed miserably.
I stand corrected. I was going strictly by memory of reading that book, probably five or six years back, and Chris’ comments are dead on about the non-Canadian countires not being regulated, etc. My bad for not going back to verify my “facts.”