I really think much depends upon the stock being fished and how it's being fished. Never should a case like that of the Atlantic cod be permitted to happen, but it doesn't have to. Under ordinary circumstances, most populations can sustain some level of harvest. I take no issue with them doing so, but the regulations really should reflect a realistically sustainable yield. Where there are fisheries not being managed well and subject to non-sustainable harvests comfortably outside of rational regulation (Chilean sea bass, e.g.), I will not indulge.
However, I admit, it is extremely rare for me to ever buy fish. I catch my own, and not only do I do so within the letter of the law, but the moral standards to which I hold myself when harvesting wild fish is more stringent than the regulations. I will not harvest from easily exploited, habitat-limited lotic populations, for example, even where it is permitted.
What I perceive to be the real issue regarding the sustainability of any of our renewable resources unfortunately is one that gets almost no attention from the popular press or politics and not enough from environmentalists: there are too many damned people occupying a finite amount of space with a huge aptitude for making yet more people.
However, I admit, it is extremely rare for me to ever buy fish. I catch my own, and not only do I do so within the letter of the law, but the moral standards to which I hold myself when harvesting wild fish is more stringent than the regulations. I will not harvest from easily exploited, habitat-limited lotic populations, for example, even where it is permitted.
What I perceive to be the real issue regarding the sustainability of any of our renewable resources unfortunately is one that gets almost no attention from the popular press or politics and not enough from environmentalists: there are too many damned people occupying a finite amount of space with a huge aptitude for making yet more people.
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Amen, brother.
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