from Joseph Toscano, whose Anarchist Age is sometimes interesting:


STOP PRESS

OVERFISHED

It is hard to believe that Australian fisheries are in danger of
being wiped out. How can a country with the third largest
fishing zone in the world, covering nearly 9 million square
kilometres, extending 200 kilometres from the coastline, find
itself in such a parlous situation? Australia has currently
allocated 1200 commercial fishing licenses. They catch about
72,000 tonnes of fish a year to generate a $500 million income.
Things have become so bad, commercial fishing licenses will be
decreased from 1,200 to 600 during the next 12 moths, through
license buy back schemes that will cost about $150 million.

It seems that both Federal and State governments have taken
little notice of the lessons of the past. Within a decade of
the beginning of white colonisation, Australia's abundant seal
supplies disappeared. Commercial whaling had the same effect on
the country's whaling stock. The problem is not just a local
problem; it is a world wide problem. The world's fisheries
have come under sustained attack from commercial interests over
the past few decades. Larger ships that are able to stay out
longer and refrigerate larger catches have depleted the world's
fisheries stocks.

The tragedy about the coastal fishing industry is that the
situation has arisen because governments have done little to
ensure that fishing stocks are rested. Resting coastal
fisheries and allowing the fish to breed, can overcome the
severe pressure many find themselves in today. Like any
renewable resource, management is the key to maintaining
adequate supplies of fish. Water, the forests and now
fisheries find themselves in this situation because State
governments have over allocated licenses, believing there is no
tomorrow.

The fate of the country's fisheries in an indictment on an
economic system that forces people to stay in jobs that do
damage to the environment because their livelihood is tied up
in that industry. It makes little sense to continue to pursue
economic initiatives that have caused so much irreparable damage
in such a short time.



Joseph TOSCANO / Libertarian Workers For A Self-Managed Society.