UN say oceans will run out of fish

NEW YORK (AFP) – The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned. Sebastian Smith, May 17, 2010

So, the fish in the oceans will disappear! I doubt it, but the theory reinforces the Tragedy of the Commons theory advocated by Garrett Hardin, 1968. From Wikipedia- "The tragedy of the commons refers to a dilemma described in an influential article written by Garrett Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968. The article describes a situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently, and solely and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen."

What Hardin was saying is that private property will be better utilized because it is in the self interest of the private owner to maximize the value of the property.

On April 25, 2009 I wrote about privatizing the international waters. "Now I propose privatizing the international waters. This corporation would be owned by each citizen of the world. Each world citizen would own 100 shares of the International Waters Corp. The corporation would charge users for shipping, fishing and mining and any other use.

The dividends would be paid to any world citizen when they reach age 18. This is because much of the world is poor. Many countries have life spans of their citizens that would prevent them from living long enough to collect dividends in old age, as I proposed for privatizing U.S. government owned assets. A few dollars in dividends would mean a lot to a poor villager in an undeveloped country."

If a private corporation owned the fishing rights of the oceans they would manage the fish population just like a dairy or beef farmer manages their stock. The owners of the International Waters Corp would demand profits and dividends for their retirement. The corporation would stock the oceans and make sure there was a product to sell to the fishing industry, for a profit.

The likely solution will be the usual government control of the ocean fishing industry, with treaties that limit the harvesting of fish, but nothing to do with increasing production. Governments do not operate efficiently.

Rich people are greedy. So are poor people.

Charles Tolleson