Fishermen ride sustainability wave

[eppur_se_muova]

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
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"In general, all {species} have been depleted; here in Lira, octopus, squid, brown crab and turbot have virtually disappeared. We think over-exploitation and over-fishing is a large part of this, and we as fishermen have a responsibility."

The Lira fishermen, led by Mr Gomez Leis, have embarked on a radical plan to safeguard their fishery: they are asking to catch less.

They want to establish a marine reserve along their stretch of coast, which lies between La Coruna and Vigo, two major ports in the province of Galicia. Within the reserve, fishing will be prohibited at certain places and in certain seasons of the year.

They hope this will allow the stocks of brown crab, octopus and turbot to recover, so the grounds where they do fish will regain their former bountiful condition. They hope that catching less will enable them to catch more¿ in the future.

Precautionary principle

The Lira marine reserve would by no means be the first in the world, of course, or even the first in Spain; though it is a Spanish first in the sense that the fishermen themselves are demanding the restrictions.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7067795.stm

[wordpix]

1. sigh. I wish this would be done worldwide. Our oceans are depleted

I was on the Delaware coast a couple of years ago and went to a fish market. I asked if any of the fish was local. No was the answer, the fish were from a Philadelphia market. ALL the fish used to be local at Del. coast fish markets 40 yrs. ago.

[Odin2005]

2. The tragedy of the commons.

There needs to be some supranational authority that creates and enforces regulations for fishing in international waters.