Fish are hidden under the water so the unsustainable harvesting
isn’t quite as obvious as the unsustainable government debt but
they both are a result of us living beyond our sustainable
production. You can live well by consuming past wealth and
condemning your decedents to do without. That is the way we
continue to live. Over-fishing a century ago was not as
obviously dangerous as it is today. But we have witnessed many
instances of overfishing devastating the fishing economy (when
the fishing is unsustainable the inevitable result is collapse
and elimination of the vast majority of the food and income that
previous generations enjoyed). The normal pattern has been to
turn to more aggressive fishing methods and new technology to
try and collect fish as over-fishing devastates yields. This, of
course, further devastates the state of the resources and makes
it so recovery will take much much longer (decades – or more).
New research shows the existing problems and the potential if we
apply science and planning