Ecologically sustainable fisheries : society, politics, biology and economics in fisheries management

The global fisheries crisis of the 1990s has heightened concerns about ecologically sustainable management of fisheries. There is nothing new about the recent failures of particular fisheries. They fit a pattern often repeated through history. But the scale of the current crisis makes it more dramatic, and virgin stocks are no longer available to provide opportunities for expansion. To achieve sustainable fisheries in the future we need to identify and address the causes of fisheries failures. These causes may be far reaching and be integral to the social, political and economic structures of society. Meaningful solutions therefore, may only be achieved by successfully challenging established social, political and economic structures and interests. Ultimately the ecological sustainability of fisheries may depend more on the nature of the societies who use them than on particular biological considerations. Fisheries management with holistic goals that contribute to the development of a sustainable society may have greater relevance than management that focuses on biological and economic issues in isolation and without regard to wider social and political implications. Holistic management might also achieve better biological and economic outcomes in the short term. Sustainable societies are those that can contain the selfish aspirations of vested interests that would seek advantage at the expense of the well-being of present and future generations of society as a whole. Egalitarian democracy with an ability to protect the common good is therefore a prime requirement for a sustainable society. Use of fisheries resources in ways that contribute to the equalisation of wealth and power in society, therefore contributes to the development of sustainable societies. Fisheries management based on enclosure and privileged access, including many strategies using tradable quota, contributes to the consolidation of wealth and power in few hands, and regardless of short term outcomes, may undermine the long term prospects for sustainability.