Global Fishing and the Tragedy of the Commons
Little humanity does today is stable, and as we look towards the future we have fewer and fewer options
sourceHumanities system of use for ocean resources must be changed to become sustainable. The oceans are treated as commons in which many different groups are able to fish. In today’s world this often takes the shape of for-profit actors within market systems. This leads to the tragedy of the commons, a tragedy with which there is no solution within our market systems. The only possible solution requires a planned economy.
The Tragedy of the Commons
The tragedy of the commons is applicable to capitalism today. It was first thought up by William Forster Lloyd in 1833, and outlines observed human use of resources. The tragedy of the commons takes place on commonly owned land when privately controlled means of production based on resource extraction become prevalent on the land. When the means of production are privately owned much of the profit goes into new capital in an effort to expand the means of production to secure more profit. If an individual or company does not choose to do this they will lose market share and have less of an impact in the future. Concentrated capital tends to be more efficient, as more advanced instruments can be used and existing machines can be improved, but other limitations may come into place to slow or stall the flow of capital under some circumstances. As the means of production expand, the use of the common property increases. The most common theoretical given of the tragedy of the commons was applied to grazing animals on common land that supplied grass. When the animals are privately owned, the people have the incentive to bring as many as possible. When the carrying capacity was exceeded animals were still brought, lowering the total amount of food each gets, which past a point lowers the total amount of product produced from these animals more than the inclusion of a new animal increases it. People who are in search of profit will continue to bring in animals as long as they can personally earn a profit, even if it ends up hurting the whole. The most common solution to this is split up the common land into privately owned sections.
The oceans are an example of the tragedy of the commons. Sustainability is a long-debated issue with ocean fishing today, with no clear answer. As areas become overfished the amount of fish caught there declines, and management is needed to bring the maximum sustainable fishing rate back up. This means other spots must be fished more in order to keep production the same as before, which eventually leads to them eventually becoming overfished as well. Only 20% of fish stocks are not being fully or overexploited. Allow stocks to rebuild could bring up production by 16.5 tonnes a year, which is nearly 18% the yearly captured fish. Illicit fishing produces about 26 million tonnes per year, which is very hard to control and often helps lead to overfishing. Small-scale fisheries employ about 90% of the worlds fishermen, and they tend to be harder to regulate, even when legal. This is partially because of how the markets operate within the fishing industry. Fishermen tend to know little of markets, that tends to be restricted to the traders and processors. That leads to exploitative relationships and makes it impossible to combat overfishing through market forces on that front. The larger fishing boats, usually controlled by large-scale fisheries, can stay out at sea for months at a time. This is because they practise processing and freezing fish as they are caught. This gives them a chance to have less of an impact than the smaller local fishermen, and move around to sell their fish at a much higher profit. With so much movement, private ownership would be very difficult (and expensive) to pull off.
“Certainly in Fiji, exporters are, on average, earning several times more gross income (per kg) from exporting sea cucumbers than fishers earn from selling dried sea cucumbers to them. There was less disparity in Kiribati, where fishers earned slightly more gross income per kg of dried sea cucumbers than exporters. “ - Distribution of economic returns in small-scale fisheries for international markets: A value-chain analysis
The Real Problem
The problem is not the fishermen’s understanding of markets. The livelihood of fishermen and the food of coastal areas often depends on the fish brought in. Small fisheries are much less efficient, at the order of requiring five times as many people to produce the same (market) value of fish. There must be alternative reasons as to why small still exist, other than global profit rates. These fishermen, unlike the ones laboring on the ships with freezing and processing on board, likely do not have the ability to travel large distances to take advantages of market differences. This means they must instead sell their fish locally, where the cost of distribution from an outward source outweighs the inefficiency of local fishing. This means that even if they do make enough profit to accumulate capital they would eventually move out of that area to find more fish and sell fish at better prices, leaving it open to local small-boat fishermen once again. This will lead to the depletion of fish stocks as long as people are able to make a living off of fishing locally.
Planning the use of fishing resources is more efficient. Because of the nature of markets the areas fed by local and small-boat fishing will not be able to accommodate fish from more sustainable areas without competition, which creates a major loss of profit for both sides. If the small-groups happen to be muscled out that will cause the loss of livelihood for millions of people who rely on fishing, as the efficiency increase due to the likely usage of larger, better, boats will allow less room for jobs under limited maximum usage. This would also allow capital accumulation to continue unhindered by local fishing, and will lead to monopolies. This means the only option to keep fish at a reasonable price and in existence in the future is to use a system free from market monopolies. A system of planning would require all small and large business to be removed, and replaced with commonly controlled fishing suppliers. This would change the goal of groups from getting as much profit as possible, to supplying the needs of the people they are fishing for. This would mean being careful where and when they fish, to keep the populations in balance. If this system becomes much more efficient than the local fishermen, their jobs would still be lost. To keep up with the inefficiencies of capitalism the planning could simply increase its budget and decrease efficiency. Either way, long term it would protect our fish stocks from depleting and allow us to have a supply of fish in the future as well as today.
The tragedy of the commons will play out in any market system. The nature of ocean fishing amplifies that, and is the cause of many problems today. To stop this from turning into major problems tomorrow society must be willing to implement a planned system for using our resources.
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“Capture Fisheries Production (Metric Tons).” GDP Growth (Annual %) | Data, data.worldbank.org/indicator/ER.FSH.CAPT.MT.
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.618.4700&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
“Distribution of Economic Returns in Small-Scale Fisheries for International Markets: A Value-Chain Analysis.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics, Elsevier, 15 Sept. 2017, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17304244.
FAO. 2016. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2016. Contributing to food security and nutrition for all. Rome. 200 pp
Hardin, Garrett. “Tragedy of the Commons.” Econlib.org, www.econlib.org/library/Enc/TragedyoftheCommons.html.
“Large vs Small Scale Fishing Which Is More Sustainable - MSC.” MSC Global, 18 Sept. 2017, blog.msc.org/blog/2016/10/13/large-vs-small-scale-fishing-sustainable/.
“OVERFISHING STATISTICS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW.” Seafarms Group Limited, 13 Feb. 2015, seafarms.com.au/overfishing-statistics-everyone-should-know/.
the tragedy of the commons isn't even a theoretical concept. Marx outlines the real historical basis for it as an example of "primitive accumulation" in Das Kapital, whereby the common land held by peasants were enclosed/privatized, forcing the rural peasants to find work in the urban centers.
The state of the ocean and fisheries is disturbing, as outlined in this post. Massive Chinese fleets go around the world, taking fish from as far as South America to feed their massive population. European countries take fish from African countries for their own markets, leaving the fishermen there forced to compete.
As this post outlines, the ecosystem itself is on the verge of collapse.
It's all very near the Soylent Green dystopia...
If there is no planned fishing policies from the government, the people's greed to get more will invariably lead to overfishing. Much like we have conservation where hunting is prohibited in other to save some endangered species, and open season where hunting is legal. In my country, fishing is not regulated. If you've got boat, the ocean/rivers is yours for the taking. Little wonder most days the fishermen gets nothing on their expedition.
its not peoples greed on its own. To survive under capitalism you must be as greedy as the greediest people, or starve.
Which country is that?
The country is Nigeria in West Africa. There is zero regulation on fishing even though there are laws to that effect.
It's game theoretical considerations like the "tragedy of commons" or also the "prisoner's dilemma" that make a anarcho-capitalistic system so absurd. Especially when it's about the environmental impact of our actions.
Ty for this post, resteemed.
the "anarchist" part of ancap is not the problem, its the capitalist part.
All of these problems apply to other forms of capitalism as well, all they serve to do is prolong it.
Imo, the combination of capitalism with the complete lack of regulations that is inherent with any anarchistic system serves as a catalyst. So in the end, ancap is the fastest, most radical and least thoughtful form of capitalism.
So in combination with "cap", the "an" is a problem aswell. (imo)
you seem to misunderstand the entire point of anarchy. The main problem with regulations, especially as seen by social anarchists, is that regulations are part of hat makes economic planning harder.
Also "anarchist-capitalism" is an oxymoron. The basis of it (private ownership of capital) is based on an unjustified hierarchy, to quote the first self-proclaimed anarchist "property is theft". (Proudhon used different terminology than we tend to today, so that would translate closer to "private property is theft", or "capital is theft".)
The problem with "anarchist capitalism" has nothing to do with anarchism at all.
While I don't agree "planned economy" is the only or even the best way to deal with the problem, the resource obviously needs to be well planned and regulated by some authority.
One thing I believe could work out is sanctuaries, areas where all fishing would be illegal. I believe it would be much easier to control than systems based on quotas, permits, minimum catch size, etc. I also believe it would be good both for the fish, the ecosystems and for good resource utilization. I don't have any competence on this though, so I may be wrong.
What eventually works may differ depending on culture etc. In general I don't believe in saving jobs for the case of saving jobs, but there are other aspects here that may justifying protecting the local fishermen from the "factory fishers", like keeping traditions, even keeping people alive, social justice, etc.
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Man is naturally greed. Capitalism evolved to normalize greed and with it, man might eventually end up self-destructing himself. The ecological niche of fishes is distinct and their overexploitation will definitely disrupt ecosystem's equilibrium, creating an ecological imbalance that can affect man significantly. I can go on and on.
humans are naturally greedy in some ways, but not all of it comes out through money. People are greedy for friendship, and for the chance to relax, yet those are often not ever close to being fulfilled.
This society literally forces this "greed" onto people in the form of survival and social pressures.
I can't agree less. Greed transcends just monetary or material thing. There is greed for power, greed to influence others etc.
and I wouldn't say any of them are necessarily bad. The problem is how we use capitalism to structure it
"Man is naturally greedy". This is a meaningless statement that people throw without a second thought. What does natural greediness even mean? Greediness embedded in the genes? More likely the economic system forces humans to be greedy. Humans are naturally greedy is like saying coal miners are naturally born with lung cancer.
The statement in itself is just a figure of speech. It does not have to be in a bad way only and has nothing to do with the gene. I think every man is greedy by default and the environment plays a huge role in shaping our orientation to life
There isn't any default human nature. It is dynamic and changes accordingly to our material conditions.
"To look at people in capitalist society and conclude that human nature is egoism, is like looking at people in a factory where pollution is destroying their lungs and saying that it is human nature to cough." - Andrew Collier, Marx: A Beginner’s Guide
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If I had a nickel for Everytime a capitalist claims the tragedy of the commons as a proof communism can never work, I'd be a fucking bourgeoisie.
wow there are more of us on here than i expected, want to join a discord with some of us?
I'd be down. I'm not that active online because I work alot, but I'd like to be included.
https://discord.gg/SDjPUK
1 use link that expires in a day, tell me if you dont get to it in time.
Got it, thanks comrade.
I like your thinking.
While fishing might be the biggest, this kind of manipulations also extends to other resources and markets. If anything is about to change the core itself needs to become transparent. The governments should be merely a service to its citizens but they've become manipulators themselves. All we get is an illusion of democracy.
With blockchain technology traceability and transparency of every action of governments could be implemented. We are in desperate need of decentralized governments.
"We are in desperate need of decentralized governments."
The biggest problem here is not the gov, but the markets themselves
Markets are influenced by governments directly and indirectly. They create favorable conditions for big corporations which often result in avoiding taxes. Then those same corporations who exploited the system influence governments through campaign funding and lobbying creating the whole situation even worse. All that on top of a privately owned federal reserve. The whole system is flawed.
We haven't actually seen a free market and we can only guess what it would look like. Maybe the tragedy of commons would still persist but I bet it would be much less severe than it currently is. That's why we need a radical change how governments work. With blockchain technology, everyone can be included in shaping the future.
capitalism cannot continue existing unless they benefit the biggest businesses, its a cycle.
Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism
That is so true.