Smart Taxes works with the Marine Subgroup of the Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership to address fish stocks decline using taxation or other non-regulatory measures. We will shortly be publishing research into a potential measure to conserve vulnerable Irish fisheries. Meanwhile we are always very interested to see how other countries manage their precious marine resources. Alsaka is one of the few good news stories.
By Eric J. Siy writing in On the Commons
The dramatic decline of fish in the oceans due to overfishing is one of the most dramatic examples of the “tragedy of the commons”, a case where scant regulation of a shared resource leads to its depletion. Eric J. Siy, former director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council is promoting a commons-based solution to this tragedy: sustainable fisheries trusts.…Still in their infancy, sustainable fisheries trusts were born of the mounting need for new ways to aid community-based fishermen who stand as frontline stewards of the fisheries they have depended on for generations. Trusts now emerging in selected U.S. ports provide footholds for transforming the act of buying fish into a direct investment in the health of the fisheries where they are caught and the livelihoods of the fishermen who catch them. For example, calling it the “best investment you will ever taste,” Alaskans Own ™ seafood “is harvested by independent fishermen whose commitment to conservation is supported by the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust.” (link to full article)
