Monday 10 December 2007

Cutting total catches increases profitability

Research is showing that fishermen will make even more profit than thought if they let stocks rebuild.

The simple reason is that when stocks are plentiful they become easier and cheaper to catch.

This is not rocket science but is a departure from traditional fisheries management, where the maximum highest sustainable catches are set so as to not deplete stocks.

The research shows that there would be higher profits if stocks were kept at a higher level.

"We calculate that we should be conserving about 65% of the virgin biomass whereas at the moment we're down to about 30%."
Source:BBC (Quentin Grafton, Australian National University,Canberra

This is good news for those of us that want to see marine biodiversity maintained.

The full report from the BBC can be found http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7127761.stm

Thanks to Charlie for passing this on

2 comments:

scubatripp said...

Hi, I stumbled across your blog looking for conservation info on Napoleon wrasse.

Good stuff, I've added a link to you on my Saipan Diving blog.

We get a fair number of tourist from Hong Kong, if your ever in the area let me know.

cheers,

Mike

Dod said...

Thanks for that great.

Haven't been as active with my blog recently as I have been involved in setting up a local HK marine conservation group... if you have a chance have a look at our new website... http://www.livingseas.hk

What is the URL of your Diving Blog...?

Dod