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have significantly undermined the social and economic power of American 

 fisheries and other water-dependent industries. The National Marine Fisheries 

 Service estimates that U.S. fisheries are now producing only 60% of the value 

 they could, if the breeding populations of so many species had not been mined 

 down and so many of the fish had not been taken while they were very small. 

 Continued declines are predicted for many fish populations. And while the public 

 treasury receives no compensation for the use and abuse of America's fishery 

 resources, taxpayers pay for fishing in the form of vessel loan guarantees, fuel 

 tax exemptions, gear loss compensation, and other subsidies. Often, this goes into 

 already-overcapitalized fisheries. 



A 1989 statement by more than forty "concerned scientists" (mostly university 

 professors) on the subject of the Magnuson Act stated "Virtually all of the 

 important finfish stocks managed under the MFCMA [Magnuson Fisheries 

 Conservation and Management Act]... are either overfished or on their way to 

 that condition... [F]ishing effort and capital investments in vessels and gear are 

 just too high." They also said "the exploitation ethic, where decisions favor the 

 short term, virtually guarantees... severe economic and social dislocations." (The 

 lead author of this statement was appointed head of the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service a year later, but lost the post in two years, largely because he was viewed 

 as anathema by the fishing industry, particularly by New England fishers— and 

 their congressional representatives.) The National Marine Fisheries Service 

 noted in its 1991 strategic plan: "In the face of uncertainty and pressure from the 

 fishing industry, fishery managers have often tended to base their decisions on an 

 optimistic view of the condition of fishery resources. These 'risk-prone' 

 decisions eventually result in overfishing." Improved data collection and 

 scientific programs are critically needed to enhance the credibility, accuracy, and 

 forecasting power of fisheries information. But a measure of uncertainty will 

 always exist. Managers must learn to react conservatively and with a margin of 

 error, in contrast to their customary optimism of acting on the best-case scenario 

 and the upper bound of the calculated error range. Their optimism has often 

 proven tragically unfounded. The problem is a global one- The United Nations 

 Food and Agriculture Organization has recently determined that all the world's 

 major fisheries are either fully exploited, over exploited, or depleted; there are 

 no untapped riches left. The myth of limitless marine resources is now 

 recognized to be just that— a myth. 



The oceans are the last theater in which industrialized peoples still hunt wild 

 animals on a large scale. It is always smarter to live off the interest rather than 

 the capital, but in a system where we can freely reap that which we have neither 

 sown nor nurtured, mining the capital— and that is exactly what we are doing to 

 the coastal systems and the oceans— is inexcusably short sighted. We are 

 becoming as children bom to wealthy circumstances who, failing to perceive 

 their privilege, have squandered their advantage, lost their station, and 

 bankrupted themselves and their sons and daughters. 



Overfishing and habitat degradation can lead to a four-step process of 

 extinction, where we suffer the major effects long before the last animals vanish. 

 From an economic standpoint, extinction can most pragmatically be viewed (and 

 most effectively and inexpensively dealt with) as a process rather than an event. 

 Indeed, whether the last animals vanish or not is almost academic from a fishing 

 perspective, because fishing economies go extinct long before the last fish dies. 

 The first stage of the extinction process is depletion. At this stage, the fish 

 population is reduced below the level at which it would be most productive; fish 

 are smaller and fewer than they could be, and chances for obtaining a strong year 

 class of newly-spawned fish are reduced. Consequently, the population's ability 

 to support fishing is reduced, profit margins decline, and some businesses become 



