Is There Enough Nature to Go Around? 



Coastal Adventures for Curious Minds 



Natural resources come in two types 

 — those that are renewable, such as trees 

 and fish, and those that are limited, such 

 as coal and oil. People need to manage 

 both so that we can continue to use them 

 as long as we need them. Different 

 methods can be used to manage resources. 



In the Pacific Northwest, salmon are 

 valuable fish. Fishermen catch salmon 

 either in the ocean or in the rivers. To 

 keep the salmon from being overfished, 

 regulations allow only certain people to 

 catch the fish at certain times. 



In North Carolina, clams are a 

 valuable resource. To manage them, 

 regulations allow fishennen to use highly 

 efficient mechanical harvesters only for 

 short periods of time and only in certain 

 areas. At other times, fishermen must use 

 less efficient rakes or tongs to harvest 

 these mollusks. The use of rakes and tongs 

 prevent too many clams from being 

 harvested. 



Regulations also limit the size of clams 

 that can be caught. Fishermen must throw 

 clams less than 1-inch thick back into the 

 estuary. Resource managers want clams to 

 get large enough to reproduce, or spawn, 

 future generations before they are 

 harvested. 



Almost all popular fish caught in 

 North Carolina have restrictions that limit 

 their capture. Scallops are harvested only 

 for a few weeks each year. Blue crabs 

 can't be captured from certain areas 

 marked as crab spawning sanctuaries. Red 

 snapper must be 12 inches long to assure 

 that these fish reach maturity and spawn 

 baby fish. 



Resource managers also use fishing 

 gear limitations to prevent overharvest. 

 Most fishing nets have mesh size restric- 

 tions. This means that the holes in the 

 mesh must be sized to catch only adult 

 fish and not the youngsters. 



And now Sea Grant fishing specialists 

 are developing special types of nets that 

 capture only certain things, such as 

 shrimp. These nets have deflectors and 

 openings that allow other young fish that 

 the fishermen don't want to escape. 



To learn more about resource 

 management, get your teacher, scout 

 leader or 4-H adviser to perform the 

 following exercise with your group. You 

 will need a bowl and three bags of 

 goldfish crackers. 



Assign the participants the following 

 roles: First generation: grandma, grandpa. 

 Second generation: son #1, son #2, 

 daughter ~1, daughter #2. Third genera- 

 tion: grandchild =1, grandchild #2, 

 grandchild #3, grandchild #4, grandchild 

 #5, grandchild #6, grandchild #7, grand- 

 child =8. 



Tell everyone that each generation 

 wants to make a living fishing. Then begin 

 the exercise. 



Pour the contents of one goldfish bag 

 in the bowl. 



Let each grandparent fish from the 

 bowl by scooping up a handful of fish. Let 

 the grandparents decide if this is enough 

 fish for them. 



Let the second generation fish in the 

 same way. 



Let the third generation fish the same 

 way too. Probably there will be no fish left 

 for them. 



What has been forgotten? Fish 

 reproduce. Repeat the exercise, but add 

 fish. After the first generation fishes, add 

 two handfuls of fish to the bowl. After the 

 second generation fishes, again add two 

 handfuls of fish. Repeat after the third 

 generation. You will probably still run out 

 of goldfish before all of the grandchildren 

 get a chance to fish. 



Now ask the group these questions. 



• Who did not get enough fish? Why? 



• How could the fish be conserved 

 for each generation? 



• Would you limit the number of 

 people who could fish? 



• Would you change the fishing 

 method to allow use of only the thumb 

 and forefinger? 



• Would you allow a shorter time to 



fish? 



• Would you set a limit for the 

 number of fish that could be caught? 



There are really no right answers to 

 these questions. But the exercise does 

 show how resources can be depleted and 

 how complex resource management 

 solutions can be. 



(Source: Coastal Capers: A Marine 

 Education Primer written by Lundie 

 Spence and Vivian Coxe. This booklet 

 contains 20 exercises designed to intro- 

 duce elementary grade students to the 

 marine environment. Coastal Capers is 

 available from Sea Grant for S3. 50.) 



14 NO l UMBER/DECEMBER 1991 



