With increase in numbers, size, and effectiveness, fishing fleets have depleted important stocks of fish, and strong international action by governments is imperative for the future viability of fishery resources. The author favors a system of an overall quota of fish, with individual quotas for boats and plants, and predicts that this will become "the accepted method of running fisheries" in 20 years. He discusses how best to organize such a system, with full consultation between governments and their national fishing industries as well as at the international level. For efficient handling of the complex issues involved and a full understanding of them, he suggests that governments should appoint to their fisheries ministries officers who have specialized in fisheries management and are able to analyze the situation in depth and advise the administrators on the implications of alternative management policies. The controls over fishing that he advocates are essential because "free fish means eventually no fish."
Where’s the Catch? Shifting Stocks, International Fisheries Management and the Climate Change Conundrum
