Running Out of Fish? Private Property Rights in the Ocean is the Solution

From: MT
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2016 12:24 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Another reason to privatize oceans
According to the World Wildlife Fund, ocean fish that people eat are going to run out by 2048. Private owners of ocean parcels, of course, would have an incentive to keep this from happening. After all, they would be able to profit from selling the fish (or fishing rights) on their property and would not want this profit stream to dry up. Governments can only impose arbitrary quotas and hope they work. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/problems_fishing/

Dear MT: Yes, I couldn’t agree with you more. I don’t know about this running out of fish in 30 years from now, but I do know that privatization of the oceans is the only way to deal with the tragedy of the commons regarding fish stocks. My co author and I make this very clear in this book of ours: Block, Walter E. and Peter Lothian Nelson. 2015. Water Capitalism: The Case for Privatizing Oceans, Rivers, Lakes, and Aquifers. New York City, N.Y.: Lexington Books; Rowman and Littlefield; https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498518802/Water-Capitalism-The-Case-for-Privatizing-Oceans-Rivers-Lakes-and-Aquifers.

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4:08 pm on December 9, 2016