Summary
The management of the world’s fisheries is a controversial current issue that involves individuals from many different viewpoints – fishermen and women, environmentalists, park rangers, politicians, and shoppers at the seafood counter. The issue is that many of the world’s fisheries are overfished and have collapsed or are on the verge of collapse. This is but one example of the tragedy of the commons – where a limited common resource is overused because each individual person thinks, “If I don’t use this resource first, then somebody else will.” Students in this activity act as fishermen and women who need to share an ocean of fish and take in a catch. Groups soon realize that if they don’t set fishing limits and monitor the fish population, soon there are no fish left in the ocean.
Objectives
Can define population.
Can graph changes in a population over time.
Can see how available resources determine the number and type of organisms that an environment can support.
Can see how humans impact natural resources.
Can identify common natural resources that humans impact.
Can devise strategies to manage natural resources.
Vocabulary
Fishery
Overfishing
Collapse
Tragedy of the commons
Sustainability
Resource management
