1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910789645503321

Autore

Finley Carmel

Titolo

All the fish in the sea [[electronic resource] ] : maximum sustainable yield and the failure of fisheries management / / Carmel Finley

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chicago ; ; London, : University of Chicago Press, 2011

ISBN

1-283-25027-6

9786613250278

0-226-24968-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (224 p.)

Disciplina

333.95/60973

Soggetti

Fishery management - United States - History - 20th century

Fishery policy - United States

Fisheries - Research - United States - History - 20th century

Fishery management - Japan - History - 20th century

Fishery management, International - History - 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The quest for rational fishing -- The confrontation at Bristol Bay -- The Pacific fisheries frontier -- The fish war with Japan -- Shaping fisheries science -- The line in the water -- The road to Rome -- The meeting in Rome -- Fishing "up" to MSY.

Sommario/riassunto

Between 1949 and 1955, the State Department pushed for an international fisheries policy grounded in maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The concept is based on a confidence that scientists can predict, theoretically, the largest catch that can be taken from a species' stock over an indefinite period. And while it was modified in 1996 with passage of the Sustained Fisheries Act, MSY is still at the heart of modern American fisheries management. As fish populations continue to crash, however, it is clear that MSY is itself not sustainable. Indeed, the concept has been widely criticized by scientists for ignoring several key factors in fisheries management and has led to the devastating collapse of many fisheries. Carmel Finley reveals that the fallibility of MSY lies at its very inception-as a tool of government rather than science. The foundational doctrine of the MSY emerged at a time when



the US government was using science to promote and transfer Western knowledge and technology, and to ensure that American ships and planes would have free passage through the world's seas and skies. Finley charts the history of US fisheries science using MSY as her focus, and in particular its application to halibut, tuna, and salmon fisheries. Fish populations the world over are threatened, and All the Fish in the Sea will help sound warnings of the effect of any management policies divested from science itself.