Who Owns the Fish?
Who owns the fish in the sea? Who owns the whales? Who owns the habitat they live in?
You do. We all do. Fisheries and the marine environment are a public resource trust.
The United States has jurisdiction over 3.4 million square nautical miles of ocean – this exclusive economic zone extends 200-miles seaward from our coasts and the US island territories in the Caribbean and Pacific. This ocean terrain, larger than the land area of all the 50 states combined, makes the United States the largest maritime nation in the world. The resources of this vast area provide for our economy and are under our stewardship. (For more information see: http://oceancommission.gov/)
But for all the wealth at stake, governance of our ocean territories is poorly developed.
Maine is a maritime state – the fourth largest seafood producing state in the US. We have a lot at stake in how fisheries are managed. Living marine resources in federal waters (3 miles out to 200 miles) off New England are the responsibility National Marine Fisheries Service in close working relationship with the New England Fishery Management Council. The Council is an appointed body of eighteen trustees, with fiduciary responsibility to the fish and to our nation. The resources under its management are valued in the billions of dollars.
The New England Fishery Management Council will be meeting in Portland this week, Tuesday through Thursday, at the Holiday Inn by the Bay. The meeting is open to the public – come observe your trustees at work and please share your impressions. (An agenda can be found at www.nefmc.org/calendar/index.html)
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Um, that would be me. I mean, I own the fish.
They're delicious.
What does "fiduciary responsibility to the fish" mean?
Posted by sharky
May 31, 2008 11:32 PM
Hi Sharky,
"Fiduciary responsibility" is a legal concept that is easy to take for granted. Imagine an older person going into a nursing home who turns all her assets over to a lawyer. The lawyer has a fiduciary responsibility to the woman to invest her money conservatively and only spend it on her behalf.
Fishery Management Council members have a fiduciary responsibility to manage for the health of fish stocks and the marine environment first and foremost. They also must consider the "greatest benefit to the nation" which usually means providing consumers with abundant, cheap seafood to the extent possible. Economic impact to the fishing industry is a secondary consideration, though it tends to be what managers focus on.
Williamson
Posted by
John WilliamsonJune 1, 2008 08:04 AM
Abundant, cheap and yummy!
Thanks for the explanation.
I just got sidetracked by skates, now. I understand bait, but how do "wings" reach consumers? Do they chop fake scallops out of the wings, or is that just a rumor?
Glad to read the skates are doing better, after being promoted as an "underutilized species" in the 90s. That sounds so clinically businesslike for a group that includes such romantic names as winter skate, barndoor skate, thorny skate, smooth skate, little skate, clearnose skate, and rosette skate, and who lay their eggs in a "mermaid's purse."
Keep us posted on the council meeting, and thanks.
Posted by sharky
June 2, 2008 01:22 AM
Yeah, I've heard that rumor too about skate wings being sold as scallops -- never seen any evidence of it. I've eaten skate, but it doesn't have the taste or texture of scallops. Maybe it's how you cook it.
As I understand it, skate wings get shipped to Europe. Boy, those Europeans will eat just about anything. Smoked dogfish belly flaps apparently are a favorite snack in German beer-hals.
"Underutilized species" -- the term has become an anachronism. It dates to the formation of National Marine Fisheries Service the role of which originally was to promote development of fisheries. That role has gradually evolved toward conservation with changes in the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other laws.
Posted by
John WilliamsonJune 2, 2008 07:33 AM
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