Delicious LiveJournal Links for 7-9-2008

[andrewducker]

• Well written article on why we shouldn't be subsidising the fishing fleets.
  "The world's fishermen are on strike in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Japan, and scores of maritime countries. Last month they threw rocks and flares who have been conspiring with the world's sedimentary basins to keep the price of oil high."
  (tags: ecology economics energy environment fish)

Comments

[randomchris.livejournal.com]

Your definition of "well written" is not like mine.

How exactly do rocks and flares conspire with sedimentary basins?

This must have quoted from an earlier version of the article, but the current version still talks about the police conspiring with the sedimentary basins!

[andrewducker]

Sorry, when I clipped it for delicious (which only allows 255 characters) I mangled it horribly.

And the whole point of that sentence in the original is that it's satire - that protesting about there being less oil is behaving as if the police/government were in league with the forces of nature to force higher oil prices.

This ties in perfectly with the first paragraph, which talks about "a heroic battle with reality" and "When they've sorted it out, what about the fact that the days are getting shorter? What do we pay our taxes for?"

[chuma.livejournal.com]

I find myself in agreement with you. I also question why at a time when beef, chicken, lamb etc is rising due to increasing oil and food prices, they think fish shouldn't increase in price too? Market economics dictate that if it isnt viable to trawl for fish at the price they sell them at, you either dont fish, or sell them for more money. Either way means that supply will decrease as more cost means less people can afford to buy it too.

Let face it, the oceans need a break to replenish. I have no problems with the conclusions in the article.

[guyinahat.livejournal.com]

The problem with market forces here is that they alone won't save the fish stocks. As fish become more rare, their price goes up - as the price goes up the fishermen will still make a profit (if it weren't for the current oil crisis). Fishermen will happily keep on fishing when Cod are so rare they cost £10 each. Right up until they're extinct.

We need quotas to liit catches that are very aggressive. Alas, they won't happen as politicians have no backbone for confronting fishermen.

[0olong.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. It makes me quite angry that I'm actively subsidising fishing at all, let alone blatant over-fishing on a massive scale. Grr.

Monbiot's capacity for almost unmitigated negativity about absolutely everything is really quite remarkable, though! It's almost endearing.