Marine Resources and Sustainable Fisheries
The failure of harvesters, scientists, managers
and the concerned public to prevent groundfish
collapse represents a turning point in western
North Atlantic fishing history and has been a
powerful impetus to examine what we know about our
relationship to the underwater world and to each
other. The latter part of this century has given us
new tools to look at what's happening in the ocean
- scuba, submarines, and even satellites.
We also have new tools to fish with.
Along with these new tools, we're rediscovering an age-old sensitivity that the underwater world is a system with its own scale of interactions. No single creature is able to stand and thrive on its own. We're discovering its corollary that we cannot fish for one kind of fish alone, without harming all others in the system.
Through the collapse of the groundfish, we've
become painfully aware of the challenges of
organizing our political and economic lives such
that we can work within this system and maintain
its health and productivity for many years to come.
At the same time, successes in the lobster fishery
point to possibilities that may
respond to these challenges. How do we make sense of
these two fisheries and the varying scales of how they are
fished? In light of our advancing technologies and our
ecosystem understanding, how are we looking back? How might
we move forward?
These issues are explored in a three-part video
series on the fishery crisis produced by the
Mainewatch Institute and the Island Institute.
Produced by Compass Light Productions, the series
looks at the social, economic and ecological
aspects of the New England fishery
crisis and its potential management solutions
through the eyes of harvesters, scientists and managers
within both the groundfish and lobster fisheries of
Maine.The series is accompanied by Fishing for the Future, a
39-page teachers guide used as a tool for teachers at the
high school and college level as well as environmental and
adult educators. Each chapter in the teachers Guide
corresponds to one of the three videos and contains
discussion quesitons, specific activities, reference
materials and resources for further exploration. Activities
suggested in Fishing for the Future are correlated to
Maine's Learning Results.
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