Jack McGillivray, Chapter 2, Question 5

One issue Wheelan discussed in this chapter was the over fishing of tuna, cod, swordfish and lobster. I was surprised how little the American fishers seemed to care about the populations of the fish. Not only is overfishing a conservation issue, but it's also their livelihood. If the fisheries become depleted they will be out of a job. However, the example of the lobster fishers in Australia that Wheelan brings up is encouraging. By forcing the fishers to own a license it makes them personally responsible. This discourages overfishing because it will ruin the value of their expensive licenses. Hopefully this policy will become widespread as it seems to be very effective. This chapter as a whole explored how people tend to act in a way the believe will benefit them, even if in the long run it hurts others, the planet, or even themselves.