Charting a Path Through an Uncertain Future: Lessons from Our History

Abstract

The history of our fishing industry gives us insights into the ‘megatrends’ and socioeconomic forces that will shape our future, and also provides us tools for addressing the problems of the present. The future will be less predictable than the past, due to a wide variety of economic and physical global changes, so our best strategy lies in flexibility. Current fisheries management models, however, are tending to be more and more rigid, not more flexible. Global competition is also here to stay and needs to be factored into all our market decisions. To survive, our industry needs to press for consistent, world-wide protections of marine resources, for more flexible abundancebased management systems, for rational international markets, to make alliances with public interest and environmental protection groups and to organize not only locally but worldwide.