Tragedy Of The Commons

Theory Of Tragedy Of The Commons

Describes a situation where individuals with access to a public resource, the common, act in their own interest and ultimately deplete the resource

Garret Hardin

Compared shared resources to a common grazing pasture

Grand Bank Fisheries

Fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland

History Of Grand Bank Fisheries

Explorers and fishermen described this region as home to an endless supply of cod fish. In the 1960s and 1970s, advances in fishing technology allowed huge catches of cod

Cod Populations

Were so low that the Grand Banks fishing industry collapsed. It was too late for regulation and management

Bluefin Tuna

Fishermen realized the tuna populations were in danger, face a similar fate as the Grand Banks cod

International Convention For The Conservation Of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT)

Formed in an effort to manage fish harvesting more sustainably

Shared Common Space In Oceans

Left for vulnerability to pollution

Ocean Garbage Gyres

These giant patches of ocean garbage occur because many different countries allow solid waste to enter the oceans from land or ships

Destruction Of Ocean Ecosystems

Caused by garbage and plastic pollutants, and can affect every person on the planet as these pollutants cycle through the food chain