Chilean Fish Farms and the Tragedy of the Commons

Chilean Fish Farms and the Tragedy of the Commons

"We blamed the ISA virus on eggs imported from Norway," Alvial says. "But the real problem was overcrowded conditions in our pens. We weren't paying attention to the long term effects of these mega-farms."

Scientists now understand that the oceans are made up of interrelated ecosystems. And any ecosystem has a carrying capacity, an ill-defined capacity for how much life can be sustained by the available food and oxygen.

"It's human nature," Alvial says. "We were so arrogant. This little country in South America showing the world how to build a world class aquaculture system. And we weren't listening to the people who were telling us: You're taking too many risks, not enough research, not enough regulation.

"So it may have started with a single lot of eggs from Norway, or a single boat or a single net... But we can't blame our crisis on a few contaminated eggs. We have to blame it on our lack of knowledge of the carrying capacity."

Fortunately, he says, the same entrepreneurial spirit that built the industry was marshaled to respond to the crisis. "We are a very opportunistic country."

Egypt women to demonstrate in Cairo for representation in new constitution - Bikya Masr

Egypt women to demonstrate in Cairo for representation in new constitution - Bikya Masr

A number of women’s organizations and movements are marching on Saturday, and too, calling for fair and equal representation of women in the new constitution.

The Egyptian Women’s Union said the march will start at noon from Talaat Harb Square to Tahrir Square, with the participation of many leading feminists figures including renowned writer and feminist Nawal al-Sa’dawi and the virginity tests fighter Samira Ibrahim. The march is titled “beware of the Egyptian women anger.”

Gabriel's Place Market Stand Open!!

IRIN Africa | MALI: Beyond the drought - “Families will disappear” | Mali | Food Security | Governance | Migration | Natural Disasters | Sahel Crisis | Security | Water & Sanitation

IRIN Africa | MALI: Beyond the drought - “Families will disappear” | Mali | Food Security | Governance | Migration | Natural Disasters | Sahel Crisis | Security | Water & Sanitation

People emigrate to survive - not to steal your job! Same reason people left Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri for California during and after "dust bowl" years!

“It was the drought that made people move away from here,” Ousmane Touré said in Kayes, 450km northwest of Bamako, the capital of Mali, and a 10-hour bus ride across the scorched scrubland of the western Sahel. “There had been a tradition of emigration, but it was when the harvests failed in the 1970s that we saw a real surge in emigration. There was simply not enough to eat, so people took off for France, Germany and the United States. They knew it was only the way of feeding their families back home in Kayes. The same thing is happening this year.”