Management in the Gulf of Maine

Abstract

The overexploitation of marine resources is a major global environmental problem, overlooked by much of the public. While some threatened living marine resources, such as whales, have garnered a great deal of public attention, depletion of once abundant fishery resources is virtually unknown outside of a rather small community of scientists, policymakers, public interest advocates, and those participating in fisheries both commercial and recreational. For most people, fish is available in the market or restaurants, albeit at rather high prices, so overfishing seems not to be all that widespread.