Unit 1: Introductory Case Study

Question 1

Perpetual resources

Answer 1

Resources that are replenished constantly and are not impacted by human activity.

Question 2

Renewable resources

Answer 2

Resources that replenish themselves on a timescale that is meaningful to humans.

Question 3

Non-renewable resources

Answer 3

Resources with renewal rates that are too slow to be meaningful to humans.

Question 4

Sources

Answer 4

Resources taken for consumption or production.

Question 5

Sinks

Answer 5

Resources used to store or process waste products.

Question 6

Renewable resource degradation

Answer 6

When the ecological functioning of a resource is degraded, and its capacity to act as a source or sink is reduced.

Question 7

Sustainable yield

Answer 7

The highest rate a renewable resource can be used indefinitely as a source without degrading it.

Question 8

Critical load

Answer 8

The highest rate a renewable resource can be used indefinitely as a sink without degrading it.

Question 9

Open Access Common Property Resources

Answer 9

Resources that are owned by no one in an ungoverned location.

Question 10

Exclusive economic zone (EEZ)

Answer 10

Up to 200 nautical miles beyond a country’s territorial sea/coastline.

Question 11

Freedom of the high seas

Answer 11

The freedom of navigation, fishing, the laying of submarine cables and pipelines, and overflight of aircraft in the ocean.

Question 12

Factory trawlers

Answer 12

Large fishing boats with nets up to 5km long that process and offload cargo at sea and work for months at a time.

Question 13

Transboundary situation

Answer 13

Situation that crosses the border between two or more countries or areas and affects both or all areas.

Question 14

Perverse subsidies

Answer 14

Subsidies that exert adverse effects on environmental and economic systems over the long run.

Question 15

Precautionary principle

Answer 15

If a product/action/policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, protective action should be supported before there is complete scientific proof of a risk.

Question 16

Adaptive management

Answer 16

The use of a rigorous process of decision making that involves regular monitoring of outcomes that can affect the application of regulations to achieve a desired goal. It emphasizes accountability and explicitness in decision making.

Question 17

Sustainable development

Answer 17

Economic development that is conducted without the depletion of natural resources.

Question 18

Independent fishing quotas

Answer 18

Tradable permits that allowed fishing companies to fish during an 8 month period. Ownership was limited to area residents, smaller boats, and 0.5% of total quota.

Question 19

Overfishing

Answer 19

Depleting the stock of fish in a body of water via too much fishing.

Question 20

Integrated management

Answer 20

Setting an allowable (sustainable) harvest level for a resource, determining the allocations between various user groups, and managing each sector within their allocation.

Question 21

Newfoundland cod fisheries

Answer 21

Perverse government subsidies pushed the exploitation of fish beyond what markets would have.
Scientists pushing the precautionary principle were ignored, and adaptive management was not used. No system was put in place to monitor and address changes in the condition of the fish stocks.

Question 22

Canadian EEZ

Answer 22

Before 1977, Canada didn’t restrict fishing beyond 12 nautical miles. In 1997, Canada declared an EEZ with a limit of 200 nautical miles to prevent overfishing. However, the Canadian government did not control the entire resource, since some of it was open access common property. This created a transboundary situation.

Question 23

Pacific Halibut Fisheries

Answer 23

Regulatory approach and an international agreement was used to establish a shortened season and ‘recovery period,” by 1994 the season was down to two days.
In 1991 Independent Fishing Quotas (tradable permits) were introduced. This is a form of integrated management where adaptive management is applied. Sustainable development is exemplified.