Quote:
Originally Posted by sendler
Corporate boards dedicated to maximizing short term profit (20 years is still short term compared to the deep time we should be encouraging the human race to thrive) are sowing the seeds of our destruction.. In the current free market where we pay almost nothing for the actual substance of any natural resource, only for the cost of extraction, it makes more sense to rake the oceans clean of any edible food source and then scrap the fleet and move on to some other money maker, than to reduce profits and manage the fisheries to remain sustainable for thousands or millions of years.
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While there certainly is a problem of short sightedness, I do not believe boards of directors are completely ignoring long term viability and profitability. That said, natural resources are heavily regulated, and have varying degrees of success at achieving long term sustainability. For instance, there are far more trees in our forests today than there were 100 years ago.
A properly regulated industry will balance the needs of consumers, the needs of the company, and the sustainability of the resource.