Active fisheries management for long-term sustainability, as a principle, is nothing new. It may be at least 12,000 years old.
Finds off the California coast near Santa Barbara indicate that Channel Island settlers at that time developed a system for harvesting shellfish without endangering the stocks for future Stone Age generations.
Researchers from the University of Oregon, collecting thousands of shells from ancient settlements of the Chumash people, found that, even though the local population grew and became technologically more advanced, shell sizes remained relatively stable.
This suggests that, setting a good example for future – very future – generations, the Chumash simply moved to another area, when one harvesting site became depleted, effectively imposing a “no-take zone” in the old fishing grounds. And when harvests dwindled throughout the region, they switched to hunting and eating otters until shellfish numbers recovered.
The researchers found no indications of high-grading or fishing fleet subsidies.