Overfishing: alternatives to economic disaster

Issues about over fishing and the fishing rights in European waters is common knowledge. What is less known is the impact of industrial over-fishing on small scale and subsistence fishers, known as artesanal fishers. In a number of places the fishermen themselves are looking at alternatives – such as voluntarily putting aside no-fishing areas to allow fish to reproduce and repopulate the region – or re-training as dive guides for tourists. In other places, boat owners and oil companies are cleaning and sinking their old ships and platforms to act as artificial reefs to boost the fish populations.