After following this thread for a bit I would like to comment on one of
Wayne's sentences. Sustainability is context-dependent and under different
situations means different things. Consider just the exploitation of a
variable natural resource, such as a fish stock. Sustainable exploitation
means leaving enough fish in the sea so that we can keep fishing the stock
forever - right? But since the stock is variable we need to know how much
variation in supply the market will support. If the fishery relies on
long-term contracts then sustainable fishing means taking the same amount
every year, while in a more opportunistic market an adaptive strategy,
constantly revising the catch quota on the basis of stock availability, can
produce variable yields with a higher mean value. Thus the sustainable catch
depends on market conditions and other constraints.
For me the sustainability of any strategy means that it can be carried out
indefinitely. But the concept applies to an entire strategy, not to just the
result from a single strategy such as MSY (Maximum Sustainable Yield). In
other words, it is a complicated socio-economic-biological concept, not just
an ecological term.
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne Tyson" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 6:56 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Education vs Indoctrination Can sustainability be
sustained? Re: [ECOLOG-L] Managing the social aspects of ecosystem
management - LfS portal update
Because sustainability is an "important matter," it seems to me important
that the term is clear and unambiguous rather than muddy and ambiguous.
