11-10-2017, 04:14 AM
quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
boats owned and operated by foreigners not American boats employing foreign fishermen as seasonal workers
Issues are closely related; without cheap foreign labor, costs would rise enough to naturally limit the overfishing.
As long as there is no political will, nothing will change.
Correct -- and a big piece of the problem is that almost every industry gets indirect subsidies in the form of unrecaptured externalized costs. Case in point: the fishing industry enjoys a big magic loophole exempting it from Federal regulations, which is why it can exploit cheap laborers that aren't even "lawfully admitted" to the US.
I disagree on several points in this narrative:
Loss of "cheap" labor would not limit over fishing the resource, simply concentrate that over fishing into foreign fleets. Current Federal loopholes simply allow some of that over fishing product into the Hawaii market.
You characterize the employment of, otherwise unemployed, foreign workers - who are now able to support their families - as exploitation. They have accepted these jobs freely, as superior to the job opportunities that they would otherwise have.
A great deal of this narrative is, I believe, driven by unionized maritime workers who would much prefer that this industry go away, than provide competition to unionized fishing vessels.
If successful, expect that the cost of US based, wild caught seafood will substantially increase as will importation of seafood from third world countries where the industry will be welcomed as an economic asset.