When reading this essay, I couldn't help but think of the industry that grew around salmon throughout the years. Whereas now we want to maintain and help people who still pursuit this life's work, as should be, we also have to look at it somewhat objectively. People went into salmon fishng and the like because there was certainly a lot of money to be made. People flocked to it to get in on the pie until there was nothing left to take. This is an almost perfect example of the tragedy of the commons, I guess.

I see this as similar to the rush for gold, or the dot-com bubble in Silicon Valley. The greater issue here is that when it's directly connected to a resource that can be completely consumed, the effects can be much more devestating for the environment. Part of me feels for the fisherman, the salmon, everybody in the related industry, but another part of me sees this as an inevitability of human nature. We have almost never been able to curb the desire to preserve resources in common for the good of all. Everybody is in it to make as much as they can and get out, save for some who still dedicate their life to it for whatever reason.