Environmental Science For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 23

Ten Real-Life Examples of the Tragedy of the Commons

The phrase tragedy of the commons was first described by biologist Garrett Hardin in 1968. In a scientific paper, he described how shared environmental resources are overused and eventually depleted. He compared shared resources to a common grazing pasture; in this scenario, everyone with rights to the pasture grazes as many animals as possible, acting in self-interest for the greatest short-term personal gain. Eventually, they use up all the grass in the pasture; the shared resource is depleted and no longer useful.

In this chapter, I offer ten examples of the tragedy of the commons. Each is an example of resources being depleted or damaged; in some cases, lack of planning has destroyed the resources beyond repair, but other cases show that cooperative agreement and sustainable management can help avoid the tragedy of the commons.

Grand Banks Fisheries

The Grand Banks are fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland in the Northwestern Atlantic Ocean. For centuries, explorers and fishermen described this region as home to an endless supply of cod fish. This prospect attracted fishermen from all over the North Atlantic and provided the basis for a thriving fishery industry in Canada.

In the 1960s and 1970s, advances in fishing technology allowed huge catches of cod; the maximum reported one season was 800,000 tons. Following a few dramatically large seasons, the fish populations dropped, forcing Canadian fishermen ...