Another reason to love high gas prices

Posted By Blake Hounshell Thursday, July 17, 2008 - 5:50 PM Share

Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images

The Japanese fishing industry is in dire straits, the LA Times reports:

If we lose our fishing industry, we Japanese will face a food crisis," said Masahiko Ariji, a fishery specialist at the Amita Institute for Sustainable Economics in Kyoto. About two-thirds of the nation's fishing groups were in the red last year, he said. With fuel prices higher this year, some "are about to collapse." [...]

If fuel prices keep rising, as many as 20% of Japan's fishing companies will close and 85,000 fishermen could leave the industry, the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Assns said. The fish catch, it says, could fall by almost half.

On balance, the fact that the Japanese fishing industry is suffering isn't necessarily a bad thing. If the trend keeps up, high gas prices might end up saving Pacific fisheries from imminent doom where regulation and conservation have failed. Add this one to the list.

EXPLORE:EAST ASIA, ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENT, JAPAN, OIL

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ANTALDANIEL

12:38 PM ET

July 29, 2008

Also a case for carbon tax

Greg Mankiw has a superb collections of similar good effects of high fuel prices. I think this makes a compelling case for a permanent rise in the fuel price, which is the carbon tax. Daniel Antal

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