Question

3. (a) People tend to overfish—that is, they seem to care little about future fish population while fishing. Is this a moral problem or is there an incentive issue behind it? Explain. (b) Danial Arab Moi (former president of Kenya) was well-known for his sentiment with regards to the African Elephant which is becoming extinct. At one point, he personally burned thousands of elephant tusks in protest of the trading of tusks. (i) As a result of this tusk-burning spree, what happens to prices of tusk in the market? Does this help save the elephants? Explain. (ii) What would help save the elephants? Explain.

Answer 1

ANS) a) Overfishing is done to meet the rising demand of fishes in the market by increasing the supply i.e. there is an incentive attached to the fishing. More fishing or overfishing ensures larger return. However, it is also a concern of lack of moral behaviour as overfishing causes disturbance in the ecosystem whose impact is greater than that we can fathom.

b) 1) Burning of the tusks of elephants by the former President Danial Arab Moi might result in further increasing the price of ivory in the market as now it becomes more rarer. This can instead of discouraging poachers, might encourage them to kill more elephants and stockpile more ivory due to larger incentive. Implying that the killing of elephants can increase.

2) To really protect the elephants from being hunted, the security in the areas where elephants dwell should be tightened and eco guards should be employed in more numbers, also, the entry to such areas must be restricted. Further, GPS tags can be used for monitoring the movement of elephants. Collaborating with NGOs can help further in reducing killings. Dog and handler units can be deployed to catch the poachers etc.