Path Dependence, Escaping Sustained Yield

Salmon have been spawning on the coast of British Columbia, Canada, since long before there was a Columbia or a Fraser River and long before there was a Vancouver Island or a Bristol Bay. People have been co-evolving with salmon in a salmon culture in the Pacific Northeast since at least the end of the last ice age, 12,000 or so years ago. In contrast, the maximum sustained yield (MSY) fisheries framework began only in the 20th century. Nevertheless, our continued co-evolution with salmon and other resources in the Pacific Northeast and elsewhere depends on how we address the legacy of these last 50 years of resource management.