This BBC article on big data and fisheries is fascinating. Using satellite photography, researchers have mapped all of the world’s fisheries by area, finding that fishery area is larger than arable acreage while providing less than 2% of all calories consumed.
I also found the conclusion thought-provoking that the patterns reveal larger effects from politics and culture than from natural rhythms. This implies Ostrom’s conclusions, that human decisions and human institutions can enable us to govern the commons … if we can engage in forward-looking political processes to design such institutions.
[Note: I’m experimenting with posting from my phone when I see a cool article.]