In 1988 the world harvested about 86 million tons of fish, and we’ve been declining ever since.  

There have been rich arguments about the date that the world will reach (or has reached) “peak oil”, the time when the maximum rate of extraction has been reached, and each additional barrel recovered will be speeding towards our last. Now people are focusing on “peak fish”, the time after which our harvest of fish from the ocean declines. It now looks like that time was 1988, according to a piece by Taras Grescoe on NYT.com .   

Good Magazine and Wired have both created compelling infographics about the state of our fisheries that I recommend.  You might also check out Seafood Watch from the Monterey Bay Aquarium to help you decide what you should be eating tonight. 

In Strategy for Sustainability, I recommend a simplified strategic analysis tool called the STaR map.   Instead of spending years doing original research, start collecting examples of changes in Society, Technology and natural/human Resources.  The great decline of the world’s fish stocks is a good case example of declining natural resources.  Several companies have set up e-mail groups, Facebook groups, and Delicious tags to start sharing facts like this inside their company. Companies who actively share trend data in the area of a STaR map will be more prepared to react to rapid changes that will inevitably effect their business.