Week 3 鈥� Fish Banks Activity, June 26
Hailey Clayton, Peer
The fish banks activity is always an amazing representation of commercial fishing. The campers are all split up into groups, and each group is given their own commercial fishing company to run. Within fish bank groups, the campers must decide where to place their ships 鈥� in the harbor, coast, or deep sea. The goal is to make a profit and have the most net income by the end of the game. It costs $50 to keep a boat in the harbor, $150 to keep a boat in coastal waters, and $250 to keep a boat in deep sea. They also have the option to auction off their boats or buy additional boats from the corrupt banker.
Since most campers choose to have their boats out in the ocean to catch fish, this results in a major decline in fish populations and illustrates the dangers of overfishing. After the fish banks game is over the mentors use a game of thumb wrestling to demonstrate how competition can hurt fisheries. The highlight of fish banks as a peer was to watch all their faces light up as they have fun and learn about the importance of not overfishing.