Fishing Ethics?

I've recently been involved in some discussion over fish & game legislation. Not the typical MBA subject matter, but ethics played a key role.

There are several controls in place to control over-fishing. Bag limits are one of the most prominent methods. For example, a bag limit basically says that "for rockfish, a person is allowed to keep 10 per day". Many believe that while bringing home 10 rockfish per day is excessive and while legal, not ethical, since it hurts the rockfish population and their ability to recover. Others maintain that if it's legal, then people should be allowed to take as many fish(X) they are allowed... and if the amount is considered excessive, then bag limits should be lowered to a proper level.

This case is a good example of how people define "ethical" take in many different lights. Some think that legal is tantamount to ethical... and if there's a gap, then the law should be changed. Others think that anything more than 1 or 2 fish is considered greedy and unethical. Others say they have bigger families, so 3 or 4 fish is completely fine, but any more is unethical. The commercial contingent feel that everyone has a right to eat fish and they provide that service... so they can take as many as they want and it is ethical.

This is one case where there is a definite trend towards conservation; however, there will always be strong supporters on either end of the spectrum. Ethics is a tricky subject - depending on perspective, a single simple act maybe considered completely ethical, completely unethical, or in the ambiguously gray area.