This is a two-stage game, which will help you to realise that with co-operation, a resource can last indefinitely, but if you exploit a renewable resource faster than it can recover, the resource will collapse.

Equipment
	Dice
	30 "fish" silhouettes

Players
Total of four - three fishers and a "banker" who looks after the resource.

Game One: The Fishing Race
Objective:
To catch the most fish.

Rules:
	All 30 fish go into a "pool", looked after by the banker.
	Each player has a toss of the dice in turn. (Select or toss for the person who starts first.)
	They can "catch" as many fish from the pool as the number they toss.
	At the end of each round, the banker tallies up the catch for each player.
	If there are fewer fish left than the number you throw (eg, three left and you throw a five), you get to take all the remaining fish.

That's the end of the game - too bad if the other players didn't have a chance to complete the last round.
	The banker does a final tally. The winner is the person with the most fish.
	The banker keeps a tally of how many "rounds" it took before all the fish were taken.

top

Objective:
	To work out a system for catching fish, where each player has a "fair go", and
	To make the game last longer (more rounds) than Game One did.

Basic rules:
	At the start of the game there are only 6 fish in the pool. The banker retains the other 24.
	After each round, the banker feeds another 6 fish into the pool.
	If, at the end of a round, there aren't enough fish in the pool, then your fishery has collapsed - the game ends.
	The banker keeps a tally of how many rounds have been played.
	The winning team is the team who has made their game last the greatest number of rounds.

Students' rules:
	Before you start, work out some rules to add to the basic rules, so that the game will last as many rounds as possible, and everyone gets a fair shot.
	When you've designed your rules, play the game and record how many rounds it lasts.

After the game have a class discussion focusing on:
1	What are resources?
2	What are some examples of resources? eg wood, plants, soil, minerals, water and sunlight.
3	What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources?
4	Are fisheries resources infinitely renewable?
5	What did these games tell us about catching fish?
6	Do we have rules like the rules you designed for our fishers?
7	What are the differences between this game and the "real world"?
8	How can we manage fisheries so they continue to be available for future generations?