Sustainability

At the end of the second day, Will returned to his room late at night.

"Elizabeth did you hear the news? We have a Council of Sages! So far, this forum has been a huge success. That alone shall make a huge difference when the Great War starts," Will said excitedly.

When Will looked at Elizabeth he could tell she looked out of sorts. He could tell something important was on her mind.

"Elizabeth is every okay with you?" Will asked unsure what might have upset her.

Even as he was speaking, she was still staring off into space.

"When I went to explore the city with Sasha, we met Anne, and…she had a child with her," Elizabeth told him.

"She had a child? How old?" Will asked in surprise.

"The child was a year and a half. Weren't you in Korce together at that time?" Elizabeth asked tears in her eyes.

Will could tell she was a little upset with him. But he didn't remember anything from Anne and his supposed night together.

"Everything I told you was true, except…I left out the evening after I defeated the Albanian marines.

That evening, Anne drugged me. Honestly, I don't remember anything from that night.

All I remember was waking up and Nisha saying she could smell Anne on me. Nisha said Anne's love scent was on me the same as when you and I lay together.

That was the end of our conversation. I looked for Anne the next day, and every day since to understand what happened that night. But I never found her.

I continued to look because nothing like that had happened to me before. Even when drinking with the Dwarves, I've never not remembered.

Nisha may know more than me about what happened that evening. But she and Archimedes are out hunting in the mountains. They should return to Kukes before the next full moon," Will explained.

"Hmph." Elizabeth sighed. She wanted to confirm the child was Will's.

"What's the child's name?" Will asked curiously.

Elizabeth's eyes flared in anger, but Will missed the slight change.

"Wilhelmina, but Anne calls her Willow. The child is named after you," Elizabeth said in disappointment.

"Wilhelmina, Willow," Will said rolling the name around on his tongue.

Doing that only served to make Elizabeth more unhappy. She was already frustrated that Will couldn't tell she was frustrated.

Only after Elizabeth pouted, did Will realize something was wrong.

When he saw her face, he realized that this situation must feel differently to Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, I'm sure this situation has come as a shock to you, as it has to me. How are you feeling?" Will asked her.

"How do you think I feel? I'm frustrated you didn't tell me sooner!" Elizabeth cried.

"I didn't tell you because I'm not sure myself what happened. The whole thing is a little unclear," replied Will.

"Shall you claim her as your own if she's yours?" asked Elizabeth pointedly.

"…"

Will didn't answer, because he didn't know how to answer that question.

Honestly, at this point, he could not say what he would do.

"I don't know," Will said honestly.

Hearing those words only hurt Elizabeth's heart more, because she knew Will spoke truthfully.

"If you chose to love the child, then I'll love it too because she's half yours," Elizabeth agreed.

She loved him too much to despise something or someone he loved.

"Where is Anne now let's question her?" Will said hurriedly.

"We can't she escaped with the child to Tartarus," Elizabeth explained to Will.

For the second time that evening, Will had a stunning face.

The next morning, Will attended a deep water sustainability committee meeting. The theme for the third day was sustainability. Different committees tackled different ecological and social problems.

At the forum, sovereign rulers chaired the majority of the committees. Moreover, the committee was chaired by King Roland.

Will appointed King Roland chair, because to Will's understanding, King Roland was the only ruler that enacted sustainability laws.

While there was much to discuss, the only topic of discussion today was overfishing. Will overfishing was also the only common unifying factor for many of these kingdoms.

Now that Fermion had access to the ocean, King Roland took issues of sea trade and deep water fishing very seriously.

When Will walked into the committee room, he was surprised to find there were not any available seats.

***

King Roland looked out at the full room with pride. His popularity had been on the rise lately.

Every day, he was complimented for having a vassal as strong and wise as his cousin. He even received compliments for that dog of a man, Vincent.

Furthermore, foreign sovereigns also praised him for Kukes' cosmopolitanism. Many had told him they disregarded their mountainous settlements.

Truthfully, even King Roland was surprised by the novelty of a rustic mountain cosmopolitan town filled with popular amenities only found in densely populated cities.

Only his cousin could dream up something this marvelous.

Walking through Kukes' Main Street was akin to walking through the noble districts of the world. There was a small boutique for almost every imperial or kingdom's luxury good.

It was a point of pride for most sovereigns to brag out about their dessert, tobacco, cloth, jewelry, or some such.

Yet, King Roland did not brag. How could he brag? The forum organizer was his vassal, Kukes was his city, and his countryman Sage Thaddeus had a seat on the Council of Sage.

By all recognition, King Roland was one of the most powerful sovereigns in the world.

King Roland might have to think about expanding his territory if Fermion wasn't hemmed in by the non-humans to their north and east, the empire to their west, and the ocean to their south,

When the 10th bell tolled, the committee room quieted down, and King Roland stood up and read the introduction prompt Will wrote.

Will wrote a prompt for every committee chair, even the committees he chaired.

However, committee chairs had the flexibility to read and modify the prompt or disregard it together.

King Roland picked up the prompt and read, "Humans across the globe rely on the ocean as a main source of food.

We enjoy fish fillets baked, battered, and stuffed, wrapped in rice and seaweed, and skewered kabob style.

Shellfish cracked open reveals tender bites of meat, and squid arms make for an enticing meal.

Seafood is for everyone—whether it's a high-end meal or a daily staple. Many people rely on seafood as a way to make a living, as fishers or fish farmers.

Ensuring the oceans continue to thrive while also feeding the world's people requires an understanding of how many fish are harvested.

Fishing can either be sustainable, where the number of fish taken from a population is at a rate that allows the stock to repopulate, or it can be unsustainable, where fishing removes more fish than can regrow.

When compared to many land-based sources of food, responsibly managed seafood is a sustainable source of food with minimal environmental impact.

However, not all fishing practices are exemplary, and there is a limit to how much we can take from the ocean.

Some fish populations are feeling the pressure from our dependence on seafood.

In a world where the human population is rapidly growing, seafood is essential.

This committee is tasked to find a global list of best practices to ensure the sustainability of fishing. Are there any questions or suggestions?"

"I think the first question to ask is what does sustainable deep water fishing look like?" as a wealthy imperial guild master.

"Yes, that's an important question," King Roland agreed.

"Sustainable seafood is harvested or produced in a way that supports productive fisheries and coastal communities and also maintains a healthy ecosystem.

A fishery is the harvesting of a specific population of fish using a specific method of collection.

There is no hard and fast rule associated with the term "sustainable deep water fishing."

In other words, sustainable fishing is whatever this committee decides is based on standards that aim to guide responsible fishing practices and consumer habits.

Personally, many factors determine whether a fishery is sustainable or not.

But, one important factor in determining approximately how many fish can be removed from a population over time while still allowing it to mature and repopulate," said Will offering his opinion.

Several people in the room shook their heads in agreement.

For the next two hours, the committee debated important questions. Someone times they asked more questions than answers but eventually, they came to an initial conclusion.

Just before noon, King Roland banged his committee chair gavel and announced, "before we conclude, let me some up a few important ideas. First, these two hours is not enough time, I doubt two days would be enough time.

As we discussed, management regulations can include catch quotas, limiting the length of a fishing season or number of available licenses, fishing gear restrictions, mandatory use of gear attachments to reduce bycatch, required training in best practices, and designated no-fishing areas, and many more suggestions.

Without question, our biggest disagreements are the monitoring and enforcement of these regulations are also essential for a successful management plan.

But I am happy to say, that we came up with at least a list of the 5 best practices. Hopefully, if every kingdom implements these suggestions, there shall be enough fish to match our respective populations.

As a committee, we agreed that a minimum of these 10 best practices must be followed in any fishery management plan to ensure sustainable deep water fishing.

Practice 1: each sovereign should enact laws establishing conservation and management measures to prevent overfishing.

Practice 2: each sovereign should research the best conservation and management practices for their empire or kingdom.

Practice 3: each sovereign should, to the extent practicable, work in close coordination with kingdoms or empires nearby.

Practice 4: each sovereign should enact laws allocating fishing privileges among various fishermen to reasonably promote conservationism.

Practice 5 – each sovereign examines their deep water fishing laws and where practicable, avoids unnecessary duplication. And enact laws protecting the safety of fishermen at sea.

This concludes our committee, let's head to lunch and hear from the Council of Sages!"

Although they felt their work was unfinished most felt were immensely proud that they had at least five minimal standards.