ACTIVITY 3
Tragedy of the Commons
NAME: Adrian V. De Alday DATE PERFORMED: February 16, 2022
SECTION: BSME-SEP 2A
GROUP MEMBERS: Gerard Parayno, Daniel Zamora, Andrei Gutierrez, Ryan Batonghinog
Part 1: Commons Pond
Procedure
Work in groups of four. Imagine this scenario. Each person represents the head of a
starving family, which requires food. The only food source for these four families is a small fishing
hole that can accommodate an unknown amount of fish. Fortunately, after each round of fishing by
the four family heads, each remaining fish is able to spontaneously reproduce. Each person is
allowed to take as many or few fish as you want, but if you take only one fish, your family will starve.
In this simulation, our pond is a beaker, and our fish are goldfish crackers. Fish are
caught using straws. Each fishing round will last for 1 minute. You should rotate your fishing order
every round so that everyone has a chance to go first. The simulation will continue for three rounds.
The pond will be covered with a fabric sleeve, so that it is not possible to tell how many fish have
been taken before you fish. No talking is allowed in this part. Record all data in the following table.
TABLE 1: COMMON PONDS
ROUND # of fish # of fish # of fish # of fish # of fish total fish
at beg. of taken by taken by taken by taken by left at end
round 1st fisher 2nd fisher 3rd fisher 4th fisher of round
1 60 6 20 14 12 8
2 12 2 4 2 4 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 8 24 16 16 8
Questions
1. What happened to the common resource in Part 1? Why?
-We may conclude from the students' scenario that the resource in Part 1 has grown unsustainable
and seems to be selfish for the better welfare of their own family. Each family is unable to
communicate and consider their duty and consequences. There is a limit to their resources, but
each individual is eager to fish for a way to provide enough food for their family. The shared
resources for each family become insufficient and possible that they will not be able to survive in
such an unhealthy and unsustainable way of life.
2. Explain the rationale for your fishing technique in this part.
-My fishing approach is based on the simple principle of fishing on my agreement without
reluctance. Overfishing is merely a phrase that refers to a fisherman's selfishness. On the other
hand, if I were in that scenario, I would fish and constantly consider my family's needs so that we
can feed properly and make a living so that we can exist for the future. However, if I can speak with
my fellow villager, I may easily assume that we are capable of surviving and living a prosperous life
on our own.
3. What factors lead to uncertainty in this round?
-The lack of communication and planning were the issues that contributed to our uncertainties in this
round. It was tough for us to budget the fishes to get us through the last round. Another element that
made us uneasy was the presence of fishers. We don't know how to think about each other, which is
why, after the second round, we had a fish scarcity. Some of us receive a lot of fish in the first round,
but the fish only reproduce a few times in subsequent rounds.
Part 2: Commons Pond and Private Pond
Procedure
In this part, you will have access to two ponds, one common and one private. The rules for the
common pond are the same as before. However, talking and strategizing is allowed in this part. The
cloth sleeve will be removed so that you will know exactly how many fish are in the ponds at all
times, and how quickly the fish will reproduce. The carrying capacity for the common ponds is 16
and for the private ponds is 4. You must remove at least one fish from each pond each round. As
before, you may catch as many fish as you would like from both ponds during each round.
TABLE 2: COMMON PONDS
ROUND # of fish # of fish # of fish # of fish # of fish total fish
at beg. of taken by taken by taken by taken by left at end
round 1st fisher 2nd fisher 3rd fisher 4th fisher of round
1 16 1 1 1 1 12
2 18 2 2 2 2 10
3 15 1 1 1 1 11
4 16 4 4 4 4 16
TOTAL 8 8 8 8
TABLE 3: PRIVATE PONDS
ALL FISHERMAN's AGREEMENT, THE SAME STRATEGY HANDLING OWN PONDS
ROUND # of fish # of fish # of fish
at beg. of Taken this round at the end of the
round round
1 4 2 2
2 3 1 2
3 3 2 1
4 1 1 0
TOTAL 11 6 5
Questions:
4. Did you get different results for the pond in Part 2? Why?
-In part two, we got different findings for the pond. The end outcome was far superior to the first
part. We were able to maintain the fish distribution concept up to the last round, with equal numbers
of fish taken by every individual. It was because we planned and strategized on how to avoid
starvation while also obtaining equal amounts of food. We spoke with one another, and the
uncertainties we had in the earlier portion vanished. We were able to overcome these doubts
because we exchanged knowledge with one another.
5. Explain the rationale for your fishing technique in this part.
-The rationale for the fishing technique is to communicate with other fishermen. To ensure that all
families have fish to eat, all of the fishermen agreed that it needs a plan to avoid overfishing. There
is a fish limit to their pond, but each fisherman is catching a fish according to their plan to reproduce
more fish first that provides enough food for their family on the following day.
6. If you cooperated with other fishers, what was the result of that cooperation?
-The shared fishes for each family become sufficient and lead to a healthy economy for them to
support their daily lives. Every fisherman is expected to have only one fish on the first round to
ensure that the fish is going to reproduce more in the following round. In the next two rounds, every
fisherman needs to have at least one or two fish since the fish reproduced and lead to an expansion
in the quantity of fish. In round four, the fishes reproduced on a larger number so every fisherman
gets four fish for their loved ones.
7.Did you use different fishing strategies in the common pond and the private pond?
-In the Common pond, we just get the fish as much as we want and we didn't like care if the next
fisherman gets less fish than ours, in part 2 common pond we talk about how we can manage the
fish so every fisherman can get fish each round, in the private pond we fisherman agrees and plan
how we can manage our fish each round, first we only get 1 fish so the remaining fish can
reproduce at the next round, we did this strategy as long as there's enough fish that can reproduce
and it can last at the last round. So all the fishermen have the same strategy at Private pond as you
can see at the third table.
8. Why does common usage lead to exploitation?
-The reason why common leads to exploitation are because common has no rules and regulations,
everyone has no control over their usage and doesn't even care if there is someone that needs it
more than him/her. Common is the reason why some of the people treat unfairly just to benefit his or
her own personal needs
9.What would be the ideal way to manage the common pond?
-Our strategy will be disrupted and the depletion of resources or fish in the lake will accelerate
again.
10.How would this simulation have been different if you didn't know the students in your group?
- It would be easier to maintain a private pond since it would be easier to keep track of all the fish
and how many are being taken out.
11. What are the strategies that help to prevent the "tragedy of the commons"?
-After round 2, our shared resources were reduced as a result of the fisherman catching more fish
than they should have. So the pond's fish population is rapidly depleting, maybe due to a lack of
communication on how many fish we should take and the need of not being greedy while catching
fish.
12. If a new student had joined your group in the middle of Part 2, how would that affected your
strategy and the use of the resource?
-Our plan would be affected if a new student joined our group in the midst of part 2. It would be
another difficulty for us to plan and strategize on how to sustain the resource since our plan only
allowed for four fishers. Joining in the middle would also make it harder to balance the rationale for
catching fish. However, it may be resolvable since we can communicate and make decisions on
how to place him while not interfering with the distribution of available resources. We'll make
adjustments depending on the overall number of anglers that participate.
13.. Why is the private pond easier to manage for longterm success?
-In private ponds we can control our own using and also the planning of reproducing of fish, we
didn't need to worry about them too much consumption of the fish because it’s our own pond.
