Why We Need Our Buoys

At 3,000, an avalanche of comments responded when the Coast Guard announced it would remove 350 of the 1,700 large buoys that dot the waters extending from Maine to New Jersey.

Explaining why, the Coast Guard said they had to “right-size” the system, not cut costs. Furthermore, the hassle of maintenance includes a check-up (from the boats called buoy tenders) every one to three years. And, beyond the buoys, they also have to deal with the steel chains that connect the buoys to concrete blocks on the ocean floor.

The fishermen that oppose the decision cite safety. But there is more.

Buoy Removal

Buoys come in handy when shoals are foggy and channels are narrow. Lobstermen, fishermen, and ferry captains know that in a pinch, they can always depend on a navigational buoy.

Made of steel and painted red or green, some buoys light up at night and whistle a warning of nearby danger when a boat approaches. They compose a safety network in the rocky waters near Nantucket

Our Bottom Line: Public Goods

Economists call the buoy a public good. As a public good, it is a commodity that government should provide.

Economists like to name a lighthouse as their example of a public good because it can simultaneously be used by everyone, depleted by no one, and is a necessity. In addition, unable to prevent anyone from using public goods, we call them non-excludable. Similarly, like lighthouses, since everyone enjoys the benefits of national defense, streetlights, and tornado sirens, they too are public goods. When businesses have a tough time profiting from non-excludable items, if they are necessities, government provides them.

So yes, fishermen and ferry captains need to preserve their safety. But also, they should protect the public goods that could be hit by the tragedy of the commons.

My sources and more: In a long and human article, the NY Times took a look at buoy depletion.

Please note that several of today’s sentences on public goods were in a past econlife post.