The term high grading in forestry, fishing and mining relates to selectively harvesting goods, to “cut the best and leave the rest”. In mining, it can also be a term for theft.
Forestry
In forestry, high grading, also sometimes referred to as selective logging, is a selective type of timber harvesting that removes the highest grade of timber in an area of forest. The stunted, slow growing or poorly formed trees that are left as residuals will, if ecological conditions permit, reseed the space that has been created. Over time the practice of high grading can therefore give rise to forest stands containing stems of less value in terms of timber quality. It is different from Selection cutting. Not only are economic forestry aspects destroyed, but also ecological values are threatened. The forests so managed will be degraded in terms of biodiversity, genetic diversity and species mix. The variety needed of different ages and species mixes will be threatened and funding good silvicultural practices will be harder without an even flow of value from timber, non-timber forest products and other land values such as hunting, wildlife watching or amenity use of forests. Forests may become unsafe for people to go in them due to a large amount of unmanaged trees at risk falling on them in a storm. The opposite of this practice is low grading, where the lower quality trees are periodically harvested, making the genetic stock faster growing and of better timber quality. Such stems might well be taken by use of thinning methods as part of a thinning régime, especially via the thinning from below method.
Fishing
High grading is a practice of selectively harvesting fish so that only the best quality fish are brought ashore. The practice is popular in situations under individual fishing quotas where only a limited number of fish are allowed to be harvested. Following the letter, but not the spirit of the law, fish are caught, and if not considered optimal, thrown back into the ocean. The practice of high grading allows fishers to get higher prices for their limited catch but is environmentally destructive because many of the fish returned to the water die. This was an issue with the EU regulation of fisheries. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a celebrity chef, led a campaign against this with a TV show called Hugh´s Fish Fight, which successfully lobbied for a change in EU law to reduce the waste from thrown back fish in sea fishery.
Mining
In mining, high grading refers to mining out the portions of the orebody that has the highest grade of material to be mined. However, it may also refer to the concealment and theft of valuable gold or silver ore by miners for personal profit. Common in the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century, high graders would usually conceal the highest grades of ore they encountered during their work day in a pocket or lunch pail, or within the body, and later attempt to fence it on the black market. As mining companies became more aware of the growing problem, they built changing stations where they forced the miners to shower after their shift in the mines, making it easier to foil attempts at theft.
