[Coral-List] Remnancy vs resiliency Part 3: making a list

[Michael Risk]

Hi Alina.

Thank you for that passionate and pointed plea.

I agree with much of what you say. It is a depressing fact, however,
that the global subsidies paid to the world's fishing fleets exceed the
value of the global landed catch. Think of the money that would be
saved if everyone stopped fishing...but that won't happen. If the US
(to take one example) subsidizes cotton-farmers in the SE so heavily
that small farmers in Nilotic Africa cannot compete, then this will be
a tough nut to crack.

I do not think the reefs of Florida will come back if lobster fishing
stops. March Break time has passed, but one thing I used to tell my
students is: "by all means, go south somewhere, do all those things we
did when we were your age-but safely, which we never did. Before you
book, ask the hotel how they treat their sewage. If you are not happy
with the answer, cancel, tell them why, and go elsewhere."

There is a thread running through this thread (sorry), one on which Dr.
Brylske has put his finger.  There are reefs in the First World that
have been loved to death: there are reefs in the Third World which will
be saved only through tourism. The only way to get local populations to
cease destructive utilisation of reef resources is to provide
alternative sources of income, and tourism is one of the best.

Mike