[Coral-List] Paper out - 50 days free download

Fri Sep 16 15:44:13 EDT 2016

Malaysia has a small, very nice reef area in a national park island that is
a very popular spot for groups of people who are mostly beginner
snorkelers, city dwellers.  The coral is branching and delicate, and much
if it is shallow enough at low tide that people could walk on it and crush
it.  The shore is sand, so easy entry there.  So the Nat park restricts the
hours that snorkelers (that come on boats from the mainland) can be in the
water to high and maybe medium tide.  The time comes, a whistle is blown,
and everyone must get out and get on the boat to return.  In addition,
everyone must wear a life vest, which both makes them safe and forces them
to float on the surface, and they can't wear fins.  Net effect, many
hundreds of happy snorkelers a day, and shallow delicate coral has no signs
of breakage!  Fabulous!!  Very smart system thanks to the brilliant ideas
of the park staff!!
Cheers,  Doug

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 12:41 PM, Osmar Luiz <osmarluizjr at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Martina, Hi Magnus,
>
> Some years ago I did a study in Brazil assessing the potential impacts of
> both scuba divers and snorkelers in a popular island destination (Fernando
> de Noronha Archipelago). What I saw is that despite snorkelers being far
> more abundant than scuba divers, they spend 98% of the time just floating
> on the sea surface, so they contact with corals and other bottom substrate
> was meaningless. On the other hand, scuba divers were much more likely to
> bump on coral colonies and handling other kind of organisms.
>
> The major threat imposed by snorkelers is just on the moment of getting in
> and out of the sea, when they potentially can walk over the shallow coral
> fringe. The way we found to manage this is just allowing snorkelers to get
> to the reef through a sand beach by the reef, then they can walk over sand
> until they reach an appropriate depth to start swim over the reef. If done
> this way, snorkelling has virtually no physical impact over the reef (note
> that I say ‘physical’, you may want to consider other things like
> overcrowding scaring big fishes away, but this is a different thing of what
> we‘re discussing here). I know that the geography of the place must help
> (having an easy access to the reef by the beach), fortunately that was the
> case at my study site.
>
> Best regards
> Osmar
>
>
>
> ---------------------------
> Osmar J. Luiz, Ph.D
> Department of Biological Sciences
> Macquarie University
> Sydney, 2109 NSW
> Australia
>
> e-mail: osmarjluiz at gmail.com
> phone: +612 98506271
> mobile: +61 0420817392
> http://acropora.bio.mq.edu.au/people/osmar-luiz/
> Publications list: http://publicationslist.org/osmar.luiz
> https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=_ArEYYMAAAAJ&
> hl=en&cstart=0&pagesize=20
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 16 Sep 2016, at 2:20 AM, martina <m.milanese at studioassociatogaia.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Magnus,
> >
> > thanks for sharing the two papers - I didn't know the second one, very
> > interesting!
> >
> > I share your concern about snorkelling. Actually, in my experience
> > working in the diving (but also, more in general, in the marine tourism
> > business), snorkellers are less experienced and less knowledged about
> > the sea. Also, it is much easier to organise a mass excursion with a bus
> > of first-time snorkellers than with first-time divers.
> >
> > In general, for what we may argue that the level can and should be
> > improved, divers have received a minimum of training and have expressed
> > a certain degree of interest in the sea (a course has a cost and many
> > novice divers need to overcome some degrees of a natural sense of fear)..
> > This does not apply to snorkellers. Additionally, often snorkellers are
> > either let alone in the water or guided by staff with a-specific
> > training - on the contrary divers are mostly guided, and a dive guide
> > has received specific training.
> >
> >
> > Finally, talking about numbers, it seems clear that snorkellers are many
> > more than divers, and that their (potential) impact is very concentrated
> > along a limited stretch of very shallow habitats. One may argue that is
> > better to sacrify this limited habitats rather than spread impacts at
> > differen depths over larger areas. Guess it is a matter of how many
> > people, how concerned, and how vulnerable the site.
> >
> > A pro for snorkelling is: it's something nearly everyone can try. If
> > appropriately done (and there are ways to do it right) it's a fantastic
> > way to engage people with the sea. So I'd say, as always, it's not the
> > thing per se but how it is implemented...
> >
> > Cheers
> > Martina
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Dr Martina Milanese, PhD
> >
> > skype: m.milanese
> > https://it.linkedin.com/in/martina-milanese-46963436
> > twitter: @martix_m
> >
> > Italian Mob. (WA) +39-338-1196672
> > Moroccan Mob. +212-636808514
> >
> > Studio Associato Gaia Snc dei Dottori Antonio Sarà e Martina Milanese
> > Via Brigata Liguria 1/9 scala A
> > 16121 Genova - Italy
> > PI 01600400996
> >
> > Il 15/09/16 12:32, Magnus L Johnson ha scritto:
> >> Hi Martina,
> >>
> >> This looks very interesting (especially given some recent passionate
> discussions on Coral-L!)  You/others might also be interested in these open
> access and peer-reviewed articles:
> >>
> >> The Relationship between Diver Experience Levels and Perceptions of
> Attractiveness of Artificial Reefs - Examination of a Potential Management
> Tool
> >>
> >> http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/
> journal.pone.0068899
> >>
> >> And
> >>
> >> Artificial reefs and marine protected areas: a study in willingness to
> pay to access Folkestone Marine Reserve, Barbados, West Indies
> >>
> >> https://peerj.com/articles/2175/
> >>
> >> I think artificial reefs have a role to play in reducing the impact of
> scuba divers (especially trainees) on vulnerable sites by drawing them
> away.  However there is the argument also that they serve to increase the
> popularity of diving tourism overall and may in the long term lead to more
> pressure on natural reefs.
> >>
> >> It is interesting that diving receives lots of attention (~112 000 hits
> on google scholar) while we pay less attention to snorkelling (~6390 hits)
> and in my experience the damage to shallow reefs by snorkelers, who you
> could argue may be less committed (generally speaking) to their hobby and
> the marine environment, is significant in many places.
> >>
> >> Best wishes, Magnus
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: martina [mailto:m.milanese at studioassociatogaia.com]
> >> Sent: 14 September 2016 21:57
> >> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> Subject: [Coral-List] Paper out - 50 days free download
> >>
> >> Dear all,
> >>
> >> as an output of the ongoing EU-funded project "Green Bubbles RISE for
> sustainable diving", I'm pleased to announce the publication of the paper:
> >>
> >> Scuba diving tourism systems and sustainability: Perceptions by the
> scuba diving industry in two Marine Protected Areas. Tourism Management
> (2017), pp. 385-403 DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2016.09.004
> >>
> >> The paper will enjoy 50-days (until Nov 1st, 2016) free download at
> this link, courtesy of Elsevier: http://authors.elsevier.com/a/
> 1TiLYxTbMbITH
> >>
> >> Abstract: Scuba diving tourism encourages conservation, generates
> revenue, and supports local communities. Understanding its interactions
> with environmental, social, and economic factors is important in the
> context of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), where dynamics between role
> players are complex. This study provides insights into the problems
> affecting the sustainability of the scuba diving tourism industry in two
> MPAs in Italy and Mozambique. The interactions between the industry and
> environment, economy, non-monetary aspects, society, governance, and
> scientific community were investigated via question- naire surveys and
> interviews with 20 scuba diving operators. Operators felt the importance of
> scuba diving to themselves, MPAs, and resident communities, although they
> lamented limited support to the industry by other stakeholders.
> >> Recommendations to enhance sustainability include actions ranging from
> engagement in planning and management to education and social
> responsibility. However, the heterogeneity of issues perceived by the
> industry, reflected in differences between the case studies, calls for ad
> hoc measures.
> >>
> >> Please let me thank Serena Lucrezi (corresponding author) for her
> incredibly focused attitude all along the way, from laying down field work
> until the final revisions of the proofs. My gratitude also to all other
> authors, it has been a pleasure (and it still is) working with you!
> >>
> >> Martina
> >>
> >> --
> >> Dr Martina Milanese, PhD
> >>
> >> skype: m.milanese
> >> https://it.linkedin.com/in/martina-milanese-46963436
> >> twitter: @martix_m
> >>
> >> Italian Mob. (WA) +39-338-1196672
> >> Moroccan Mob. +212-636808514
> >>
> >> Studio Associato Gaia Snc dei Dottori Antonio Sarà e Martina Milanese
> Via Brigata Liguria 1/9 scala A
> >> 16121 Genova - Italy
> >> PI 01600400996
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >>
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-- 
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