[Coral-List] environmental /ecological disadvantages of marinereserves

[Charles Delbeek]

At 06:28 PM 8/13/2003 -0400, you wrote:


>A marine reserve is fundamentally a minimization, of anthropogenic
>disturbance. If one defines a 'healthy" ecosystem in terms of what it
>would be like naturally, then putting in a reserve (= removing many
>disturbances) is almost always going to be a step towards ecological
>health.
>
>There are socioeconomic and political tradeoffs in putting in reserves,
>not the least of which is the tendency in some areas to set up a reserve
>and ignore rational coastal management outside the reserve. However,
>raising this issue is often a good way to leverage action on the larger
>scale.
>
>Overall, reserves and other MPAs are among the most ecologically and
>environmentally sound tools available for reef management.
>
>Cheers!
>
>  John
>
>_________________________________________________________
>
>John W. McManus, PhD
>Director, National Center for Caribbean Coral Reef Research (NCORE)
>Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (RSMAS)
>University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
>Miami, Florida 33149.
>jmcmanus at rsmas.miami.edu
>Tel. (305) 361-4814
>Fax (305) 361-4910
>www.ncoremiami.org

Although I agree with the above, it always seems a double-standard exists 
in many MPA's where collecting tropical fish is banned but recreational 
line fishing is not. As a diver I enjoy seeing large fish not just small 
tropicals. Sometimes political and special interest influences can outweigh 
the overall environmental benefits.

Aloha!


J. Charles Delbeek
Aquarium Biologist
Waikiki Aquarium
2777 Kalakaua Ave.
Honolulu, HI, USA 96815
www.waquarium.org

808-923-9741
808-923-1771 FAX