[Coral-List] doublestandardofmarinereserves

Patti Nicoll pnicoll at smhall.org
Fri Aug 15 11:13:45 EDT 2003


Fundamentally there is a difference between being allowed to selectively
eliminate fish from a habitat and line fishing which is dependent upon
fish choice and limited by size. Tropical fish collectors are very
selective in the kinds of fish that they desire and could quite easily
deplete the entire population of a given species. Depletion of the
entire population by only taking a certain size of adult, which, because
of the nature of line fishing, isn't guaranteed, is much less likely.
Agreeably the ecosystem would benefit from a complete ban of the taking
of all fish; however, the success of a particular marine protected area
is often dependent upon the involvement of as many players as possible
in its management. Unfortunately or fortunately, since they do actually
fund a great deal of research, the fisheries industry wields a great
deal of economic power and to exclude them completely is often
difficult.

Patricia B Nicoll
Form 7 Biology
Outdoor Education Coordinator
Pre-AP Consultant
Saint Mary's Hall School
9401 Starcrest Drive
San Antonio, TX  78217
210 483 9293
mailto:pnicoll at smhall.org
http://stm10815-01.k12.fsu.edu/


-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Delbeek [mailto:delbeek at waquarium.org] 
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2003 2:07 PM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: [SPAM] - RE: [Coral-List] environmental /ecological
disadvantages ofmarinereserves - Email found in subject

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


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