[Coral-List] Testing the appetite for dive tourism to conserve coral reefs

[Judi Lowe]

It’s not unusual when you finish a body of research in a PhD to close the
book, take a break and walk away from it. Publications are out or in
review. PhD awarded. Job done. You have all the answers and you’re a bit
over it. New focus? 100% on getting a job. We know academia does not reward
science communication – making results accessible to the real world.
Publishing is important but never really gets results out publicly or
encourages real world use of our findings to change the future of coral
reefs and marine resources.



I spent many research years asking what dive tourism in 100 less developed
countries around the equator is contributing to conservation through
sustainable integrated coastal management (ICM). I tested for relationships
between what dive operators are doing for ICM and 12 types of destructive
fishing around dive sites. In general terms, the findings are:



·      84% of dive operators have dive sites in MPAs, implying what they do
has the potential to matter to conservation.

·      97% of dive operators take action to minimise the damage their
divers do.

·      The majority however, contribute little to conservation through
sustainable ICM.

·      The group who do report decreases in destructive fishing around dive
sites do more for sustainable ICM.



>From this research I also learned:


·      71% of dive operators report conflict with fishers over access to
dive sites.

·      Even though 98% of dive operators employ locals (who are not
fishers), there is no association between those jobs and decreases in
destructive fishing.

·      There are relationships between livelihoods targeted to fishers and
their communities and decreases in 9 types of destructive fishing; killing
turtles, poaching in MPAs, taking live reef fish and lobster, shark
fishing, killing whale sharks, shark finning, use of fine gauge nets,
taking aquarium fish, and spear fishing.



I’ve always thought that understanding the relationships between what dive
tourism is really doing, recognising tenure, livelihoods and destructive
fishing can provide valuable insights to dive operators, MPA managers,
governments and dive tourism consumers in conserving our coral reefs and
marine resources that are under serious pressure.



My question is this. Before I put this research in a drawer and walk away,
what level of interest is there in the real world in how we can use dive
tourism to contribute to conservation and decrease destructive fishing in
our MPAs and beyond?



Judi Lowe PhD

www.thedivetourist.com