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What's That?
Marine Resources
Ensuring the Future Through
Preservation
Story by Alex Brylske
Imagine if there was an open hunting season
on virtually every animal, gerbils to grizzly bears, bunnies to buffalo. Now
imagine that you could pursue your prize just about anywhere, including in a
national park. The scenario is almost too ludicrous to comprehend. Yet it is
very close to the situation we have throughout three-quarters of our planet,
the sea.
If you take a look at a detailed map of North America, particularly in
the western regions, you'll notice a significant portion is set aside as
some form of, protected area, (park, monument, wilderness area, reserve,
etc.). In no instance are hunting regulations so lax that anything
approaching the scenario above is possible. In fact, the prohibition of
hunting in most of these protected areas is in no way surprising.
Our conservation ethic and traditions are rightfully a source of pride.
The problem is that our awareness, and in many cases even our desire to
preserve, stops at the shoreline. A very telling global statistic is that to
date less than 1 percent of the ocean receives even basic protection from
human activity, while more than 10 times this area is set aside on land.
Sadly, this continues to be the case even after every informed and rational
person on Earth understands that, contrary to our past assumptions, the sea
is not inexhaustible. One researcher has termed the lax attitude toward
ocean protection a result of, fish bigotry., Dr. Carl Safina, in his
wonderful book, Song for a Blue Ocean, calls it the lack of a, sea ethic.,
What a Marine Reserve Is, and What It's Not
A consensus is growing among scientists and the marine conservation
community that one of the most important measures we can take to conserve
the sea's precious resources is to set aside areas from any consumptive or
extractive activity. Just how much should be set aside is uncertain, and
often debated, but experts agree that probably somewhere between 10 and 20
percent of the world ocean should consist of no-take marine reserves.
Frankly, my own reaction to the need for no-take marine reserves is a
resounding, Duh!, After all, how can you expect to replenish marine
resources if there's no sanctuary for healthy breeding populations? Yet not
all agree that this is a self-evident or necessary step.
Given all the attention paid to marine parks and sanctuaries in recent
years, you may foster the mistaken belief that at least the 1 percent that's
set aside is safe from exploitation. Sadly, this isn't the case, not even in
developed countries that can afford to do so. One example is the United
States' National Marine Sanctuaries. Unlike our National Parks, which are
operated under the U.S. Department of Interior and charged primarily with
the mission of preservation, the National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) Program is
administered under the Department of Commerce (commerce, as in making
money). In contrast to the preservation priority of the National Parks
Service, the NMS Program holds a mandate for, multiple compatible use., This
means that while conservation is an important goal, it must be balanced with
commercial activities such as fishing. This is not to imply that the NMS
Program isn't committed to marine reserves. In fact, much of the largest
no-take reserve in the United States, near the Dry Tortugas, will be within
the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. (See the sidebar for an update
on the Tortugas 2000 initiative.) But indicative of the dire need for
rethinking our priorities, even this largest of all no-take reserves will
comprise a mere 185 square nautical miles.
A similar example of the deceptive nature of the term, marine reserve,
exists in California. Considering that California has over 100 refuges,
sanctuaries and protected areas, one might easily conclude that its marine
resources are under a high level of protection. But in fact, only nine of
these areas are off-limits to extractive activities such as fishing. In
terms of area, this means that of the 3.6 million acres of protected coastal
waters, only 6,000, that's less than two-tenths of 1 percent, are protected
from the nets, lines and spears of recreational and commercial fishers. Some
contend that there would be less confusion (or deception) if the term
no-take marine reserve was replaced by one proposed by the American
Fisheries Society, marine wilderness areas.,
Another interesting aspect of the marine reserve discussions is that it's
often assumed that this cutting-edge management strategy is a new concept.
The reality is just another example of how little we know about our past.
For centuries, peoples of the South Pacific have recognized the importance
of comprehensive, integrated coastal management. While none of them held a
Ph.D., they did recognize the consequence their actions would have on their
children and grandchildren.
In fact, the people of Hawaii had a term for it, ahupua'a. Recognizing
that true coastal zone management must include the entire watershed,
caretakers, called konohiki, managed a section of land from the mountains to
the sea. This conservation system prevented exploitation, pollution and
extinction of plants, animals and marine species, while allowing the people
to take what they needed. Unlike the often ludicrous fines imposed upon
present-day law-breakers, violation of the ahupua'a was punishable by death!
Clearly, we have much to learn from some ancient cultures in managing
today's marine resources.
What Marine Reserves Do
Most of the attention on marine reserves has focused on their role in
fisheries management. Indeed, there's now clear evidence that no-take
reserves do work in protecting populations of target species. The most
recent example, as you may have read recently in the press, is the
significant recovery of the Massachusetts' scallop industry. After only a
few years' closure, fishers in the Cape Cod region are reporting record
harvests. But there's much more to support the establishment of reserves
than their role as fish factories.
In 1995 a workshop sponsored by the Center for Marine Conservation and
the Caribbean Marine Research Center drew together 25 of the world's leading
experts on marine reserves to review the global results. The group
determined 69 benefits of marine reserves and broke them into four broad
categories.
The first category was the protection of ecosystem structure, function
and integrity, which is the basis for biodiversity. The second involved
improved fisheries yields, which, to me, is the no-brainer part of the
marine reserves equation. The third category involved how marine reserves
can help further knowledge and understanding of marine systems. Again,
common sense tells us that to understand an ecosystem, we must be able to
study it in its least altered state.
Fourth, and most pertinent to us in the diving community, the group
concluded that marine reserves provide enhanced nonconsumptive
opportunities, such as tourism. Even many of those who were once skeptical
now understand the long-term, sustainable benefit of keeping nature natural.
This, of course, is old news to many divers, who have for the past 20 years
lived the ethic of,take only pictures, leave only bubbles.,
The Opposing Side
If you're a diver, you're probably thinking,,OK, so what's the problem?
Let's establish more no-take reserves., The problem is that not everyone
agrees. Opponents to reserves, primarily commercial and recreational fishing
interests, cite many pseudoscientific reasons to oppose them or slow their
establishment. Many opponents counter the reserve argument by insisting that
there just isn't enough scientific proof that they work; no one is certain
of their success. This is an easy cop-out, because waiting for
complete,certainty, as in all areas of science, means waiting until the cows
come home. Yet when faced with substantial evidence and overwhelming
scientific consensus, detractors retort,,They may work elsewhere, but not
here, or contend that the resource isn't really in trouble, it's just
a,natural cycle.,
Of course, there's the reliable old saw that fishing is already too
heavily regulated or that loss of fishing grounds is simply not viable
economically. (One should also keep in mind that globally, commercial
fishing is an industry that annually spends about $125 billion to catch
about $75 billion worth of fish. Go figure.)
In reality, what research on ecosystems is telling us is that we may
never fully understand the intricacies of how a natural system works. But
this is not an excuse to do nothing. In fact, it's a powerful rationale to
ensure that portions of ecosystems remain in as pristine a condition as
possible. As the environmentalist Aldo Leopold told us long ago,,A wise
tinkerer saves all the parts., Using his rationale, resource managers now
advocate what is often termed the,precautionary principle,, a philosophy
that says when decisions are made in uncertain circumstances, we should err
on the side of conservation. Scientists and resource managers now agree
that, while more research and study will always be necessary, even
imperfectly designed reserves provide significant benefits.
,Because they are defined by geographical boundaries, marine protected
areas offer an approach to conservation that takes the entire ecosystem of a
particular area into consideration, rather than targeting specific species
for protection, says Dr. Edward Houde, chair of a National Research Council
committee that just released a report on marine reserves. Houde, who is also
a professor at the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental
Sciences, continues,,Declining or poorly managed fish populations and damage
to marine habitats are discouraging signs that conventional ocean management
practices are insufficient, while recent research demonstrates that properly
designed reserves can be effective tools for protecting and restoring ocean
ecosystems.,
Lessons From Experience
As California and the National Marine Sanctuary program were used as
examples to illustrate how the term marine reserve can be deceiving, it's
only fair to turn to them once again for some success stories. The Channel
Islands National Marine Sanctuary, America's fourth largest, has been
described as one of the most regulated tracts of ocean in the United States.
Still, for the past several decades there have been crashes in the
populations of sea urchins, abalone and other fin fishes. But for over 20
years a 30-plus-acre segment off the north shore of Anacapa Island has been
set aside as a no-take reserve. Today, it has become arguably the
best-studied reserve in America, and research has clearly documented the
benefits of its protected status. For example, after severe El Ni–o
events, large tracts of California's famous kelp forests are uprooted and
often take between eight to 10 years to recover. But inside the reserve,
recovery takes only a year or two.
Another example is the red urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus),
which have been heavily harvested by a commercial fishery for their roe
(eggs), a delicacy in the sushi restaurants of Japan. The problem is,
without the red urchins, the purple urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)
proliferate due to the lack of predation and competition. The altered
ecological balance can be devastating, given that one of the favorite foods
of the purple urchins is the rootlike holdfasts of the kelp. With nothing to
hold them in place, these massive forests simply wash ashore, denuding the
undersea terrain as effectively as slashing and burning a tropical rain
forest. Not surprisingly, the proportion of reds to purples, and thus the
ecological balance, within the reserve remains normal. Just outside the
reserve, the reds have virtually disappeared. It's also been documented that
the reserve contains significantly more of all species, from lobsters to
abalone. One researcher has described the function of this and other
reserves as providing,breathing room, where depleted wildlife populations
have a chance to recover.
Similar results have been found in California's Point Lobos State Park,
where there are roughly 20 percent more fish, along with a greater diversity
and larger size, inside than outside this small 3-square-kilometer no-take
reserve. It has also been documented from Point Lobos to the Bahamas that
these larger-sized fish, which are prime targets when not protected, produce
greater quantities of larva. With snappers, for example, one large adult can
produce as much as 200 small adults. Moreover, many of these larvae spill
over and repopulate the surrounding areas outside the reserves. This is, in
fact, a powerful rationale for the establishment of the marine reserve in
Florida's Dry Tortugas.
Additional examples include a twofold to threefold increase in egg
production by rockfish in a California reserve. The recent NRC study cited
previously found that nearly 60 percent of the reserves examined had a
greater number of species than in adjacent, unprotected water. With regard
to habitat protection, researchers in St. Lucia discovered that overfishing
of the herbivorous parrotfish, major consumers of algae, led to algal
overgrowth and decline of coral reefs. In a nearby reserve, parrotfish
populations remained intact, and so did the health of the coral reef.
The Take-Home Message
It should not be taken from this discussion that marine reserves are a
panacea for the destruction and depletion of the world ocean. Certainly,
marine reserves are not the reason for all the positive examples of marine
species recovering or prospering. However, it's now clear that, in
combination with other locally appropriate management strategies, no-take
reserves can be a big part of the success story. As a report from the Center
for Marine Conservation points out,,Marine reserves alone cannot substitute
for good fisheries and coastal management strategies. But they can directly
protect marine biodiversity and ensure that some areas are insulated from
the risks of traditional management.,
It is perhaps easy to figure why most people have a hard time
understanding or appreciating the dire plight of the ocean. After all, few
are able to see below the surface. But this excuse does not hold for those
fortunate few who, because of scuba, know the sea so intimately. Anyone who
has established a base of experience as a diver understands that things are
getting worse, not better, beneath the waves. Marine reserves, true aquatic
wilderness areas, can help reverse that trend, but only if we make a
commitment to support their establishment. Please do your part to ensure
that more of the aquatic world is free from exploitation.
Tortugas Update
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has released a final plan
(final supplemental environmental impact statement/final supplemental
management plan) to protect the remote coral reefs of the Tortugas, more
than 70 miles (113 km) west of Key West, by establishing a no-take
ecological reserve.
The sanctuary received more than 4,000 comments on its draft plan for the
Tortugas Ecological Reserve, more than 90 percent supporting the no-take
reserve as essential for protecting some of the healthiest and most diverse
coral reefs in the region.,This strong support for the Tortugas Ecological
Reserve shows that the public understands that protecting the Tortugas is
likely to benefit the health of the entire sanctuary and beyond, said
Sanctuary Superintendent Billy Causey.
As proposed in the draft plan, the Tortugas Ecological Reserve would
encompass 151 square nautical miles in two sections. Tortugas North would
include approximately 91 square nautical miles, including the northern
portion of Tortugas Bank and Sherwood Forest, an area of lush coral growth
that stretches for several miles. Tortugas South would include 60 square
nautical miles surrounding Riley's Hump, capturing an important spawning
area for snapper and grouper, as well as deepwater habitat for golden crab,
snowy grouper and tilefish.
Approximately 55 square nautical miles of the proposed reserve fall
within existing sanctuary boundaries. The plan would expand sanctuary
boundaries to cover the remaining 96 square nautical miles, which would
allow the sanctuary to address threats posed by anchoring and vessel
discharge.
The regulations for the Tortugas Ecological Reserve would prohibit taking
of all marine life, as well as anchoring, mooring by vessels more than 100
feet (30 m) in combined length and vessel discharge. Existing sanctuary-wide
regulations also would apply to the reserve.
A simple no-cost, phone-in permit system would govern access to Tortugas
North to ensure that all vessels have access to mooring buoys, ease
enforcement and assist in monitoring visitor impacts.
In response to comments received on the draft plan, the sanctuary will
prohibit diving and snorkeling in Tortugas South. Limiting access to
Tortugas South to continuous transit by vessels with fishing gear stowed
will assist the sanctuary in controlling poaching in this remote area,
providing additional protection to the area's critical resources.
Socioeconomic studies have shown no nonconsumptive diving and snorkeling
occurring in this area.
The sanctuary based the Tortugas Ecological Reserve plan on a proposal
drafted by the Tortugas 2000 working group and adopted by the Sanctuary
Advisory Council. The 25-member working group included commercial and
recreational fishermen, divers, scientists, conservationists,
citizens-at-large and resource managers.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the governor
and cabinet must approve no-take regulations for the reserve before they can
take effect in state waters. In addition, the National Park Service has
proposed a type of no-take area called a Research Natural Area, compatible
with the sanctuary's reserve in its revisions to the General Management Plan
for Dry Tortugas National Park. These combined actions would result in a
world-class, no-take, ecological reserve in the Tortugas.
Further Reading:
Marine and Coastal Protected Areas: A Guide for Planners and Managers,
by Rodney Salm and John Clark.
Copies can be ordered from:
IUCN Marine Program
1630 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20009
fax: (202) 387-4823
e-mail: oceans@icuns.org
Web site: www.iucn.org/bookstore/index.htm
For more information on marine reserves and how you can help, contact:
Center for Marine Conservation
1725 DeSales Street, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
phone: (202)429-5609
fax: (202) 872-0619
Web site: www.cmc-ocean.org
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