Posted by Brad on December 04, 2001 at 17:00:02:
In Reply to: Story on successful Marine Protected Areas posted by msblucow on December 03, 2001 at 18:01:52:
Virtaully every specie of resident fish in OUR waters are depressed by overfishing. Now the sports have declaired "war" on the reserves. What they are really saying is they want to reserve the right to take the very last fish. I am sick of the vain sense of entitlement that the consumptive users have. It wasn't golfers or bowlers who drove the need for the reserves, it was the commercial and rec sector themselves! Now they are at "war" to thwart the recovery effort!~
One thing that they all fail to recogiize is that the two oldest generations of virtually EVERY RESIDENT SPECIE are GONE! Many are under the illusion that the depletion was caused by pollution or some mysterious el nino current or some other natural phenomonon. The fact is the fish are too slow to grow to sustain the pressure that has been plied on them over the years. The only way the fish stocks are going to survive (and perhaps rebound) is if man stops killing them---period!
Without the reserves, the depletion will only continue.
Brad
(loves the sea)