Fish-4-Ever

Richard Page writes: The world’s oceans, once thought inexhaustible, are under increasing threat. In recent years, scientific study after scientific study has pointed to the fact that human activities and fishing in particular have been putting extreme pressure on marine ecosystems to the point that profound ecosystem changes are being experienced in many parts of the world, such as the blooms of jellyfish that have occurred in the once fish-rich waters off Namibia. In 2006 an international group of ecologists and economists, led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University, published a study that brought the extent of this degradation into stark relief. Looking at marine biodiversity on a global scale, the study shows that loss of marine biodiversity is drastically reducing the ocean’s ability to produce seafood, resist diseases, filter pollutants and rebound from stresses such as over-fishing and climate change. The team’s projection that all commercial and seafood species could collapse by 2048 was shocking enough to make news headlines across the world. The study however was not all doom and gloom, for it also showed that closing areas to fisheries and establishing marine reserves i.e. highly protected areas that are off limits to all extractive and destructive uses including fishing, increases the species found in these areas and boosts catch per unit effort in adjacent waters. The study should be a warning bell to us all. If we take action now, the oceans possess the potential to rebound. If we do nothing then we will witness further fisheries collapses until there is nothing left to fish, except perhaps jellyfish.

The scientific evidence that marine reserves may provide a range of conservation and fisheries benefits is growing all the time. The establishment of marine reserves has been shown to result in long-lasting and often rapid increases in populations of marine species, their diversity and productivity. Despite being closed to fishing, marine reserves can actually benefit fisheries in a number of ways. They allow exploited stocks and damaged habitats to recover within their boundaries and therefore support a general recovery in ocean health.

Richard Page is the co-ordinator of the Marine Reserves campaign at Greenpeace.

There is also evidence that they enhance catches in adjacent fishing grounds through the migration of fish, fish larvae and fish spawn away from the reserve – the so-called spill-over effect. But of course it is not just about the fish. In line with the ecosystem approach, marine reserves can and should be designed to benefit entire ecosystems.

 They should be established to benefit endangered and rare species or habitats, critical feeding grounds, nursery areas and migration routes. While some marine reserves are needed to serve urgent protection and conservation needs, arguably the most important benefit of such reserves comes over the longer term, in helping to ensure that our oceans remain healthy and productive for future generations. This is all the more important in the context of climate change as healthy ecosystems are more resilient to increased temperature and other stresses. We need a global network of large-scale marine reserves now if we want to protect our oceans for the future. Richard Page is the co-ordinator of the Marine Reserves campaign at Greenpeace. Greenpeace is actively campaigning for a global network of marine reserves both in coastal waters and on the high seas and has put forward proposals for regional networks in the North and Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean as well as developing a global network for the high seas with Professor Callum Roberts and his team at York University. To find out more visit http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/marine-reserve