World's Largest Marine Reserve


The UK government has created the world's largest marine reserve around the Chagos Islands. This is a major step towards conserving the 'planet ocean'. "The reserve would cover a 545,000-sq-km area around the Indian Ocean archipelago, regarded as one of the world's richest marine ecosystems." The reserve will include a "no-take" reserve where NOTHING leaves the reserve. All marine reserves in New Zealand are "no-take," however, this country is so small that it is not as big of an achievement as this massive reserve.

The islands were cleared of it's inhabitants to make room for a military base, however, they are now wanting to return and are worried that this new reserve will restrict their way of life. This is all sad and such, however, I think that it is more important that we protect the ocean. The ocean is 70% of the planet and holds (and used to hold) a massive abundance of life that is vital for the world's food chains. Everything is interconnected. In my brutal opinion, the islands should remain devoid of human activity for at least 15 years to give species a chance to recover. Establishing this marine reserve would "double the global coverage of the world's oceans under protection" said the UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Currently less than 1% of coast and oceans are protected from fishing. New Zealand's two largest marine reserves are the Kermadec Islands (located way north of the mainland) and Auckland Islands (located far south of the mainland near Antarctica). The necessity of marine reserves is proved by evidence given from the fish. It is evident that fish that are protected grow much larger than fish that are not protected. This is simply because when all the big fish are taken there's only the little one's left and people then look at the comparison and think "oh, well this one is bigger than that one."

Ok, bottom line...there should be no debate over marine reserves. They are a win-win for everyone. Not all of them are "no-take" zones. There are different levels of marine reserves and they should all be welcomed with open arms. Happy fishing!

Resources and further reading:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8599125.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8598436.stm

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pancho is 6 months and I'm finally published!

Image
Work is going fine. My boss has given me some lab activities to keep me interested in my work, so I'm testing antibodies. The positive control turned out as expected, but it is such a pretty staining that I have to share the picture. This is an embryo of a starlet sea anemone ( Nematostella sp.) approximately 30 hours old. The green is actin (a protein in cell walls), the blue is nuclei, and the red/pink is clusters of DNA. There are some pretty examples of cell division in this embryo! Also, as of a couple weeks ago I'm officially a published scientist! ....well, the paper has been accepted for publication, so it will likely not be in the journal before next year. The journal is called ICES Journal of Marine Science. Furthermore, this weekend the mountains got a nice thick layer of snow, so I took Pancho up for his first time in a proper bit  of snow (not counting the icy leftovers that were on Jutenheimen this summer). He's now 6 months old and weighs bout 34
Read more

This week on M/S Brennholm

Image
[There's something wrong with the synchrony of the acoustics] My job aboard Brennholm is to work on the acoustic part of my thesis. So I am practicing some sonar and echo sounder scrutinozing. I am also relating the mackerel movement to the currents, but this will be hard since mackerel are so hard to see at all on any of the acoustic equipment since they lack a swim bladder. It is nice to just have a 7:30 to 10 work day though and I have my supervisor right next to me for help. Everyone on the cruise has gained weight, and despite doing some exercise almost everyday I am no exception. We are feed too well on the boats and you don't move around too much. (I was even convinced to try salted and dried whale meat from the Faroes. I stayed far away from the blubber!!) At least I have been able to run 13.5 km the past couple of days with the calm seas. There aren't many options for exercise on this ship compared to G.O. Sars. [The "gym" in the bow of th
Read more

Smalahove

Image
Many Norwegian traditions are distinctly regional. Even recipes are variable by region to go along with dialects that can be different by town separated by just 50 kilometers. This tradition, that both Marius and I were new to trying, was from a town just about an hour and a half east of Bergen called Voss....smalahove, or half of a sheep's head that is cooked in a broth for several hours. Smalahove comes from two Norwegian words: smale = sheep, and hove = head. It is served before Christmas with potatoes, mashed rutabaga, and red cabbage. Many of my friends were telling me that the cheek is supposed to be the best part, and others were saying that they wouldn't dare eat it. So I can now say that I have done something that many other Norwegians haven't dared try. I actually really enjoyed it! It had a texture like corned beef and had a very nice flavor. Marius went as far as to try the tongue, and thought that eating the eye was a normal thing, so tried that as well...bu
Read more