A few weeks back I saw a local newspaper story that featured my local member of state parliament down on the NSW south coast, in a boat off Batemans Bay.
He and a couple of local fishermen were grizzling about how hard it was to go fishing now there is a marine park in the area. One of the wise old fisherman, calling on his fountain of local knowledge complained going fishing was now more complicated than playing a round of golf. Diddums. Right now I am up on a scientific ship off Cape York diving inner and outer reefs between Cairns and the top of Cape York.
The areas we are diving all have different zones and it is absolutely compelling to see how many more fish there are in the no-take areas. It is not just the odd extra fish but swarms of them and even after the most cursory inspection of these differently zoned reefs the contrasts are amazing.
In the pink and green zones there are huge coral trout and other game fish, all safely able to reach maturity, breed and send their spawn into nearby areas where harvesting is allowed. Even the crew of the ship we are on, who are dedicated anglers are in agreement that no-take zones work, providing safe haven for commercial species.
As we start to climb towards a national population of 35 million people and a global population of nine billion we do not have a choice but to create marine parks with good, well managed and properly enforced sanctuary zones. And the reason is simple: they work.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Professor Poongschtock // Nov 25, 2009 at 10:59 am
It’s a short but sweet message you send - maybe the dinosaurs still opposed to sanctuary zones will understand the following commentary on the subject - “Der!”
2 Lee // Nov 25, 2009 at 11:12 am
Good to be having regular commentary from you again James. Let us know how your trip goes.
3 Sarah Blacknell // Nov 25, 2009 at 11:28 am
Great piece James, there is nothing like a first hand account (you really do get around!). Bring on a Marine Park for Eden and dare I say it….. Sydney.
4 John Perkins // Nov 30, 2009 at 11:35 am
Thanks for supporting Marine Parks James.
5 Jon Jenkins // Jan 25, 2010 at 3:52 am
Yep, they work real well as observed by unbiased scientists doing objective surveys … no…. how about even biased scientists doing “we already know the outcome and disregard any conflicting findings” research …. no ….. ok we just listen to the anecdotal stories of any old twit!
The sanctuary zones are specifically chosen BECAUSE they are the places where fish congregate. The places where fishing is allowed are specifically chosen because there are no fish habitats there! Funnily enough you observed exactly this ……
6 jim jones // Jan 27, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Hmm Jon J you really need to read up on the science. There is now a pile of evidence showing fish recovery in no-take zones from different places around the world. There’s also a pile of evidence and documentation of the fact that the rezoning of the reef in Qld left a lot of the best habitat out of no-take zones due to pressure from both rec and commercial fishing lobby. To add insult to injury polling has shown that the overwhelming majority of regular recreational fishers strongly support no-take zones now that they’ve seen them in operation. So that only leaves out a few extremists….and possibly your good self. Oh no need to reply either, I’m off fishing, just next to a no-take zone too…
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