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In Case You Missed It: Landmark Study Says That Management Techniques Like Marine Protected Areas Critical to Rebuilding Fish Stocks

Posted on: Monday, 3 August 2009, 12:22 CDT

First-of-its-kind study has major applications in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The premise of California's ocean habitat protection strategy for the past decade has just been validated -- again -- by a major scientific study.

A major research effort conducted over two years involving 21 scientists who surveyed 166 areas where specific fish species are caught, which was published in Science today, found that management techniques such as marine protected areas are a critical tool for rebuilding fish stocks.

Marine protected areas are a cornerstone of California's ocean management strategy under the Marine Life Protection Act.

Last week, 27 prominent California ocean experts unveiled a statement of scientific consensus that states, "Networks of marine reserves will be necessary for long-term fishery and conservation benefits;" adding that, "Current scientific evidence justifies the immediate implementation of marine reserves as a central ocean management tool."

Among the signers was prominent oceanographer Sylvia Earle, Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. Dr. Earle has logged more than 6500 hours underwater and led over 70 expeditions. She received the 2009 TED Prize for her efforts to establish a global network of marine protected areas.

The study comes just days before the California Fish and Game Commission is set to decide on a new set of marine protected areas as part of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) on the north ventral coast of California that could be critical to the success of several species that are currently or historically endangered.

From the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/science/earth/31fish.html?_r=1

. . .management techniques like closing some areas to fishing, restricting the use of certain fishing gear or allocating shares of the catch to individual fishermen, communities or others could allow depleted fish stocks to rebound.

From USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2009-07-30-overfishing_N.htm

The most effective ways to allow fish populations to recover include closing some areas to fishing to give stocks secure breeding areas, changing fishing gear so smaller and juvenile fish can slip through and establishing catch share programs that assign fishermen the right to harvest a certain amount of fish so there isn't the unbridled competition.

For more information on the MLPA or on marine protected areas please visit http://www.caloceans.org.

SOURCE Ocean Conservancy

Source: PR Newswire

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