Articles:
The importance of the coastal zone and the urgent need for action with regard to marine and coastal biodiversity is emphasized by portraying the coastal zone as both a heavily populated area receiving wastes from human activities and a resource that supports fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, and ecosystem function and maintenance. The particular difficulties of managing marine diversity-undocumented environments and management authority-are addressed briefly. International biodiversity research initiatives are summarized with a focus on the efforts of the EU. Criteria for selecting protected marine environments are proposed.
Here we see the link between fisheries management and its effect on the oceans’ biodiversity. The authors make several predictions concerning the fate of marine mammals as a result of this interaction: local food sources will decline for marine mammals as a result of fisheries management, there will be a reduction in species richness among the marine mammals, that there will be predator control programs to limit the effects of marine mammals on the fisheries, and that the mammals themselves will constitute a larger food source.
A comprehensive paper covering U.S. fishery management legislation with particular focus on the Sustainable Fishing Act (SFA) approved by Congress and signed by Clinton in 1996. The SFA amends previously insufficient fishery management legislation with specific reference to habitat protection, bycatch reduction, and the implementation of ecosystem-based management. The three stated purposes of the paper are: (1) To establish a baseline for the current status of fishery management, and use of habitat and ecosystem based concepts; (2) Examine Congressional efforts to deal with fishery management problems via the SFA amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act; (3) Report on the implementation of some aspects of the SFA (biodiversity concerns, habitat protection, bycatch and economic discards reductions). This article approaches management of fishery resources and the marine environment as a primarily political issue and remains very optimistic of the outcomes of policy directed solutions to the fisheries dilemma, in spite of previous legislative shortcomings, based on the merit of the SFA.
The authors argue that overfishing precedes all other human disturbance to coastal ecosystems. They discuss the large time lag between the beginnings of overfishing and eventual community alteration. Their major emphasis is on the large amount of time since the beginnings of the exploitation of fisheries. This means that the baseline numbers for species is much higher than previously thought and thus the collapse of fisheries is much larger than most models show.
John McCosker is the former director of the Steinhart Aquarium and the chair of Aquatic Biology at the California Academy of Sciences. In this very recent article, he illuminates unsustainable practice common in today’s fishing industry. Specific practices are critiqued, clearly illustrating their detrimental effect within oceanic ecosystems. McCosker also illustrates specific criteria needed to ensure sustainable open water and farm fishing. Finally he provides a reference table clearly showing the status of many species commonly found in fish markets today.
This article stresses the need for examining the specific geography and culture of a fishery in determining its future, rather than relying on abstract economic models. Cultural, political, and economic specifics are what drives each fishery. This approach is examined in the context of the U.S. Pacific groundfish fishery and the government’s push to exert sovereign control over ocean territory.
Bluefin tuna are an important and controversial species. The authors attempt to discern the interactions of the eastern and western Atlantic fisheries. They find that there is mixing between the two. They argue that it is essential to halt the overfishing in the eastern Atlantic fishery, and to limit the western fishery.
This article examines one of the dangers associated with aquaculture, the presence of exotic species. Aquaculture has become one of the leading vectors of aquatic exotic invasions globally. The dangers include competition, parasites, genetic mixing, and pathogens. There are only vague, diffuse regulations concerning it. Most of the dangers are externalities to the industry.
This study concerns artisanal fishing, which is small-scale fishing using simple technology. The author finds that both abundance and biomass of targeted species declines in heavily fished areas. The effects of this are mainly limited to the target species, although there is some cascade effect on the entire community.
Gretel Schuller is the associate editor of Audobon Magazine; however, she writes this article for New Scientist. She interviews Michael Markels, a chemical engineer from Virginia, who is collaborating with environmental scientists from Duke and Baylor in developing a fertilization technique designed to increase fish stock in sparsely populated ocean waters. Markels anticipates a significant increase in fish catch and has set up a 1300 square kilometer experiment off of the Marshall Islands. Schuller also presents critique of Markels’ work by interviewing Sallie Chisolm from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who explains why the experiment is unsustainable on an ecological level.
This article shows how the change from limited-access local commons to open-access state control leads to the “tragedy of incursion”. It details the conflicts inherent between the state’s role as both developer and protector of natural resources. Fisheries poaching increases as a result of population transience and local coping strategies to large-scale incursion. The article discusses the possibilities of alliance between local communities and international environmental NGOs.