History tells us that marine protected area goals should be more ambitious
Abstract
When faced with competing views on marine protection, politicians often try to keep their constituents happy by creating protected areas but not restricting any ongoing activities, including obviously harmful ones. Agencies... [ view full abstract ]
When faced with competing views on marine protection, politicians often try to keep their constituents happy by creating protected areas but not restricting any ongoing activities, including obviously harmful ones. Agencies charged with delivering protection are often complicit in this fictional protection, establishing ‘conservation’ objectives that have little basis in science or reason, and claiming they will lead to healthier seas. 90% of conservation goals for Marine Conservation Zones around England, for example, are to maintain habitats as they are, rather than effect any recovery. Such an approach makes ‘conservation’ simple; the present state of a habitat is logically compatible with existing activities. But it will not improve the state of the ocean. History tells us that this approach to conservation is not only cynical but deeply unambitious. In almost every sea on the planet intensifying human uses have, over decades to hundreds of years, led to loss of megafauna, biodiversity, habitat complexity and ecosystem function. The Dogger Bank, for example, lies in the middle of the North Sea. In the 1840s a sailing boat could catch one ton of halibut in a day. Today, the entire modern fishing fleet catches two tonnes per year! Other megafauna, like skates, have disappeared, while trawls scraped the bottom clean more than a century ago. To make a difference, MPAs must be highly protected from extractive uses. Countless examples attest to the benefits of full protection. We cannot rewind history, but history tells us that greater ambition in protection will be amply rewarded.
Authors
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Callum Roberts
(University of York)
Topic Areas
Topics: Marine policy , Topics: Effective marine conservation planning
Session
S-71 » Raising the Bar on Marine Protected Areas (10:00 - Thursday, 28th June, Kerangas)