CA’s Underwater Parks To Protect Fish Are "Catching" On
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The idea of creating underwater parks for our fish and wildlife is "catching" on; as California continues to expand its statewide system of these underwater safe havens, a national effort is now underway as well. The National Marine Protected Areas Center has launched the first system of MPAs to be placed in federal waters.
Ocean Conservancy program manager Greg Helms says this helps bolster California's efforts to create protected areas from Point Conception to the Mexican border that restrict or prohibit fishing.
"It also tells us that we are contributing to a truly nation-wide effort to restore and sustain ocean eco-systems for their own value, for their inherent value, and for their value to society."
A recent study that looked at the first five years of the MPA around California's Channel Islands found the fish there to be bigger and healthier. California's other MPAs, says Helms, are producing healthier fish too.
"The researchers and scientists are finding larger numbers of fish, larger numbers of the fish that we particularly like to go out and catch, and a more robust and diverse eco-system within those MPAs."
The sites for the federal MPAs have yet to be decided.
Commercial fisherman have claimed the fishing bans are harmful to their business. However, according to Helms, not only do the adult fish migrate out of the protected areas, but so do their young.
More information about the National Marine Protected Area Center and the National Database can be found at
www.mpa.gov and at
www.oceanconservancy.org
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