It also recognises that :
• There is a need for more knowledge and better understanding of Australia's biological diversity.
• Decision making processes should effectively integrate both long- and short-term economic, environmental, social and equity considerations.
• The need to develop a strong, growing and diversified economy which can enhance the capacity for environmental protection should be recognised.
• The need to maintain and enhance international competitiveness in an environmentally sound manner should be recognised.
• Cost effective and flexible policy instruments should be adopted, such as improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms.
• Decisions and actions should provide for broad community involvement on issues which affect them.
This strategy likewise, has nothing to do with international obligations and if paid more than lip service would require a re-think on the need for, and socio-economic cost of, locking away large portions of marine resources from sustainable usage.

Curiously, The International Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) is unmentioned. This treaty provides the claim to Exclusive Economic Zone rights for marine resources from the 12 mile sovereignty limit to the 200 mile EEZ limit and it is only under this claim that most of the proposed MPAs could be declared. However, this treaty also provides that exclusive use of EEZ resources involves utilization. Access to unused resources can be petitioned for by other nations. Such a petition regarding some of the un-utilised fisheries in our northern waters is now being considered by Asian fishing interests. It seems doubtful that vast no-take MPAs could be defended as utilisation.

Also unmentioned are the ANZECC guidelines which set out an agreed process for the establishment of the MPAs. The proposed process is broadly consistent with the RIS guidelines and involves:
• Identifying the nature and extent of the problem. In particular, it requires:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070515074933.htm

ScienceDaily (May 16, 2007) — Threatened coral reefs could be given a helping hand by establishing marine reserves, according to a research team led by the University of Exeter. Marine reserves have already proved to be a successful way of protecting marine life against commercial fishing. Now, research published 15 May 2007 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows for the first time how marine reserves could also help in the recovery of corals, which are already suffering the effects of climate change and over-fishing.

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the research was carried out on The Bahamas' Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. At 442 square km, this is one of the largest and most successful marine reserves in the Caribbean.

The team found that the number of young corals doubled in areas in which native fish, such as parrotfish, were protected from being caught. Young corals are needed to replace older corals that have been killed by storms, disease or other problems. The reserve enabled young corals to survive exceptionally well because marauding seaweeds were controlled by grazing from plentiful numbers of parrotfishes living in the reserve.

Lead researcher Professor Peter Mumby of the University of Exeter said: 'This is the first evidence we have that marine reserves benefit coral. Coral reefs are unique ecosystems that have supported thousands of fish and other marine species for millions of years. We estimate that humans have already destroyed around 30% of the world's coral reefs and climate change is now causing further damage to coral. These findings illustrate the need to maintain high levels of parrotfishes on reefs in order to give corals a fighting chance of recovering. This can either be done using marine reserves or national fisheries legislation that protects parrotfish.'

Marine reserves are areas of the sea that are protected against potentially-damaging human activity, like mining and fishing. Approximately 19% of the world's coral reefs are located within marine reserves.

Reef facts

    * A coral reef is made up of thin layers of calcium carbonate (limestone) secreted over thousands of years by billions of tiny soft bodied animals called coral polyps.
    * Coral reefs are the world's most diverse marine ecosystems and are home to twenty-five percent of known marine species, including 4,000 species of fish, 700 species of coral and thousands of other plants and animals.
    * Coral reefs have been on the planet for over 400 million years.
    * The largest coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches along the northeast coast of Australia, from the northern tip of Queensland, to just north of Bundaberg. At 2,300km long, it is the largest natural feature on Earth.
    * Coral reefs occupy less than one quarter of one percent of the Earth's marine environment, yet they are home to more than a quarter of all known fish species.

As well as supporting huge tourist industries, coral reefs protect shorelines from erosion and storm damage.

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Modest Fisheries Reduction Could Protect Vast Coastal Ecosystems

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090722093802.htm

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2009) — A reduction of as little as five per cent in fisheries catch could result in as much as 30 per cent of the British Columbia coastal ecosystems being protected from overfishing, according to a new study from the UBC Fisheries Centre in Canada.

The study, by Natalie Ban and Amanda Vincent of Project Seahorse, proposes modest reductions in areas where fisheries take place, rather than the current system of marine protected areas which only safeguard several commercially significant species, such as rockfish, shrimp, crab, or sea cucumber. The article is published July 21 in PLoS One.

Using B.C.'s coastal waters as a test case, the study affirms that small cuts in fishing – if they happen in the right places – could result in very large unfished areas. For example, a two per cent cut could result in unfished areas covering 20 per cent of the B.C. coast, offered real conservation gains.

"The threat of over-fishing to our marine ecosystems is well-documented," says Ban, who recently completed her PhD at the UBC Fisheries Centre. "Our study suggests a different approach could reduce the impacts on fishers as well as helping us move towards achieving conservation goals."

Part of the reason for the research was to open a debate on how to meet conservation goals set during the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, which included establishing a network of marine protected areas by 2012.

"With the current rates of progress, there is no chance of meeting our 2012 targets," says Ban. "Given that fishers recognize the problem of overfishing but often regard marine protected areas as serving only to constrain them, another approach must be found. That's why we undertook this study."

The research looked at spatial catch data from Fisheries and Ocean Canada for 13 commercial fisheries on Canada's west coast to show that large areas representing diverse ecoregions and habitats might be protected at a small cost to fisheries.

freediver wrote on May 22^nd, 2010 at 2:13pm:


Herbivores such as parrot fish aren't targeted by fishermen on the GBR.

freediver wrote on May 23^rd, 2010 at 5:48pm:


Well if they eat seaweed then that makes them herbivorous:

"The reserve enabled young corals to survive exceptionally well because marauding seaweeds were controlled by grazing from plentiful numbers of parrotfishes living in the reserve."


PS: You take parrotfishes by spearfishing. I think we can assume the spearfishing take on the GBR is miniscule. They are not caught regularly by line fishermen for obvious reasons.

freediver wrote on May 23^rd, 2010 at 7:10pm:


The whole GBR rec take is tiny, and spearfishing is a tiny part of that. As to angling, who would bother obtaining special baits like crabs when there are so many good eating carnivorous fish like coral trout and the various emperors and nannagais, etc. Also these herbivorous fish are much more prone to ciguertera, another reason for them not being a target species. I don't think I'm assuming too much FD.

freediver wrote on May 25^th, 2010 at 9:17pm:


Well parrot fishers are on the danger list. The toxin comes from micro- organisms attached to the algae on the corals, so the herbivours accumilate it. Large predatory fish can also be dangerous to each as they can acculmilate the toxin through eating a lot of reef fish.

http://www.iamat.org/disease_details.cfm?id=26

Ciguatera Fish Poisoning

"Ciguatera poisoning is caused by eating fish that has been contaminated by a dinoflagellate-produced toxin. Large fish become contaminated with the toxin when they eat reef fish that feed on these small organisms. Ciguatera is the most commonly reported marine seafood toxin poisoning. Any reef fish can cause ciguatera poisoning, but species such as barracuda, moray eel, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, parrotfish, sturgeon, ulua, and sea bass are the most commonly involved. The occurrence of toxic fish is sporadic, and not all fish of a given species or from a given area will be toxic".