How about the oceans?
Comments (5)
Monday, October 29, 2007 | 07:51 AM ETBy quirks
By Bob McDonald, host of the CBC science radio program Quirks & Quarks.
Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the protection of Lake Superior’s famous north shore and about 10,000 square kilometres of water, making it the largest fresh water marine reserve in the world. It’s an impressive move, much to the delight of Parks Canada, which has been pushing for the Park for a decade. But there is a much greater need for protected areas off our beleaguered seacoasts.
For a country with one of the longest coastlines in the world, only 1 per cent of it is protected. The rest of the coastline has been scraped clean by centuries of trawlers, nets and hooks.
The idea behind a protected area is to provide a safe haven for the animals and plants, a place where no fishing of any kind, no oil drilling, nothing is allowed - so the seafloor can recover from the scars of trawls. As the plants grow back, they provide habitat for fish and other animals that breed and multiply. If the system works, the population will become dense enough that creatures will have to leave the protected area to establish new habitats nearby. In other words, the protected areas become the nurseries for the areas surrounding them.
This is quite different from calling a moratorium on fishing, which has happened off the east coast. In that case, you hold off on fishing, wait until the stocks recover, then go back at it until the numbers dwindle again. This strategy clearly hasn’t worked. On top of that, while the fishers back off on one species such as cod, they switch to another, like crab, which tend to decline as well because of the added pressure.
Marine reserves allow no human presence at all, none, nadda. Even when the area recovers, it’s left alone, in the same way wilderness parks are set aside on land to allow natural areas to live naturally.
Leaving something alone is a hard concept for humans. Whenever we see something attractive, we tend to go after it. So the temptation to go into marine reserves, once they blossom, will be great, but doing so would destroy the long term benefit.
Recently on Quirks & Quarks, Dr. Callum Roberts, author of The Unnatural History of the Sea, spoke about how 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the oceans need to be set aside as marine reserves in order to save our fisheries. Clearly, there is a long way to go.
So thank you, Mr. Harper, for protecting a fresh water area that isn’t really threatened at the moment. Now, could you focus on the salt water, where the real problems lie?
- Bob McDonald
« Previous Post | Main | Next Post »
This discussion is now Open. Submit your Comment.
« Previous Post | Main | Next Post »
Post a Comment
Quirks & Quarks »
About the program
Quirks & Quarks is heard on Saturdays on CBC Radio One from 12:06–1pm in Canada, on shortwave and also by satellite. The show is hosted by Bob McDonald.
Recent Posts
- More monkey business
- quirks
- Friday, November 16, 2007
- Washoe's legacy: Talking to the relatives
- quirks
- Friday, November 9, 2007
- Pumpkins in space
- quirks
- Thursday, November 1, 2007
- How about the oceans?
- quirks
- Monday, October 29, 2007
- Two Women Space Commanders: What Took so Long?
- quirks
- Thursday, October 25, 2007
- Subscribe to this blog
Recent Comments
- The Conservatives may have seemingly "protected" the aqua...
- How about the oceans?
- Dear Mr. Harper, Please listen to the quirks and ...
- How about the oceans?
- Unfortunately, this move by the Conservatives can easily ...
- How about the oceans?
- I too agree with the comments. I find that the solutions...
- How about the oceans?
- Nice comments. I wholeheartedly agree. Focus may ...
- How about the oceans?
Archives
- November 2007
- (3 postings)
- October 2007
- (5 postings)
- September 2007
- (4 postings)
- June 2007
- (3 postings)
- May 2007
- (4 postings)
- April 2007
- (1 postings)
- March 2007
- (5 postings)
- February 2007
- (2 postings)
- January 2007
- (2 postings)
- December 2006
- (3 postings)
- November 2006
- (9 postings)
- October 2006
- (8 postings)
- September 2006
- (15 postings)
- August 2006
- (3 postings)
Comments (5)
Ryan
Ottawa
Nice comments. I wholeheartedly agree.
Focus may shift but I doubt anything will change until it is too late. And that's the way it goes with society. We continue to live beyond our means. The ocean is a big place to patrol even the coast lines. If one area is protected - all fishing communities will move to unprotected areas. I really don't see an end in sight for this one.
Posted October 29, 2007 09:11 AM
Rob
Calgary
I too agree with the comments. I find that the solutions are probably a case of "too little, too late". I read on the news last week that their is a continent of garbage (roughly 80% plastic) that is double the size of Texas and swirls around in the middle of the pacific ocean. If we as a race have caused this much damage to the environment in the last roughly 60 years then how long would it take to correct it? It would take a world-wide moratorium on the use of non-biodegradable plastic and we all know that wont happen. I hope our race lasts another 100 years but I doubt it!
Posted October 30, 2007 03:09 PM
Des Emery
Unfortunately, this move by the Conservatives can easily be seen as a type of face-saving boasting point they will use against Council of Canadians efforts to keep water from becoming a mere "commodity." Harper's Arctic initiative could have made a "marine reserve" as easily out of the Arctic Ocean. If he had wanted to, that is.
Posted November 1, 2007 01:40 AM
brad ulmer
bc
Dear Mr. Harper,
Please listen to the quirks and quarks guy. He's pretty smart I think.
I'll make you a deal, Steve. If you create some (note plural) protected marine zones on the west coast, I will vote conservative next time.
I have never voted conservative before, and until today I never thought I would. But if you ever actually do something to ensure the future of the sea, I will vote for you.
xo brad
Posted November 6, 2007 11:22 PM
Lynda
The Conservatives may have seemingly "protected" the aquatic resources, but the coastline itself it open for business, especially on the east coast of Superior. That beautiful Superior coastline that the Group of Seven made famous may soon be covered with wind turbines - the wind industrialists have already staked out their claims north of Batchawana Bay and are moving to gain approvals from the MNR. What this means is that from Sault Ste. Marie to Montreal River, which is about 90 kilometers or so, there may be wind turbines located along the headlands and on the hilltops. These wind turbines will be visible from at least three provincial parks, including one of our showcase parks, Lake Superior. Imagine a corridor of blinking red lights at night 80 kilometers long covering the east Superior coastline. Not what the Group of Seven had in mind I can assure you.
We need wind power, but we need to locate it where the demand is (Southern Ontario) and not destroy what is the most beautiful and largely accessible coastline in Ontario, and perhaps even Canada.
Posted November 19, 2007 01:33 PM