Sunday, July 26, 2009

Modest fisheries reduction could protect vast coastal ecosystems

Modest fisheries reduction could protect vast coastal ecosystems
Science Centric 22 July 2009 Link to full article below

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.

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 today in PLoS ONE, an online journal of the Public Library of Science,

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.

To read the full article: http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09072233-modest-fisheries-reduction-could-protect-vast-coastal-ecosystems

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