How the rest of the world safeguards its marine life

THE Scotsman believes a network of marine reserves should be created around the coast to help safeguard our sealife.

While conservationists stress not all would need to be no-take fishing zones, there is evidence from around the world that such measures substantially boost numbers of fish in neighbouring waters, as well as within the actual reserve, and help the eco-system more generally.

In New Zealand a ban on fishing led to the regeneration of kelp because larger numbers of snappers ate sea urchins which had been eating it; the closure of areas of sea off St Lucia saw commercial fish stocks rise two-and-a-half times outside the no-take zone in eight years; and in South Africa it was found eggs and larvae can potentially get up to 200 miles away from the reserve.

Here, articles by Professor Callum Roberts, Tom Curtis and Fred Brigland describe the experiences of marine reserves in each country.

SERVICE AND SUPPORT

THE Royal British Legion, which supports members of the armed services and their families, has 200 Scottish branches.

The organisation arose from the ashes of the First World War, when many thousands of troops returning from war faced unemployment, malnutrition and widespread misery.

The Legion was founded in 1921 as a voice for the ex-service community and now has more than 450,000 members across the UK.

SOUTH AFRICA

Park yielding vital data on fish

SOUTH Africa's Tsitsikamma Coastal National Park contains one of the world's largest and oldest marine-protected areas, where research has shown positive results for the growth of fish stocks.

The park runs along 45 miles of spectacular Indian Ocean coastline in the Eastern Cape and extends between one and three nautical miles out to sea.

It is the marine equivalent of the Kruger National Park and enjoys total protection under South African law from commercial or recreational fishing.

The park was founded in 1964 and has been studied over the past two decades by the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), a state research facility.

Oceanographic research found fish eggs and larvae from the reserve had the potential to disperse for 200 miles. Dr Paul Cowley, a senior aquatic biologist at the SAIAB, whose researchers have tagged more than 7,500 Tsitsikamma fish, said: "By protecting sexually mature fish, a spillover is created with lots of juvenile fish ending up outside the reserve and, with time, facilitating fisheries in exploited areas.

"Many of the species found in this reserve are resident, but the protection they have enjoyed has led to the increased abundance of larger individuals."

Dr Cowley said this had important implications, because many of these fish species, such as the bronze bream of the sea bream family, are targets of commercial and recreational fishermen beyond the reserve. He added: "The fishermen exploit the biggest fish among these species and this skews the sex ratio and reproductive health. Within the reserve, the natural sex ratio is preserved, with obvious benefits."

Research has revealed that the economic benefits are huge. Dr Cowley said the reserve's "spillover" was valued at more than £2 million a year. The reserve draws tourists who contribute more than £1 million a year to the local economy.

Research has shown certain highly vulnerable species, such as Red Roman and Black Mussel Cracker - prized by gourmets but which environmentalists are begging people to stop eating - are 20 times more abundant in the Tsitsikamma protected zone than outside.

FRED BRIDGLAND

NEW ZEALAND

'Now there's a lobster inside almost every crevice'

NEW Zealand's first marine reserve, Cape Rodney-Okakari Point, was established in 1975 near the township of Leigh, north of Auckland.

The area had been badly affected by overfishing, but a decade later the reserve, also known as Leigh Marine Reserve, had become a rich ecological area, teeming with fish and other sea life, free from exploitation. No fishing is allowed within its boundaries.

As well as helping the environment revert to a natural state, which in turn has created a tourist attraction with economic benefits, it is thought the reserve has also boosted fish and seafood stocks outside it, although this is difficult to prove.

Dr Bill Ballantine, the former head of Auckland University's Leigh Marine Laboratory, was heavily involved in lobbying for the creation of the reserve. He said the main lesson learned was that completely unexpected discoveries were made because of its designation, such as the regeneration of kelp forests after predation by sea urchins was reduced by recovering populations of snapper fish.

Dr Ballantine said fisheries had "probably" benefited.

"You can never prove anything, but the local fishermen tend to fish near the reserve. It's their livelihood and they believe it. Something's happened. The numbers of target species has increased massively in the reserve, for example," he said.

Andrew Jeffs, an associate professor at the Leigh Marine Laboratory, said

the reserve had been "incredibly helpful" in understanding the marine environment.

"Things like rock lobsters and crayfish have built up in numbers - there is 20 times the abundance of lobsters inside the reserve than outside - and they've grown to a large size," he said.

"Very large fish, such as snapper, have also grown up on some of the reefs and they're now big enough to be predators on other animals, such as sea urchins, which were previously at very high numbers. The whole habitat has changed, with, for example, the re-emergence of kelp forests which were previously heavily grazed by the urchins.

"It's quite remarkable as you go across the boundary, it's immediately obvious under water. Outside the reserve you hardly ever see a lobster, but you get inside and there is a lobster in almost every crevice."

TOM CURTIS

ST LUCIA

Fishermen's sacrifice brought long-term gains for all

SOUFRIÈRE, home to 10,000 people on the West Indian island of St Lucia, lies within a protecting crescent of forested mountains.

From the sea, it is guarded by the Pitons, two bleached granite monoliths which tower 2,500ft over the Caribbean.

It appears as a vision of paradise, but when I first visited in 1994 the fishers who lived there were far from happy as the fish they depended on had nearly disappeared.

Diving for the first time in Soufrière Bay, I could appreciate their concerns. Schools of damselfish shimmered about the corals, but there were few animals above the size of my hand.

The reef was eerily devoid of large predatory fish. Armed only with wooden canoes, hook and line, spear and trap, local fishers had managed to severely over-exploit their quarry. I had come to St Lucia to witness the beginning of a bold new management effort. They were about to set aside a third of their fishing grounds in a network of marine reserves interspersed with areas in which they could continue to fish.

Over the ensuing years, I returned each summer with a team of fish counters to record progress. We were unprepared for the speed with which the benefits of protection became apparent. Within a year, we detected a significant increase in the amount of commercially important fish present. Those gains continued year-on-year.

After a few years, herds of grazing parrotfish and surgeonfish once again munched their way across reef slopes. Rare animals became common, common animals abundant and small fish grew large. It was also satisfying to see the sacrifice made by poor fishers rewarded by growing catches. Five years after the onset of protection, trap catches were up by 46-90 per cent and the profitability of fishing had grown by a similar amount.

Since then, life for fish and those who pursue them has continued to improve. After eight years of protection, stocks of commercial fish had risen by five times in reserves and two-and-a-half times in fishing grounds. Experiences from other parts of the world suggest that benefits of protection will continue to grow for decades as large and long-lived species recolonise and grow, and habitats recover.