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National Geographic: Overfishing Leaves Much of Mediterranean a Dead Sea, Study Finds
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/03/02/overfishing-leaves-much-of-mediterranean-a-dead-sea-study-finds/[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][font size=5]Overfishing Leaves Much of Mediterranean a Dead Sea, Study Finds[/font]
Posted by David Braun of National Geographic on March 2, 2012
[font size=3]Centuries of overexploitation of fish and other marine resources — as well as invasion of fish from the Red Sea — have turned some formerly healthy ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea into barren places, the National Geographic Society said in a news release.
Citing research by an international team of scientists designed to measure the impact of marine reserves, National Geographic said that the study found that the healthiest places in the Mediterranean were in well-enforced marine reserves. “Fish biomass there had recovered from overfishing to levels five to 10 times greater than that of fished areas. However, marine ‘protected’ areas where some types of fishing are allowed did not do better than sites that were completely unprotected. This suggests that full recovery of Mediterranean marine life requires fully protected reserves,” the Society’s news release added.
The research was published in the February 29 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
“We found a huge gradient, an enormous contrast. In reserves off Spain and Italy, we found the largest fish biomass in the Mediterranean,” said National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala, the paper’s lead author. “Unfortunately, around Turkey and Greece, the waters were bare.”
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032742Posted by David Braun of National Geographic on March 2, 2012
[font size=3]Centuries of overexploitation of fish and other marine resources — as well as invasion of fish from the Red Sea — have turned some formerly healthy ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea into barren places, the National Geographic Society said in a news release.
Citing research by an international team of scientists designed to measure the impact of marine reserves, National Geographic said that the study found that the healthiest places in the Mediterranean were in well-enforced marine reserves. “Fish biomass there had recovered from overfishing to levels five to 10 times greater than that of fished areas. However, marine ‘protected’ areas where some types of fishing are allowed did not do better than sites that were completely unprotected. This suggests that full recovery of Mediterranean marine life requires fully protected reserves,” the Society’s news release added.
The research was published in the February 29 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.
“We found a huge gradient, an enormous contrast. In reserves off Spain and Italy, we found the largest fish biomass in the Mediterranean,” said National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala, the paper’s lead author. “Unfortunately, around Turkey and Greece, the waters were bare.”
...[/font][/font]
