Natural History Wanderings

The New York Times has an editorial on how Marine-Protected areas are working at protecting fish and birds. The short answer is that some not all that well, while others were successful at protecting fish and birds. The difference is not all marine sanctuaries are the same. Five essential characteristics were identified for the more successful ones.

These areas were designated “no take” (allowing no fishing whatsoever), their rules were well enforced, they were more than 10 years old, they were bigger than 100 square kilometers, and they were isolated by deep water or sand. Compared with regular fished areas, the areas that had four or five of those attributes had a far richer variety of species, five times the biomass of large fish and 14 times the biomass of sharks, which are indicators of ecological health.

The marine sanctuaries that were less successful only had one or two of these five characteristics. Learn more at: To Save Fish and Birds – NYTimes.com.