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"What about the numerous doomed runs of Salmon--they spend much of their life in the ocean? Sea Otters gone; rock fish crashed; dead zones off the Oregon Coast growing; shore-birds dieing of starvation; seas warming and rising; and what about that floating island of trash in the Pacific that is estimated to be twice the size of Texas."

Salmon? Yes they spend lots of time in the ocean. But that's of little consequence to their plight. It's dams and damaged inland habitat that are largely responsible for their demise - and let's not forget your precious sea lions protected by the marine mammal protection act, yet gobble up ESA fish because the populations have gone unchecked and the mammals are allowed to hang around and pluck fish out of the ladders in fresh waterways. Warming seas are also believed to be a problem for these fish.

Sea otters gone? Dead zones? Floating islands of trash? Seas warming and rising? Starving shore-birds? What is a marine reserve going to do to solve those problems?

Rockfish crashed? Yes, unfortunately, little was known about their lifecycle until recently and regulations are in place to assist with their recovery.

So you're back to 2 problem statements that supposedly marine reserves will address - salmon? Nope. Marine reserves are not going to remove dams, sealions and inland habitat destruction. How about the rockfish plight? Maybe - but again, research would need to be conducted to determine what, if any, effect a reserve would have on their recovery AND research would be required to determine where best to place such a reserve in order to maximize its effectiveness. IF there was funding for such research, I maintain that we wouldn't need Marine Reserves! If Reserves are the way to secure funding, then we're putting the cart before the horse.

Which is the very problem that so-called "opponents" to Marine reserves have been saying in this discussion all along.

I think we're saying the same thing, my friend. We're all concerned and would like to see some of these problems addressed. We just happen to disagree on the method.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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My objection to this process is that there is no clearly defined problem that Marine Reserves are supposed to address. Without fully understanding what the problem statement is, how can anyone offer a solution? How do you decide where to place a Marine Reserve without first understanding WHY it is needed, what problem it is to solve, how to monitor its affect and measure its success or failure. I have heard little justification for Marine Reserves in Oregon. "Conservation" or "eco" groups seem to have the perception that we're still using damaging fishing practices or that our fisheries aren't being regulated. That couldn't be further from the truth. Commercial and recreational fisheries are tightly managed, tightly regulated and overfished stocks are being monitored for recovery.

We ALL care about our ocean and its sustainability. But the fact is that we have excellent management resources today and they could only improve with additional funding. Marine reserves will only detract from the funding our resource management team desperately needs to expand on their already good works.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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