Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
living and comprehensive social welfare allow decision-makers to take a much more pro-
conservation stance. A fisherman from any of these countries, prevented from fishing in a
particular place with a particular gear type, will not starve or fail to provide his or her family
education, medical assistance food and other basic needs. This is not necessarily so in Latin
America. Resources, already limited in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, are minimally
allocated to conservation because of other priorities. Comparatively, in many developed
nations the magnitude of problem is much less and resources for conservation much greater
and more readily available. In New Zealand for example, strict regulations such as the North
Island fishing area closures and the establishment of the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammals
Sanctuary to protect Hector's dolphins, have been possible without compensation (DOC &
MAF, 2007). Generally, in developed countries, if management options have to be tested or
implemented, socio-economical ―side-effects‖ will probably be minimized through
governmental compensation. However, bycatch mitigation or ecosystem restoration is not an
immediate concern for governments of many developing countries. A lack of options has led
some of these governments to promote fishing in times when fishing should be halted or, at
least, reduced.
Conservation priorities are not necessarily priorities in the agendas of nations'
governments with important health, education and other basic social needs. The Brazilian
Government, for example, with its plan for accelerating development named PAC ( Plano para
Aceleração do Crescimento ), has increased investment in development and cut allocation of its
resources to conservation. Thus, alternative and inexpensive approaches are urgently needed in
the meantime. Bordino et al., (2002), for the first time, designed and implemented an
experiment to reduce franciscana bycatch. They used acoustic pingers in the nets set off Cabo
San Antonio, Argentina. Although the experiment showed reduced bycatch of franciscana, the
rate of depredation of the catch by southern sea lions increased. Therefore, implementation of
this kind of acoustic device seems to be inappropriate as a long-term management option for
the region. Another problem for this kind of device is its high cost, making it most suitable
for valuable fisheries in developed countries (Dawson et al., 1998). Nevertheless, further
studies should be encouraged, particularly in areas where sea lions do not occur ( e.g. many
small fishing villages along FMA I and II), with a view to quantifying long-term
effectiveness. Additionally, robust trials of other gillnet modifications ( e.g. stiffnets), and
alternative fishing gear should be encouraged along with the promotion of alternative
livelihoods ( e.g. fishermen could engage the dolphin watching industry, proved economically
viable and socially beneficial in many developing nations - Hoyt, 2000). International
development agencies could play a role in supporting such trials - after all, via their
aggressive promotion of gillnetting they played an important role in creating the problem.
If ecosystem-level management is desired, the complexity increases. A comprehensive
understanding of trophic relations is needed for the framework of ecosystem management.
The ecosystem-level impacts should be reduced to levels that result in stability of the system
involved, but this is difficult to define or assess (Hall, 1996). True ecosystem management
would combine and balance the needs of humans, marine mammals, and the fish stocks upon
which they both depend (Manning, 1989). Perhaps, this could be achievable in the medium to
long-term with the collection of good ecological data, co-operation of fishermen, and through
education of fishing communities, in order to increase their awareness and participation in
conservation. Some conservationists argue that seeking for ecosystem management can be
disastrous as it is often implemented by adaptive management. The underlying mechanism
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