Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity!
This year the focus is on biodiversity of marine life and raising awareness through support and taking action.
Britain is moving to address this by creating marine conservation zones. The goal will be to provide fishing communities with the responsibility to limit their impacts. This can be accomplished through using less damaging methods of fishing so that stocks can remain sustainable.
The biggest challenge is managing these protected areas without impacting the fishing industry.
One way in which the marine conservation zones could be most effective is by encouraging fisherman to be stewards of the coastal area. This has been quite effective in the US where Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs) are funded by the local people. This enables them to have first access to the catch, and the fisherman to obtain a higher rate for each fish.
Ideally the marine conservation areas should function like the national parks in our countryside to protect the natural biodiversity.
For more information on the International Event:
