Photo: PJ Robertson

Professors Terry Hughes and Bob Pressey, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University are urging the Australian public to get
be hind a Federal plan to convert close to a million square miles of Coral Sea into the largest marine park in the world. Currently less than .1% of the ocean is protected from environmental degradations such as overfishing, pollution and global warming. “The unsustainable by-catch of turtles, sharks and birds in ocean fisheries, and the rapid decline of large sharks from illegal finning, are major concerns worldwide. They warrant immediate intervention to prevent serious long-term damage,” Prof Hughes said.

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2 Responses to “Scientist urge Australians to support Federal Marine Park”

1. GT says:

   January-18-2012

   Just leave well managed and sustainable recreational fishing alone as it’s important to societies mental and physical health needs. Focus on the real drivers of biodiversity loss and the resource demands of the rich world instead of promoting exclusion of the human race from interacting or sustainably extracting from our marine environment. Education and inclusion is the key to sustainability, not promoting wholesale exclusion as a first resort. This only creates ignorance of the environment.

   Reply
2. IG says:

   January-18-2012

   Some people need to think about what they are doing, at the moment we (australians) are all stakeholders in not only our country, but our marine environment, do not let a minority force exclusion on us all from our own resources.
   There is an unprecedented push by exterior forces to lock us out, here and overseas, by deception. Once WE are removed as stakeholders, WE will no longer have a say in what happens to OUR resources, and I am not just talking about recreational fishing, or commercial fishing, but any concievable activity they decide we cannot do, in our country! Come on australia ! WAKE UP ! STAND UP ! BE HEARD !

   Reply