|
Spectacular Grouper Spawning Areas Protected in Belize
|
 |
|
Nassau groupers congregate to spawn each year during the December full moon.
©Wildlife Conservation Society |
The Government of Belize recently signed legislation to protect the Nassau grouper, a commercially valuable reef fish known for its spectacular spawning ritual, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which has conducted scientific surveys that document the species’ decline.
The legislation halts fishing in 11 known offshore spawning areas, where groupers congregate each year to mate during the December full moon. Historically, each aggregation could include hundreds of thousands of fish. In recent years, however, commercial fishing vessels have targeted these spawning spots, resulting in huge catches. Consequently, the numbers of Nassau grouper—which grow slowly and are vulnerable to heavy fishing pressure—have sharply declined in Belize, according to WCS. In many locations throughout the Caribbean, such as Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands, grouper populations have been fished to local extinction.
For the past three years, scientists from WCS and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have studied this phenomenon at Glover’s Reef, a World Heritage Site where WCS maintains a research station. Scientists have documented a population decline of Nassau groupers at Glovers Reef of more than 80 percent since the late 1970s. Should fishing of the spawning aggregations continue at the current rate, scientists estimate they would vanish from Glovers Reef by 2013.
|
 |
|
Nassau groupers off the coast of Belize are nowfully protected in locations where they spawn.
©George Horn |
“We commend the government of Belize for having the foresight to protect this unique marine resource,” said Janet Gibson of WCS. “Without this new law, the demise of the Nassau grouper in Belize would be imminent.”
The legislation also establishes a four-month closed season for grouper fishing, but leaves two spawning sites open for commercial harvest. WCS scientists will closely monitor these locations to see if continued fishing adversely affects grouper populations. They will also look at existing marine protected areas to see if populations of grouper increase with the new law.
Other groups involved in the announcement include Greenreef, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Belize Audubon Society, Friends of Nature and Tide.
New Map: Human “Footprint” Covers Most of the Earth
Human beings now directly influence more than three-quarters of the Earth’s landmass, according to a new map of the world produced by a team of scientists from WCS and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). Published in a recent issue of the scientific journal BioScience, the map should serve as a wake-up call that humans are stewards of the natural world, whether we like it or not—something that should be viewed as an opportunity, the authors say.
The map adds together influences from population density, access from roads and waterways, electrical power infrastructures, and land transformations such as urbanization and agricultural use. It reveals that 83 percent of the land’s surface is under human influence, while a staggering 98 percent of the area where it is possible to grow rice, wheat, or maize is directly influenced by human beings. At the same time, wide swaths of land remain wild, including the northern forests of Alaska, Canada, and Russia; the high plateaus of Tibet and Mongolia; and much of the Amazon River Basin.
According to WCS and CIESIN, wild areas can still be found in all the ecosystems on the land surface, though some are small. The authors call these less-influenced areas the “last of the wild,” and look upon them as opportunities for conservation of wild places all over the world.
“The map of the human footprint is a clear-eyed view of our influence on the Earth. It provides a way to find opportunities to save wildlife and wild lands in pristine areas, and to understand how conservation in wilderness, countrysides, suburbs, and cities are all related,” said the paper’s lead author Dr. Eric Sanderson, a landscape ecologist with WCS. “The map should be looked at as a blueprint for individuals, institutions, and governments to understand our current influence on the planet and figure out ways to lessen the negative impacts, while enhancing the positive ways that people interact with the environment.”
The authors of the study also gave numerical scores to various areas around the world; the lower the number, the lesser the degree of human influence. Many of the world’s largest cities, including New York, Beijing, Calcutta, etc., received the highest scores. But the authors of the study say that even among areas under heavier human influence, there are still opportunities for wildlife, pointing to examples like the progress made in restoring the Hudson River, and in India, where tigers share their landscape with one billion people.
“We need to transform the human footprint, so nature can still be nurtured everywhere, including in heavily influenced areas. We can do both, and nature is often resilient, if given half a chance,” said Sanderson.
This study also vividly illustrates the application of geographic information systems (GIS) technology as a way of integrating diverse geographic data to reveal new patterns in a persuasive way. This work was possible only because of increased access to global datasets on roads, land use, and human population density in recent years.
This work was supported by grants from the Prospect Hill Foundation, the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) at Columbia University, and in-kind support from the ESRI Conservation Program.
To view map and article, go to: www.wcs.org/humanfootprint
The data set may be downloaded at: www.ciesin.columbia.edu/wild_areas
In Laos, a Rare Deer is Rediscovered
|
|
|
Despite years of war and overhunting, the Eld’s deer continues to persist in the former home of the Khmer Rouge..
©Bill Meng/Wildlife Conservation Society |
An isolated population of an unusual deer species known for its unique antlers has turned up in northern Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, surprising a team of scientists from WCS and the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center, who thought that it had succumbed to overhunting.
Known as the Eld’s deer, the species has already vanished from neighboring Thailand and Cambodia, but still persists in very low numbers in Myanmar and southern Laos. In some areas, it is believed to have fed the Khmer Rouge army during Cambodia’s civil war.
Eld’s deer have reddish brown coats, and are about the size of white-tailed deer, but their antlers are remarkably different. Occurring seasonally on males, the antlers sweep from front to back in one continuous curve.
Ironically, the newly discovered population lives close to a series of isolated villages, whose inhabitants have largely refrained from hunting the deer, which have been legally protected since 1995 under a sweeping wildlife conservation law.
“This is an exciting discovery both for science and the people of Laos,” said Dr. Arlyne Johnson of WCS’s Lao Program. “Now that we know that the Eld’s deer persists, we must ensure that it survives.”
The region in which the deer lives consists of large expanses of lowland dry forest, patches of evergreens, lowland streams, and seasonal pools. It supports other rare and unusual species, such as Asiatic jackal, silver langur, barking deer, and wild pig, many of which have been extirpated from other areas of Laos due to overhunting.
Working with local partners in Laos, WCS and the Smithsonian are recommending the establishment of a National Eld’s Deer Sanctuary to protect the newly discovered population, as well as a public awareness campaign to build local understanding about the significance of the deer and its habitat.
North Atlantic Swordfish Stocks Nearly Recovered
Strong regulations backed by hard science played a significant part in the remarkable comeback of North Atlantic swordfish populations, which have largely recovered, according to recent findings. WCS played a key role in making scientific recommendations adopted by fishery regulators to protect swordfish, which were being rapidly depleted by overfishing just three years ago.
“The recovery of North Atlantic swordfish populations clearly shows that good science can go hand-in-hand with good fisheries management,” said Dr. Ellen Pikitch, director of WCS’s Marine Programs. “This is an incredible victory for conservationists, commercial fishermen, consumers, and —of course—swordfish.”
WCS began working to protect swordfish in 1999. At that time, WCS proposed a new method for evaluating swordfish populations for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the agency responsible for managing tunas and swordfish. When WCS scientists Pikitch and Dr. Beth Babcock attended an ICCAT swordfish assessment meeting in 1999, they found that North Atlantic swordfish were being depleted by overfishing. They recommended that catches needed to be reduced to a 10,000-metric-ton quota to give the swordfish population a chance to recover within ten years. Along with the quota, areas closed to fishing to protect juvenile swordfish were also adopted by the United States, to speed rebuilding of swordfish populations.
At the most recent ICCAT meeting in Madrid last month, Dr. Babcock and other scientists evaluated the stocks again, and found that they were rebuilding much more rapidly than expected. The North Atlantic swordfish population is currently at 94 percent of the level at which “maximum sustainable yield” can be produced on a long-term basis.
“If recent catch levels continue, there is more than an eighty percent chance that the population will recover by 2009 or even sooner,” said Babcock.
Many conservation organizations worked to save North Atlantic swordfish, including the Ocean Wildlife Campaign, which consists of WCS, National Audubon Society, National Coalition for Marine Conservation, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Ocean Conservancy, and World Wildlife Fund; along with Oceana, SeaWeb, and the Give Swordfish a Break Campaign—a consumer awareness program.
“While the recovery of North Atlantic swordfish populations is a great victory, the battle is far from over,” said Pikitch. “We need to continue to protect juvenile swordfish, and minimize ‘bycatch’ of severely depleted species such as white and blue marlin, which are still accidentally taken by swordfish boats.”
WCS was quick to point out that the status of swordfish populations in the South Atlantic and the Pacific is unknown, and that these areas probably are overfished. WCS and Audubon’s Living Oceans Program have released a seafood awareness card that gives consumers information on the conservation status of many commercial fish and shellfish (see next story).
Wildlife Conservation Society and Audubon Tell New Yorkers to “Go Fish”
 In recent years, seafood consumers have become more aware that their seafood choices can help encourage abundance, rather than depletion, in the seas. In an effort to encourage more informed decisions, WCS and Audubon’s Living Oceans Program recently launched a new Seafood Wallet Card that helps New Yorkers distinguish between those species that are doing well and those that are not.
The “Go Fish” Seafood Wallet Card is the latest in a series that Audubon’s Living Oceans Program has produced in conjunction with a number of aquariums and other partners over the last two years. What makes this one different is that it is the first of its kind to focus on those species that are available and popular in one of the world’s most influential seafood markets —New York City. Seafood diners carrying the “Go Fish” Seafood Wallet Card can make quick and easy decisions about which seafoods to choose when in a restaurant or seafood market. Consumer demand for seafood in the card’s green category provides incentive for fishers, fishery managers, and fish farmers to move toward best practices and sustainability.
 The “Go Fish” Seafood Wallet Card ranks 35 species of fish and shellfish—all available and popular in New York—along a color bar. If the fish is ranked green (okay to eat), then it is relatively abundant and is caught or farmed in a way that causes relatively little harm to habitat and other marine life (for example, Alaska halibut and farmed clams and mussels). A fish in the yellow (such as sea scallops or lobster) means there are some problems and consumers should use their conscience to decide whether or not or how frequently to eat it. A fish in the red indicates major problems, such as highly vulnerable biological characteristics, depletion, or that the fishing or farming method seriously degrades fragile habitat, or other marine life. Depleted species including sharks and Chilean sea bass are ranked red. Consumers are encouraged to begin choosing seafoods higher on the scale, preferably in the green and sometimes in the yellow zone.
|
 |
|
©Dennis DeMello/Wildlife Conservation Society |
Protecting marine fish is critically important, since more than one billion people worldwide rely on seafood as their primary source of protein. Many species are being driven to their lowest levels ever, but there are examples of how commercially valuable species can rebound when the fisheries they support are managed well. A strong recovery plan that reduced catch limits in the once highly depleted North Atlantic swordfish fishery resulted in an upturn of juveniles in the population; consequently, swordfish have moved from a former ranking in the red/yellow zone on Audubon’s previous cards to the yellow category.
The “Go Fish” Seafood Wallet Cards are free, and can be obtained through the Wildlife Conservation Society (718-220- 5155, or visit www.wcs.org/gofish) and Audubon’s Living Oceans Program (1-888-397-6649). | 
