In the past 45 years, Caribbean coral cover has declined from 35
percent to 16 percent. Fish populations have
plummeted due to overfishing. And fishers are having a hard time making
a living. Meanwhile, scuba dive tourism
has increased dramatically.
A recent study by Dr. Ayan Johnson and Dr. Jeremy Jackson found that
94 percent of divers acknowledged
that their diving damages the reefs. “That industry needs to be
regulated too, if reefs are going to have a chance
at recovering,” said Jackson.
Johnson interviewed 388 fishers and scuba instructors, hoping to
understand how they use the ocean, how
they perceive the reefs and fisheries, and what types of management
they would support. Their answers give
cause for hope: The social climate is primed for policymakers to put
strong conservation measures in place for
the benefit of both groups.
According to Johnson’s research, fishermen are more aware than
divers of the degradation of their reef ecosystem
but don’t acknowledge much of the blame for it. But divers are also to
blame -- especially as their numbers
grow -- because of poor behavior under water. Many novices kick the
reefs, and tourist demand for local
seafood has depleted the very fish they want to see when they dive.
“Most jarring were the words of a 15-year fisher who told me that
fishers used to show the size of their catch
vertically [holding his hands off the ground],” said Johnson. “Now they
show fish size horizontally [holding his
hands shoulder width apart]. And this all happened in the past few
decades.”
Meanwhile, dive instructors say showing visitors seahorses and rare
marine life is great for their business,
but the halo of reef damage left behind by tourists bumping sensitive
corals continues to degrade the already
damaged environment.
The study found that most fishers (89 percent) perceived catching
fewer fish than previous generations. An
overwhelming 96 percent of fishers and 94 percent of divers with over
five years of local experience reported that
some species they used to catch or see are rare or missing now. The
numbers of large grouper, snapper and parrotfish
populations have plummeted across the region, along with the coral
itself. Meanwhile, invasive species like
lionfish have been able to establish themselves throughout the region,
further threatening endemic fisheries.
Jackson and Johnson offer up some policy reforms, including
establishing large marine reserves that are
closed to both fishing and diving, limiting the number of fishers and
divers, and easing the transition to more
sustainable use of coral reef resources. They believe their study shows
that both fishers and divers are ready for
meaningful management actions.
--from an article in the Curacao Chronicle