Freeflow

Published!

Ribbon reefs

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from the editor of ECOS magazine, the house publication of Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), asking permission to use a photo included on this site to illustrate an article to be featured in an upcoming issue.

The photo in question was of me (plus a few fish) and was taken by Alice while she was doing her PADI Underwater Photography Specialty. Of course, we were happy to oblige, and now the photo is duly published!

You can see the ECOS article here.

Happy to say that the article conveys some good news: the Coral Sea Fishers Association has agreed not to fish some of the Coral Sea’s finest dive sites, including Osprey Reef, where we dived in 2003.

I’ve read more and more reports of the benefits of no-take zones in restoring balance to overexploited ecosystems. Indeed the benefits don’t only accrue to reef inhabitants and divers – fishermen report greater catches in adjacent areas as stocks are able to grow to maturity and reproduce in the no-take area before moving out to populate fishing areas.

Whether the same applies to areas as isolated as Osprey Reef, I don’t know, but for sure, there are other economic benefits to maintaining these sites in good condition for ecotourists.

Stephen · Friday, July 20, 2007, 23:02 · Permalink