This we are studying marine policy and management. The weather has been fantastic, but we have been stuck inside dutifully attending lectures...and more lectures...and more lectures. A lot of the material is on the establishment of marine protected areas and the reaction of the fishing community to marine ecosystem management. We are also studying ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the services provided by the environment (in this case the ocean) that don't have a direct value, yet. Many of these services are things like nutrient cycling, wave protection, and water purification. We don't realize how valuable they are until we start to lose them. For instance, at a site on the East coast the mountain ecosystem provided excellent water purification, but over the years the area has become polluted and eventually will no longer be able to provide the service. The cost of protecting and fixing this environment is $1 billion. BUT, the cost of building a manmade facility to perform the same function is up to $8 billion with an annual $300 million to keep it running.
Still, people are very hesitant to support protected areas because of the immediate short-term effects on the fishing industry, recreation, and property values. In the long run, protected areas will lead to larger fish who produce larger quantities of hardier young, but it will be a full generation to see the results. Many people are not willing to wait this long. Today we are going to the docks to talk to the fisherman's wives about how these topics effect their livelihood. I'm guessing they are not going to be too keen on the idea of protected areas either...
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