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(2) runoff pollution, including fertilizers (causal agent of eutrophication), sediments, and industrial pollutants
(3) habitat destruction
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(1) DAMS
I. Significance:
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Young, Leroy M. Fish Habitat and Flow: What's the Connection. PA Fish and Boat Commission. PA Fish and Boat Commission, 1997. 28 Oct. 2007 http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2001/ma2001/habtflow.htm.
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(2) Runoff Pollutants
I. PROBLEMS--
Sediments: Sedimentation also has adverse effects on marine habitats and fish stocks. The sediments decrease the penetration of light into the water, which affects fish feeding and schooling practices, and can lead to reduced survival. Suspended sediments in high concentrations also irritate the gills of fish, and can cause death. In addition, they destroy the protective mucous covering the eyes and scales of fish, making them more susceptible to infection and disease. A high concentration of sediments also dislodges plants, invertebrates, and insects in the delta bed. This affects the food source of fish, and can result in smaller and fewer fish. Moreover, settling sediments can bury and suffocate fish eggs. They carry toxic agricultural and industrial compounds as well. If these toxins remain in the coastal areas they can cause abnormalities or death in the fish. (Environment Canada 2001)
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The Basics of Water Pollution. PA Fish and Boat Commission. PA Fish and Boat Commission. 29 Oct. 2007 <http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2001/jf2001/waterpoll.pdf>.
Wetlands Importance
Wetlands protect against flooding, they trap sediment, clean water and provide food; however they are constantly being encroached on and disregarded as hindrances to real estate development. They are important for fish health because they reduce the presence of nitrates and increase oxygen levels. Wetlands reduce silt which when it covers fish eggs hinders them from successfully hatching. Wetlands provide a habitat for reproduction, feeding and resting. Perch, pickerel, bass, sunfish, muskellunge, catfish and walleyes breed in wetlands and many are moving towards distinction because of the loss of wetlands. (Dietz, 2007)
The main goal in fixing the current state of minimized wetlands (the original 221 million acres have been reduces to less than half of that) is to reintroduce wetlands to counter the current trend, where every year 290,000 acres are lost (Dietz, 2007). When a wetland contains animals that are on the endangered species, the wetlands that contain them are afforded more protection. Thus getting more fish and wetland dwelling animals on he endangered species list would slow down their decline. Wetlands in the US are minimally protected under the Dam safety and Encroachments Act and the Federal Clean Waters Act under a clause to "Avoid, minimize and compensate". If they are really truly going to be protected there needs to be a greater penalty for encroachment, because the current system which requires payment into a wetlands reestablishment fund does not provide enough because new wetlands are always worse than prexisting wetlands which have masterfully balanced ecosystems (as seen by their survival). There needs to be the introduction of new stricter laws under new sectors of legislation, not just title pieces under preexisting legislation. Finally since the encroachment of a wetland includes a litigation process, lengthening the permit process and requiring more in compensation to the wetlands Replacement Fund will turn away more developers, a huge factor into wetlands loss.
Wetland Tourism
Wetlands ecotourism is a really exciting way to present the problem. It is often hard to appeal scientific facts to a non-scientific world. This idea is very similar to an Inconvenient Truth; the most effective scenes in the documentary are ones that include pictures of the polar ice caps melting and poor baby seals stranded. Also this relates in a way back to Professor Sadaways' lecture that he gave during one of the Terrascope lunches on energy. He made the point that if you continue to sell compromises like Toyota does with there Prius, then you won't fix anything, but if you "sell the best ride of your life" then you have a chance at marketing change. With this same concept we need to sell the beauty of the oceans and wetlands and their importance to our visual hungry culture if we have chance at starting to solve the problem. Strengthening wetland tourism through both education (of both the importance and beauty of wetland) and physical marketing campaigns to specific wetlands such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Mediterranean Coast and the Florida keys (van der Duim, 2007). Not only does this sort of ecotourism benefit the people of the local communities (who benefit from it directly because tourism is based on natural capital) but also on a large enough scale could start to alleviate the need for fishing in poor area as an economic resource. Of course the most direct benefit however will be the new relationship the tourist receives from realizing the significance of the wetland.
International Wetlands
Our goal in creating a more stable and healthier fish population as it pertains to wetlands translates to lessening the rate of depletion of wetlands and restoring needed wetlands on a basis of regional necessity. While the lack of them is common across the globe, the need for specific ones and often the destruction of them due to natural disasters or human interference varies with location. Thus an important compilation of both local task forces, primarily lead by wetlands international (a compilation of regional offices and groups) assisted by and encouraged by laws and regulations is the best solution. Organizations like Wetlands International play a particularly important role in this setup because they both organize the needed local tasks forces and catalyze the political action process. Wetlands International's mission statement serves to clarify its duality in its proposal that it "works in local areas to help create restoration programs combined with stricter enforcement," (Finlayson, 2006). " These locally funded projects include rebuilding mangrove forests in South East Asia which were depleted after the Tsunami and their lack has hindered fish populations. In India wetlands and swamps are being illegally logged and drained for agriculture which in addition to their mal effects on the fish populations, is causing wild fires and soil oxidation. Regional task forces are politicking in the legislative process to create harsher penalties for this. In Ukraine, maps were drafted up which led to the establishment of the Dniro eco-corridor. With greater funding companies like Wetlands International can be expanded to serve a greater number of regional areas and additional companies with focuses on litigation, tourism and recovery could also be introduced into the global scheme.
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III. Habitat Destruction
Problem:
Conversion of coastal ecosystems for agriculture or aquaculture has adverse effects on marine fisheries because it destroys the habitat of exploited fish stocks. For example, conversion of mangroves in a number of South and South-East Asian countries during the mid 1990s caused an increased risk of diseases in wild stock. It also significantly reduced the recruitment and survival rate of the stocks. Since some 90% of fish stocks depend on coastal habitat for at least parts of their life cycle, this is an issue that should be addressed. (Perrings 2000)
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Furthermore, for effective management of coastal fisheries, local spawning and nursery grounds need to be identified (Knutsen 2003). In exploited areas, restrictions on point and nonpoint source pollution (such as sewage and fertilizer runoff) must be passed and enforced. Additionally, population models can be identified to make better regulation. For example, (Rose et al. 2001) suggested a model that categorized freshwater and marine species into three general strategists: opportunistic strategist, equilibrium strategist, and period-life strategists. We have to also keep in mind parameters such as stock biomass, predator consumption, fish mortality and fecundity, and human consumption when devising regulations for management of coastal fisheries (Oguz 2007).We can also create market based instruments for environmental protection in coastal and marine systems. This means assigning property rights (creating markets) and applying taxes, subsidies, user fees and/or charges to address the problem.
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*{+}Work Cited:+* Bildstein, Keith L, Bancroft, G Thomas, et al. Bildstein, Keith L, Bancroft, G Thomas, et al. (1991). Approaches to the Conservation of Coastal Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere. The Wilson Bulletin, _103_(2), 218. Retrieved November 2, 2007, from Sciences Module database. (Document ID: 3813300). Environment Canada (2001). Why is sediment important? Retrieved November 2, 2007. URL: [the Conservation of Coastal Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere. The Wilson Bulletin, 103(2), 218. Retrieved November 2, 2007, from Sciences Module database. (Document ID: 3813300). Environment Canada (2001). Why is sediment important? Retrieved November 2, 2007. URL: http://www.ec.gc.ca/Water/en/nature/sedim/e_effect.htm] Gattuso Gattuso, Jean-Pierre and Stephen V. Smith (Lead Authors); J. Emmett Duffy (Topic Editor). 2007. "Coastal zone." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Topic Editor). 2007. "Coastal zone." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington,D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the for Science and the Environment). \ [First published March 7, 2007; Last revised March 20, 2007; Retrieved October 12, 2007\]. <[revised March 20, 2007; Retrieved October 12, 2007]. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Coastal_zone]> Knutsen Knutsen, H., Jorde, P. E., Andre, C., & Stenseth, N. C. (2003). Fine-scaled geographical population structuring in a highly mobile marine species: The atlantic cod. _Molecular ecology, 12_(2), 385-394. Nieminen Nieminen, M., Ahti, E., Nousiainen, H., Joensuu, S. & Vuollekoski, M. 2005. Capacity of riparian buffer zones to reduce sediment concentrations in discharge from peatlands drained for forestry. Silva Fennica Capacity of riparian buffer zones to reduce sediment concentrations in discharge from peatlands drained for forestry. Silva Fennica 39(3): 331\--339. Oguz Oguz, Temel. (2007). Nonlinear response of Black Sea pelagic fish stocks to over-exploitation.- <span style="color: black"><strong><span style="text-decoration: line-through; ">Marine Ecology Progress Series,</span></strong></span> -345:211-228. Perrings, Charles Marine Ecology Progress Series, 345:211-228. Perrings, Charles (2000). Sustainability indicators for fisheries in integrated coastal area management. Marine and Freshwater Research 51, 513-\-522. Rose, K. A., Cowan, J. H., Winemiller, K. O., Myers, R. A., & Hilborn, R. (2001). Compensatory density dependence in fish populations: Importance, controversy, understanding and prognosis. _Fish and Fisheries, 2_(4), 293-327. UniversityofNorth Carolina. Wetland Protection Plan. Retrieved November 2, 2007.URL: http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/resource/scorp/scorp_ch6.pdf\\
coastal area management. Marine and Freshwater Research 51, 513-522. Rose, K. A., Cowan, J. H., Winemiller, K. O., Myers, R. A., & Hilborn, R. (2001). Compensatory density dependence in fish populations: Importance, controversy, understanding and prognosis. Fish and Fisheries, 2(4), 293-327. UniversityofNorth Carolina. Wetland Protection Plan. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
URL: http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/resource/scorp/scorp_ch6.pdf\\
Finlayson, MAx. (2006). Wetlands International Annual Review 2006. http://www.wetlands.org/publication.aspx?ID=c76e4f7a-41c5-4aca-9a73-ffc5e69f5d89
van der Duim, R and Henkens, R, Wageningen (2007) Wetlands, poverty reduction and sustainable tourism developement, oppurtunities and constraints. http://www.wetlands.org/publication.aspx?ID=8d31d63c-edef-4daa-b309-9674d6af52fa
Dietz, Walt. (2007). Wetlands the Vital Link http://www.fish.state.pa.us/anglerboater/2001/mj2001/vitalink.htm