I just read on the BBC news website that because of a fishing ban for five years there, the marine wildlife has flourished. This sounds like a no brainer to me with the amount of damage large scale fishing does to animals that aren't even being targeted.
The Lundy island is the place so far where this ban has been introduced, but hopefully they will use it as an example to open up some more marine protected areas.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7508216.stm
Riana
However, the fish and other wildlife that lives in the protected area is free from hunting so anything that spawns in the area or is sedentary such as shellfish, sponges, anenomies, sea weeds, etc., are safe. In turn the increase in smaller fish etc., allows more sea birds, such as puffins to thrive and this in turn means more mature fish are also encouraged into the area. Trawl fishing wipes out most wildlife on the sea floor and causes imense secondary damage to sedentary wildlife.
Similar ocean reserves are established elsewhere. I think the first was off New Zealand. Because they have allowed so much wildlife to flourish within these areas the increased wildlife started to show a growth outside the areas to the benefit of the fisherman. And I assume this includes us if we eat products caught at sea.
It would help if they did'nt net a couple of a hundred yards or so of the coast i know 1 place where its a bass nursery area thats been netted on more than one ocassion!Also i see people when im fishing keeping fish lobsters etc that a re clearly under size which dont really help the cause last time i mentioned this to one of the people concerned they did'nt understand what i was saying yet they understood enough foul language to tell me to eff off sorry for the rant.
Dave, sounds like it can do a lot of good then. I certainly believe that we should give ocean wildlife the same help as land.