The following is going to be presented at a scientific meeting in Portland, Oregon, at the end of February. Interesting.

A cost-benefit analysis of establishing an additional marine reserve in the Bonaire National Marine Park
N. J. Relles1; M. Dudley2
1. Biological Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, VA, United States.
2. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States.


Marine Protected Areas (MPA) have been criticized as "paper parks" as a result of their written legislation, but lack of adequate enforcement. Research is just beginning to emerge on the effectiveness of MPAs in fisheries management, as well as the “spillover” effect into neighboring unprotected areas. The island of Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles represents a long-established MPA, with strict fishing restrictions and a user-fee for divers and snorkelers in the Bonaire National Marine Park (BNMP), which surrounds the island out to the 60 m depth contour. The BNMP includes two no-entry marine reserves, where snorkeling and scuba diving is prohibited and more stringent fishing restrictions are in place. Recent research in Bonaire has shown that coral cover and diversity are positively correlated with increased proximity to the nearest marine reserve in both the shoreward and seaward reef with respect to the reef drop-off at about the 5 m depth contour. The fact that the current two reserves are located on the northern portion of the leeward coast suggests that the establishment of a third reserve in the south could potentially increase coral cover and diversity at sites further removed from presently existing reserves. An analysis of the costs of establishing a third reserve was performed, which took into account the revenue loss from closing current dive sites where the new reserve would be located. This analysis determined that the creation of a third reserve along the southern portion of the coast would be cost beneficial, while taking into account the discounting rate for future benefits, as well as the non-monetary, environmental benefits. However, the increase in diver and snorkeler stress on the remaining open dive sites remains a source of concern and needs to be taken into consideration as future management decisions are made.

To me, it has to really be NO FISHING at all in any of the sites closed to the public. And all dive sites "should" be closed for periods of time and then re-opened again to save wear and tear on the reefs in general. Like a rotating schedule for time out on all sites, which would include NO fishing either for sites being closed during such and such a time. Enforcement would be key in doing such an endeavor. Hard to do though with the limited staff the Marine Park has presently.

How long do you close a dive site for it to recover, when corals grow at an inch a year, at the most?

Once I went along on a supervised survey of the no-go zone out near the oil tanks. I was so excited! But the lady in charge said, "There are no fish." I was amazed, and on the dive, saw that she was correct.

My buddy and I set up the transit line in 10 meters depth, and then went for a quick dive to 30 meters. In the distance, I saw one Tiger Grouper swimming away as fast as he could. Otherwise, we saw no fish bigger than, oh, ten centimeters. Or less. This area is isolated, and there are no eyes to see anyone coming out of the sea with spear in hand.

But the corals there did look a lot better than where divers dive.

The restaurants all have fresh fish on the menu?

There is simply no way to keep the residents of Bonaire from fishing.

You may not be able to keep every single Bonaire resident from fishing in the no take zones, but that doesn't mean the no take zones shouldn't exist given the fact that on St Lucia, for example, the no take zones have been proven to work. I assume there are residents of St Lucia who violate the no take zones, yet, they still work. Just because the corals grow only an inch a year doesn't mean sites shouldn't be closed on a rotational basis since during that time period that portion of the reef would sustain less diver damage. Unless there is 100% compliance and corals grow a foot year means these measures won't accomplish anything?

This is a joke, right?

You're bored and have nothing better to do than post useless 5 word sentences right?

I think closing areas for regenerating period is a good idea . Rotation would be nice . You go back every year and have a new area to explore .

To give it a period to rest is better than the daily beatings a lot of dive sites take . Sure the corals grow slow but I think the whole ecosystem would enjoy a break from us , and fishermen.

Um, just to play devil's advocate here. Closing some sites for growth just increases traffic on other sites. Damage is damage and as long as seeking out the beauty of underwater life is something that brings people to Bonaire, then the reefs are always going to have to deal with it at some level.

The answer, I believe is educating divers and possibly increasing the enforcement of diving rules.

e.

Eric, your assumption "Closing some sites for growth just increases traffic on other sites." misses the point. The point is not the traffic, it is the fishing and removal of the ecosystem. Your answer, "educating divers and possibly increasing the enforcement of diving rules." assumes all the problems are due to divers. But it is not the divers who have removed all the large groupers in Bonaire, or the reason the parrotfish are disappearing. It is the fishing. The point is to give some safe spots for the fish to grow in. They don't have any right now.

Yes, "educating divers and possibly increasing the enforcement of diving rules." is a good thing, but it really doesn't address Bonaire's largest two problems: over fishing, and sewage. The point of the first post didn't address both of those items either!

Sorry. The rotational closure thing was brought up specifically under the context of scuba damage to the coral and the allowance for regrowth. It strayed from the other topic in the thread related to fishing. Didn't know you were more focused on the fishing aspect.

I was under the impression that fishing was not allowed in certain areas around Bonaire. Is that not correct?

e.

Eric..There are 2 major areas off Bonaire's coast which have been designated as "no fishing". However, this does not apply to locals who are out there on their small boats fishing & dropping their stone anchors onto the reef. So in actuality there is really not a complete ban on fishing.
Therein lies the problem. The "no fishing" designation is in name only.

Additionally, I've seen other techniques utilized by snorkelers who drop a fish line & hook with bait right in front of a fish. Obviously, not very sporting.