WWF wants Coral Sea protected

[fishingjew]

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched a national campaign to have the Coral Sea off the Queensland coast declared a protected zone.
The Coral Sea represents 780 thousand square kilometres of ocean from Bundaberg to the tip of Cape York, east of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The area includes Flinders and Dart reefs off Townsville and Holmes and Osprey Reefs east of Cooktown.
WWF's Richard Leck says the Coral Sea reefs are still pristine and need immediate protection.
"It's also got an amazingly robust population of top-end predators - of sharks, tuna, trevally, those kind of fish, and that's very rare in the world today, [where] we're seeing coral reefs declining five times faster than the world's rainforests," he said.



http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=274773

Monday Sep 17 09:20 AEST
Reef sharks could be wiped out in the Coral Sea unless Australia declares it a Marine Protected Area, conservation group WWF said.

Although grey reef sharks and hammerheads were among Australia's "tourism jewels" they were now being taken in record numbers for the Asian trade in shark fin, said WWF oceans program leader Dr Gilly Llewellyn.

Worldwide, the numbers of oceanic predators had plummeted by 90 per cent since 1950, and it was vital that the Coral Sea's still largely pristine environment be protected from overfishing.

Dr Llewelyn said the total value of Coral Sea tourism, including dive sites such Osprey Reef, was around $11.2 million annually.

So it made good economic sense for the federal government to protect the 780,000 square kilometres of the Coral Sea under Australia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), she said.

Monitoring and policing such an area would be a challenge but not impossible.

"Every year, we get more sophisticated with surveillance techniques and we can use satellites to spot vessels and intercept them," she said.

"We recognise there are multi-million dollar tourism industries dependent on the health of these ecosystems and with the increasing pressures on shark populations, the Coral Sea is one of their last safe havens."

"It's an investment in preserving a thriving wildlife tourism industry."

WWF Australia tropical marine spokesman Richard Leck said the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was Australia's largest Marine Protection Area and arguably the best of its kind anywhere.

"We think Australia should demonstrate its global leadership in marine conservation and make the Coral Sea the biggest marine park in the world," Mr Leck said.

But The Coral Sea would not be declared a fishing no-go area, he said.

It could be managed in the same sustainable way as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, where fishing was allowed in some zones along with tourism activities.

Mr Leck said the issue should be put on the agenda for the coming federal election.

"The next Australian government needs to show vision in protecting our oceans," he added.

[fishingjew]

"But The Coral Sea would not be declared a fishing no-go area, he said."

It could be managed in the same sustainable way as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, where fishing was allowed in some zones along with tourism activities.

Yea as if I believe that.

[manchild]

$11.2 millon annually?Wonder how many millions of dollars the boatyards tackleshops ,servos,baitshops ,visiting fishos from all over the world pump into the area?His views are backwards.Its nothing wrong with it its pristine ,so lets protect it and lock out people.Why ?Its beyond me.
George