END OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

[Don Tovey]

I recently heard on TV about concerns from environmental groups regarding polution being washed down the rivers in Northern Queensland & into the sea, damaging The Great Barrier Reef.
I dived there last year & a Ranger from The Rain Forest expressed his concerns about Nutriants, Pesticides & Fertlisers from intensive Farming being washed onto the Reef.
I saw for myself how the Reef was deteriorating & the vis was getting worse.
The sediments coat the reef & stop it breathing, eventualy it will die & so will the fish that live in this delicate eco system.
I'm no expert but I was disapointed with the colours & state of the reef & expected it to be better, compared with older photos I had seen.
What price do we have to pay for abundant food supplies ?.
Maybe now is the time to visit before its all gone or to take action like the EU, who are talking of reduceing these polutants from our farming methods.

I remember seeing lots of Urchins years ago on the breakwater in Port Erin in The Isle of Man, but I bet there ar'nt any left now. Lets hope the Barrier Reef does not go the same way.

Happy Diving

[ChristianG]

I recently heard on TV about concerns from environmental groups regarding polution being washed down the rivers in Northern Queensland & into the sea
Don,

Yes, this is a concern locally and it's even a little more widespread that you might think. However I'm grateful to be able to say that the GBRMPA (oh, OK, the GBR Marine Park Authority) has this matter well in hand.

I'd suggest to you, however, that your Euro authorities get their own act in order. I suspect, I haven't bothered to go look, that we have more Marine Reserves than the whole of the Australian land mass - which happens to be a tad more than Western Europe.

Can Europe say the same? It's a question that requires no answer because I know that you are not even remotely able to produce a positive response.

We all need to get our houses in order.

[Don Tovey]

Hi Christian,
My mention of the action the EU are taking was not a critisism or suggestion of what Australia should be doing, but merely an observation of what the EU are talking of doing.
Maybe they have seen what action other nations have taken & are following their lead.
Im not here to point out other countrys misgivings, only to remark on what ive seen & heard.
If the Australian government have it all in hand then i'm glad to hear it for the sake of our seas.
The proposals here will be met with oposition but if we must pay more for food by using less chemicals on the land then thats how it has to be.
I thought Australia was a great place to visit, apart from the taxi drivers in Sydney.
Cheers, Don T.

[Chris aka divingchef]

Don,

I'd suggest to you, however, that your Euro authorities get their own act in order. I suspect, I haven't bothered to go look, that we have more Marine Reserves than the whole of the Australian land mass - which happens to be a tad more than Western Europe.

Can Europe say the same? It's a question that requires no answer because I know that you are not even remotely able to produce a positive response.

We all need to get our houses in order.

Well said, on our recent visit I was very impressed at the way the Marine Reserves were run and that boat owners did respect the limits.

We are very lucky in that here in Galicia we have probably the largest area of marine parks and no take zones in Europe. Interestingly enough, it has been the fishing community that have declared a large area near Carnota as a no take zone. This was recognised (and protected by law) last year as a valuable source of fish stocks.
This area is now considered one of the best sites in the world for its biodiversity.

Chris

[Chris Cherrington]

None of the world's reef environments are likely to survive to give our grandchildren the pleasure they have given us. The biggest threat is acid, caused by CO2 emissions combined with the inevitable sea level rises. In the longer term they would recover but by then the marine ecosystem will be so over-exploited and polluted its possible it may take hundreds if not thousands of years.

Fishing activity, run off and (sadly) diving all take their toll too but they are not the most important issue. A huge drop in our pollution is needed and (I'm sorry to say) a large part of that is air travel - the very thing we need to get us to the reefs in the first place.

Only when we start to respect the planet and see the value of the oceans (like Chris' wonderful scheme in Spain) will we have any chance of leaving these "rainforests of the sea" intact to enjoy, now or in the future :(

Chris

[nigelhoath]

Sadly any small efforts to stop the distruction are futile unless the big issue is resolved - stabilising the world population at half of what it is today IMHO :(
Bring on the day of reckoning - but let me dive the reefs first :D

[Eddie Clamp]

We are very lucky in that here in Galicia we have probably the largest area of marine parks and no take zones in Europe. Interestingly enough, it has been the fishing community that have declared a large area near Carnota as a no take zone.
Chris

So all those Spanish fishermen have now taken up Brit licences and are now fishing off the UK? :rolleyes:

[Chris aka divingchef]

So all those Spanish fishermen have now taken up Brit licences and are now fishing off the UK? :rolleyes:

And there was me thinking nobody would notice :rolleyes:

Well if the UK fishermen didn't take the quick buck and sold their quotas,,,,,,we wouldn't have a marine reserve :D

[ChristianG]

Maybe you Europeans still don't understand the size of this country. The GBR Marine Park is well over over 295,000 sq. km. That's just the GBRMP and to put it into perspective, France is 547,000 odd whereas the UK is some 245,000. So France, Western Europe's largest country, is only 85% bigger than our GBRMP whereas the UK comfortably fits into it.

On the other side of our island continent (the only one that can be described as such) is Ningaloo Marine Park (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/ningaloo_l7_1999206_lrg.jpg) which comprises a "mere" 5,000 sq. km.

I'd suggest that is still fairly massive in European terms. Does the UK have 5,000 sq. km of Marine Parks? Do you have 10% of that amount? We manage all our Marine Park territories with a population of some 20M whereas the UK population is some 60M.

The whole point here, really, is that Oz acted way before pretty well anybody else (the USA and NZ receive honourable mentions) and decades before the phrase "global warming" had been coined.

Methinks that it behoves the "old" countries to now get around to doing something, and quickly at that. You need to protect, now, what is left of your overfished stocks (remember the "Icelandic Fishing War"?) because otherwise your children, thankfully I don't have any, are going to wonder what happened to all those pretty fishies they can see on their version of this Internet. Casting a critical eye at how the USA, NZ and Oz do this just might be a pretty good way to start.

Here in NSW the government (very much on the nose - they're dead in the water at the next election) is busily buying back fishing licenses and not re-issuing them.