Lecture #11 - Marine Conservation

Question 1

how long have anthropogenic activities harmed marine ecosystems and species?

Answer 1

hundreds of years, got really bad during the 1800s

Question 2

Trophic Downgrading

Answer 2

moving down the food chain and the consequences of removing large apex predators and consumers

Question 3

how much of ocean must we protect to reach goals?

Answer 3

~35%

Question 4

what is the best way to get people to engage in ecosystem protection?

Answer 4

economic incentives; protecting nature for nature’s sake does not motivate enough people

Question 5

Biological and ecological considerations for MPA design

Answer 5

Juvenile-adult habitat
Movement among habitats
Connectivity

Question 6

Why are actively managed fisheries systematically overexploited?

Answer 6

Misalignment of incentives; tragedy of the commons, everyone takes what they want without accounting for others using the resource

Question 7

Individually Transferable Quotas

Answer 7

ITQs; a kind of catch share with the stipulation that an individual owns the catch share and can sell or trade it

Question 8

how do ITQs work?

Answer 8

allocate a dedicated share of the scientifically determined total catch to fishers, communities, or cooperatives

Question 9

potential issues w/ ITQs

Answer 9

Need regulation or else people will disregard them
Need foundation of trust and hope that there wil be benefits for fishers
Still promotes higher catch amounts, which isn’t really unique to having a quota or not
Expensive investment