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Caye Caulker Village has fishing in its roots, and that's why island fishermen are up in arms over dredging in their back yard, or more appropriately their bread basket. Charter House Limited is developing 7 acres of land near Caye Caulker and they are dredging sand from the sea to fill it. The work started a week ago and fishermen from the village say it could destroy the lobster crop before they get a chance to harvest it.

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This would be a good email to UNESCO.


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Where is the 7 acres?

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Seems very likely. Trawling had denuded the North Sea of nearly all life, including all bottom-living creatures.

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Peter, I think that's a "We don't know that for sure". Actually the number of bottom dwellers in the North Sea has increased by half since 1985. Thank you very much global warming.


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I read a scientific report last week, can't remember where, which showed photographs of areas that used to be full of shellfish and which are now bare mud. They said there is an ecologic disaster there. Nothing to do with climate change but all to do with inappropriate fishing.

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The article above uses two excuses that irritate me the most 'improves fishing' is a stupid remark, I can only imagine that fishing is improved much like hunting after you set the woods on fire, hunting is fabulous for a while.
the second is those silly 'curtains' that the dredgers say thy have, like it makes a bit of difference. Curtains have nothing to do with destroying the sea bed. Some one is missing the point.The sea bed keeps the reef alive.
The people using these excuses think the public is stupid enough to believe this and the public should be insulted....except of course for those who believe it.


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Loss of World's Seagrass Beds Seen Accelerating

by Jim Loney

MIAMI - The world's seagrass meadows, a critical habitat for marine life and profit-maker for the fishing industry, are in decline due to coastal development and the losses are accelerating, according to a new study.
Billed as the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass losses, the study found 58 percent of seagrass meadows are declining and the rate of annual loss has accelerated from about 1 percent per year before 1940 to 7 percent per year since 1990.

Published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study, based on more than 200 surveys and 1,800 observations dating back to 1879, found that seagrasses are disappearing at rates similar to coral reefs and tropical rainforests.

"Seagrasses are disappearing because they live in the same kind of environments that attract people," James Fourqurean, a professor at Florida International University and a co-author of the study, said in an e-mailed response to questions.

"They live in shallow areas protected from large storm waves, and they are especially prevalent in bays and around river mouths."

Scientists say seagrass processes waste dumped into the sea, helps stabilize ocean-bottom sediments in coastal areas to reduce erosion, provide nurseries for fish and shellfish and feeding grounds for larger marine creatures, including those that live in coral reefs.

But the grasses can be damaged by polluted water from coastal development, decreasing water clarity, and by dredging and filling of meadows.

The scientists also said global climate change "is predicted to have deleterious effects on seagrasses." Many scientists believe greenhouse gases are causing the world to warm, leading to a host of environmental effects including warming and rising oceans.

'ECONOMICALLY AND ECOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT'

Seagrass meadows are important food fisheries and host gamefish like tarpon, permit and bonefish.

A recent study estimated the annual economic value of seagrass at $3,500 per hectare (2.5 acres), Fourqurean said.

"Seagrass beds are at least as economically and ecologically important as tropical forests or coral reefs," he said.

The study, by a team of scientists from the United States, Australia and Spain, found that 29 percent of known seagrass meadows have disappeared since 1879. Over the entire 130-year period, seagrass was lost at a rate of 1.5 percent per year.

An estimated 19,690 square miles (51,000 square km) of seagrass has been lost since 1879 of a total estimated area of 68,350 square miles (177,000 square km), the researchers said.

"Globally, we lose a seagrass meadow the size of a soccer field every thirty minutes," said co-author William Dennison of the University of Maryland.

The scientists said 45 percent of the world's population lives on 5 percent of its land adjacent to the coast.

In the early 20th century, heavy seagrass losses were noted in North America and Europe, where the industrial revolution led to rapid coastal development.

Today, population growth in the regions bordering the Pacific and Indian Oceans are likely leading to the heaviest losses of seagrass, but those regions lack the scientific infrastructure to assess the loss, Fourqurean said.

He said mitigation efforts have had some success in saving and restoring seagrass. For example, in Florida, where treated sewage water is often dumped in the ocean, water managers in Tampa changed their method of treating wastewater and failing seagrasses rebounded.

--
Ambergris Caye Citizens for Sustainable Development. website - www.accsdbelize.com

Embracing development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Last edited by elbert; 07/05/09 12:47 PM.

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The curtains make an important dif to the damage.Your point that is does not save the portion of the bed that is being dredged is well taken. The damage is often much more widespread than that. The silt can cover and smother an area of the seabed many times larger than the dredged area alone.It is critical to the recovery of the dredged hole that healthy actively alive seabed surround it.


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