Organization
ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies
Two eminent tropical marine scientists today urged Australians to get behind a plan by the Federal Government to transform nearly a million square kilometers of the Coral Sea into the world’s largest marine park.
“The Coral Sea is one of a handful of places in the world where a very large oceanic no-take park can be created and monitored in a single national jurisdiction,” say Professors Terry Hughes and Bob Pressey of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University. “Public comment on the proposal is now open – and it is time for all Australians to have their say.”
“It is vital that we protect the Coral Sea’s immense environmental and heritage values from the escalating threats of overfishing and climate change while there is still time to do so,” Prof. Hughes explains.
“We consider that more of the Park should be closed to fishing, to set a new international standard in marine care.”
Scientific evidence is amassing that global marine ecosystems have been extensively degraded by overfishing, pollution and man-made global warming. The Coral Sea is one of the few regions where these impacts have been relatively small.
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Read the full media release on the ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies website.
