Should we focus our energies and funds on Conservation of existing fisheries or work toward Restoration of the fisheries as we hypothesize that they once existed?
Of course I remember when life was simpler. Heck, when I was young we still thought that multi-celled creatures would never be a hit. But in order to recreate the past we must answer two questions: "Can we know the true organic nature of the past, in all its magnificent complexity? And, if so, can we reverse the clock and re-establish entire ecosystems?" I would have to say, "No" to both these questions.
As we all know, ecosystems are so complex that loss of a single element can irreparably alter the entire system. This seems obvious when we speak of invertebrates -- kill all the frogs in a pond and the watersnakes will decline -- but it is true at the the microscopic level as well. It is the height of hubris to believe that we can ever discern the mineral, vegetable, and animal content of a small pond as it existed one hundred years ago with all its myriad interactions with the atmosphere and aquifer --both seasonal and long-term. Missing a single element of this bioscape would be like leaving out a fundamental variable in an equation -- you will not be able to produce the proper result. This being so, why invest the massive amount of energy and finances in "restoration", when it will not even be restored to its original form. Better by far to either accept nature's new ecosystem, adapted to the introduction of new elements or loss of others, but adapted; or to introduce subtle modifications to start a new and interesting progression of adaptations.
If nature is adapting to changes in few or many conditions (a sum of which we cannot even conceive) we may decide to eliminate or add input to the whole, though we can only roughly guess the ultimate effect. It would be fine to stop polluting a river with runoff containing agricultural fertilizers; but don't moan when the size and number of trout suddenly and sharply decline because you've removed the "pollution" that was increasing the biomass capability beyond its natural mean.
How we humans love meddling in matters too big for us.
Comments
Mon, 17.11.2008 13:50
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Mon, 17.11.2008 13:10
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Fri, 14.11.2008 10:26
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Thu, 13.11.2008 13:56
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Tue, 28.10.2008 00:30
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