"Shatter the Myths" Project

The Problem

The loss of marine species, through extinctions and severe depletions, has enormous implications for global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Equally serious are the implications for coastal communities and other resource users, of the loss of livelihoods that result from the disappearance, or decline of marine species.

The recent ban on all fishing of North Atlantic cod in Canada, following population declines of as high as 98% in some areas, signifies the end to an entire way of life for coastal fishing communities that relied on this fish for hundreds of years. North Atlantic cod joins a growing list of serious declines and losses of commercially and culturally important species, including Nassau grouper in the Caribbean, humphead wrasse and several seahorses in parts of the Indo-Pacific, a giant croaker in Southeast Asia, and both the largetooth and common sawfish in West Africa.

These are only a few examples from a wide range of marine organisms that suffer from increased fishing pressure and exploitation which are pushing them close to extinction. There are also whole ecosystems such as seamount communities which are threatened.

Current management policy and practice for marine species and habitats are based on assumptions that marine species are inherently less vulnerable to extinction and severe depletion than their terrestrial counterparts. A growing body of scientific evidence is demonstrating that these assumptions are not universally true and may apply only to a small number of marine species.

The Myths

The misconceptions, or "myths" on which current management strategies are based include:

• Marine species are universally widespread and very abundant and, therefore have lower extinction probabilities than other organisms .
  Increasing knowledge of marine systems indicates that marine habitats are complex and diverse, and that marine species exhibit a wide range of life histories, including attributes such as restricted geographic range and low reproductive output that make them vulnerable to extinction.
• Marine species universally have higher fecundity (fertility) and faster population growth rates and, therefore, recover more quickly from depletion than other organisms .
  Scientific analyses in recent years have demonstrated that high fecundity is not necessarily linked with high population growth rate and that the population growth rate of certain terrestrial organisms may exceed that of individual marine species.
• The only factor inhibiting the recovery of depleted marine species is fishing mortality, so that if fishing is stopped, populations will eventually recover .
  Experience from fisheries management over the past few decades has shown that, even where direct and indirect fishing mortality has ceased, recovery is not necessarily automatic, and that many factors, including ecological changes resulting from depleting stocks, may be at play.

These assumptions have led to non-precautionary management policies and practices which in turn, have led to serious depletions, and extinctions of many marine species with subsequent loss of livelihoods and entire ways of life for coastal communities.