Conservation risk highest off coasts of Canada, Mexico, Peru and New Zealand: UBC research
http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2012/02/20/conservation-risk-highest-off-coasts-of-canada-mexico-peru-and-new-zealand-ubc-research/[font face=Times,Times New Roman,Serif]Media Release | Feb. 20, 2012
[font size=5]Conservation risk highest off coasts of Canada, Mexico, Peru and New Zealand: UBC research[/font]
[font size=3]University of British Columbia researchers have identified conservation hot spots around the world where the temptation to profit from overfishing outweighs the appetite for conservation.
Combining economic outlook and fisheries population growth rates for all countries currently reported to fish in the ocean, UBC fisheries researchers William Cheung and Rashid Sumaila developed a conservation risk index to reveal the economic-conservation trade-offs of fishing.
Areas with the highest risk index those most biologically and economically vulnerable to overfishing include the northeastern coast of Canada, the Pacific coast of Mexico, the Peruvian coast, the south Pacific (offshore of New Zealand in particular), the southern and southeastern coast of Africa, and the Antarctic region.
This index is a guide for determining the appropriate conservation and fisheries management policy for each region, says Cheung, an assistant professor in UBCs Fisheries Centre, who presented his research during a press briefing at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, Canada.
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