Fish Menus - Prof Glenn Jones

Indonesia - Stu Campbell

Bron is on cloud nine after a peaceful evening with a Corona and a quiet baby, while Anth has recovered from his International trip to Geelong.

$3 for a lobster meal - the same as a burger and fries - In the 1850's that is what is cost in todays dollars - as the lobster was a trash fish. Now it is a luxury. Prof Jones has worked with a collection of over 250,000 menus from the 1850's forward to look the demand and consumption side of the fisheries - as opposed to the more traditional supply side.

The study started off when Prof Jones came across a 1950's menu and used it to develop a class exercise for his Oceongraphy students. It has developed well beyond that to a full blown research program.

The key message is that the decisions we make deciding what to eat drive the demand on fisheries. That consumer demand determines what will be fished, and the impact on the fisheries. In that 150 years we have moved from a series of local fisheries to one global system, with areas under huge stress.

The rule is - if you want it to survive - don't eat it !!!!

Setting management zones without a blindfold - Kiriminjara is one of 9 marine national parks in Indonesia. The Wildlife Conservation Society, an Non-Goverment Orgsnisation (NGO) runs a program in the park. It has 8,000 inhabitants in three major villages. The park is zoned to allow the locals to fish and survive. However, in the first case, the zones were chosen without any consultation! Stu was part of the process of consultation and re-designing those zones. He works with a team of locals to understand the dynamics and needs of the locals.

Stu's team came up with recommendations, it went though a few iterations and changes, before the Government decided it was their idea and adopted it. Watch out for the big NGO's - or biNGOs - in your neighbourhood.

IUCN is a network of conservation groups, Governments and NGO's - over 1000 organisations - founding in 1948. It is independent of the United Nations but has a seat on the floor of the General Assembly - just to the right of the podium that you see on TV!

Man looks at the big blue bits on the map, and finds is difficult to understand that there are limits on what we can do. Things like agricultural runoff, climate change, tourism and fisheries are all issues facing the oceans

Marine protected areas have come forward as a solution to these issues, but they are only one part of an integrated solution. They work well in areas where we are still trying to understand, and they provide a buffer.

The role of the community is fundamental - it is important that the benefit is understood and the link to conservation moves from adveserial to supportive.

There is a target date of 2012 to develop a global network of protected areas. The ICUN will develop a global chart to guide Governments in this area.

Is it achievable ? It will be difficult, but if you don't try you will never make it !

" Yacob"

" Days and Nights"

" O Pato"

Julien Jacob

Rob Clarkson

Getz and Byrd

Water is 16+ C, and you can see 6+ m.