ProWest News – Pew dollars liberally flowing
It was almost laughable, if it wasn’t so offensive.
US eco-lobby group, Pew Charitable Trusts, commissioned a survey of regional and metropolitan residents that found 91 percent of people thought marine parks are a good idea.
If they had surveyed commercial fishers, the percentage would likely have been higher, as they also support marine parks.
Lots of activities can be undertaken in marine parks, including tourism, recreational fishing, commercial fishing, lifestyle activities, scuba diving and so on.
The sneaky bit here is in the nuancing. Pew refers to marine parks, which are very different to sanctuary zones.
Sanctuary zones will essentially lock out all activity, except for basically gazing upon the water. You can’t even play with, or swim your dog at the beach in a sanctuary zone.
I suspect if Pew had asked a slightly different question like: “”Would you support marine parks that lead to catastrophic impacts to regional coastal towns, closed down local businesses, restrict your access to WA waters and create negative sustainability impacts?” I suspect the results would be very different.
And that is the difference between a marine park and a sanctuary zone.
You can read the full story in this edition of ProWest.