Quantcast

Report calls for immediate creation of marine reserves throughout U.S.

A network of fully protected reserves should be established immediately in all major marine habitats of the coastal United States, according to a sweeping new report on the future of America’s oceans. “The term ‘marine reserve’ refers to an area in which no extractive use of any biological or mineral resource is allowed,” said Stephen R. Palumbi, a professor of biological sciences at Stanford University who authored the January report. “That means all commercial and recreational fishing, as well as oil and gas exploration, would be off limits.”