Letters.Go fish Your recent article on marine no-take zones ("Underwater refuge," SN: 4/28/01, p. 264) overly simplifies a much more complicated problem. The idea that at least some kinds of fish might be more plentiful and larger if they are not harvested over a period of years doesn't really need much scientific study. However, this benefit is probably limited to specific species. For many other species, such as salmon and albacore albacore: see tuna. albacore Large oceanic tuna (Thunnus alalunga) that is noted for its fine flesh. The streamlined bodies of these voracious predators are adapted to fast and continuous swimming. , a no-fishing zone would have little positive effect and would just disable To turn off; deactivate. See disabled. fishermen. It would also move fishing activities to unregulated areas, such as off the coasts of developing nations. Considering a growing world population and no apparent reduction in the desire to eat fish, this demand will be met one way or the other. The goal of fishery management should be to provide the greatest responsible, sustainable yield The sustainable yield of natural capital is the ecological yield that can be extracted without reducing the base of capital itself, i.e. the surplus required to maintain nature's services at the same or increasing level over time. . Marine no-take zones may well play a role in overall fishery management, but they are not a panacea Some antidote or remedy that completely solves a problem. Most so-called panaceas in this industry, if they survive at all, wind up sitting alongside and working with the products they were supposed to replace. , which is how they're being touted. Steve Scheiblauer Santa Cruz, Calif. Don't malign this nation In "Many refugees can't flee mental ailments" (SN: 5/19/01, p. 310), Bhutan is greatly maligned ma·lign tr.v. ma·ligned, ma·lign·ing, ma·ligns To make evil, harmful, and often untrue statements about; speak evil of. adj. 1. Evil in disposition, nature, or intent. 2. . Equating Bhutan's story with the Cambodian genocide, as the article does, is like equating a Fourth of July Fourth of July, Independence Day, or July Fourth, U.S. holiday, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Celebration of it began during the American Revolution. firecracker with the atomic bomb atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of atomic energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy nuclei (see nuclear energy). The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alamos, N.Mex. . Tiny, Tibetan, Buddhist Bhutan, with a population of only 650,000, is struggling to survive between giants China and India and among a regional Nepali population of more than 40 million. It seems science has joined forces with those who are bringing about the demise of the entire Tibetan Buddhist civilization. Kelzang Lhaden and Tashi Wangchuk University of Maryland College Park, Md. Dear Subscribers, Don't put off visiting SCIENCE NEWS ONLINE for your free access to the full text of all the 2001 articles from SCIENCE NEWS. Visit www.sciencenews.org, click on "Sign In," and register. Be sure to have the 15-character account number that appears on your SCIENCE NEWS mailing label. Our Web site continues to offer to subscribers--and others--references and sources for all SCIENCE NEWS articles plus MathTrek, Food for Thought, Science Safari, and TimeLine. Sincerely yours, Julie Ann Miller Editor |
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