19
Reflections on the Parts
and the Whole
James Lindholm and Matthias Ruth
Mokita : the truth that everyone knows , but which no one speaks .
The marine environment is in peril, largely as a consequence of human action-and inaction . Over-fishing, habitat alteration, pollution, and global
climate change lead the long list of human-induced impacts to delicate marine ecosystems worldwide, many of which we have discussed here . The
implications of these impacts, for the global ecosystem and therefore for
humanity as well, are considerable. They include the loss of biological diversity, increased susceptibility to further disruptions, and ultimately a decline in species directly exploited for human uses. This book has been
about modeling and marine conseruation. We could have easily called it
Dynamic Modeling for Marine Presentation, for preservation of the natural
world has its obvious merits and is deserving of a book all its own .
The challenge of marine conseruation comes with the effort to reconcile
conservation of the natural world with continued exploitation of its varied
resources by humanity. Understanding the causes and effects of biodiversity loss requires that we embrace the complexity that underlies the natural
and socioeconomic world . It require s that we attend to the many pieces of
the conservation puzzle , and that we attempt to put those pieces together
to improve our understanding. It is about these challenges that we have
written here .
The plight of the ocean is often exacerbated by paralyzing disagreements
among the many stakeholders involved (scientists, managers, fishermen,
environmental groups) and by the absence from the debate of the largest
stakeholder group of all: the public. Each stakeholder, or user group, has a
distinct perspective on a given component of the marine environment-be
it that of a fisherman plying the family trade in the early morning hours of
coastal New England, the surfer riding waves along the coast of California
as the sun sets over the Pacific, or the marine biologist engaged in data collection on the icebergs of the Southern Ocean. Often these perspectives are
perceived irreconcilable. For instance , how can the needs of fishermen
exploiting a particular species be reconciled with those of SCUBA divers
interested in viewing the same targeted species in its natural environment? When , if ever, do the conservation needs of the global community
421
M. Ruth et al. (Eds.), Dynamic Modeling for Marine Conservation
© Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. 2002
Reflections on the Parts
and the Whole
James Lindholm and Matthias Ruth
Mokita : the truth that everyone knows , but which no one speaks .
The marine environment is in peril, largely as a consequence of human action-and inaction . Over-fishing, habitat alteration, pollution, and global
climate change lead the long list of human-induced impacts to delicate marine ecosystems worldwide, many of which we have discussed here . The
implications of these impacts, for the global ecosystem and therefore for
humanity as well, are considerable. They include the loss of biological diversity, increased susceptibility to further disruptions, and ultimately a decline in species directly exploited for human uses. This book has been
about modeling and marine conseruation. We could have easily called it
Dynamic Modeling for Marine Presentation, for preservation of the natural
world has its obvious merits and is deserving of a book all its own .
The challenge of marine conseruation comes with the effort to reconcile
conservation of the natural world with continued exploitation of its varied
resources by humanity. Understanding the causes and effects of biodiversity loss requires that we embrace the complexity that underlies the natural
and socioeconomic world . It require s that we attend to the many pieces of
the conservation puzzle , and that we attempt to put those pieces together
to improve our understanding. It is about these challenges that we have
written here .
The plight of the ocean is often exacerbated by paralyzing disagreements
among the many stakeholders involved (scientists, managers, fishermen,
environmental groups) and by the absence from the debate of the largest
stakeholder group of all: the public. Each stakeholder, or user group, has a
distinct perspective on a given component of the marine environment-be
it that of a fisherman plying the family trade in the early morning hours of
coastal New England, the surfer riding waves along the coast of California
as the sun sets over the Pacific, or the marine biologist engaged in data collection on the icebergs of the Southern Ocean. Often these perspectives are
perceived irreconcilable. For instance , how can the needs of fishermen
exploiting a particular species be reconciled with those of SCUBA divers
interested in viewing the same targeted species in its natural environment? When , if ever, do the conservation needs of the global community
421
M. Ruth et al. (Eds.), Dynamic Modeling for Marine Conservation
© Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. 2002