Marine Biology

If Long Island Sound were converted into a fishing reserve, one of the largest benefits would be an increase in the fish populations throughout Long Island Sound and the surrounding area. For example, in the Tsitsikamma National Park in South Africa, which has been established since 1964, it was found that the reserve's density of commercially important starid fish "Chrysoblephus laticeps," were estimated to be forty two times higher in the reserve than in surrounding fishing grounds (Gell 2). Once the fish populations within Long Island Sound has increased, then the fish would disperse and migrate out of the Sound. This migration would increase the fish population within the commercial fishing grounds, and, therefore, increase the productivity of commercial fishing. This, at the same time, would create a stable market; a market that would only become stronger over time. Although some question whether Long Island Sound would be capable of supporting these enormous fish population growths, it is often forgotten that Long Island Sound has the second largest estuary on the Atlantic Coast, only behind the Everglades in Florida. Therefore, Long Island Sound can support the fish population growth. If Long Island Sound were made into a fishing reserve, then the debate of whether the commercial fishing industry can survive would be over, and it could actually be considered a stable marketplace.

When there is an increase of animal abundance, there is also an increase of animal size. This, in turn, leads to an increase in reproductively. This is because the larger the organism the more offspring it can produce. For instance, in Edmonds Underwater Park, in Washington State, USA, "Lingcod produced twenty times more eggs than they did in adjacent fished areas because of the increase in size" (Gell 4). In Long Island Sound the commercial fishermen catch many of the larger fish, which are the ones capable of reproducing at very large rates. Hence, the reproduction rates are much less. If these fish were capable of growing larger and reproducing more, the fish population would sky rocket, again helping to create a stable fishing market. With an increase in the number and size of the fish, the fishing industry surrounding Long Island Sound could become the most stable commercial fishing industry along the East Coast; if not the entire country.

Commercial trawling not only decreases the number of fish but it also destroys