The Plight of Sea Cucumbers in the Galapagos
Sea cucumbers in the Galapagos are being fished out illegally in spite of a four-year ban that is unsuccessfully enforced by the Ecuadorian government. Most sea cucumbers are dried and exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong. The waters off of mainland Ecuador have already been stripped of commercially valuable sea cucumbers. The controversy in the Galapagos involves the inability to sustain sea cucumber harvesting, and that the removal of millions of sea cucumbers will have detrimental effects on the food chain in the waters of the Galapagos. (Sullivan, 1999) Aside from the ecological damage, it is feared that these fishermen will go after other, rarer species when the sea cucumbers are depleted. (Stutz, 1995) It has been proposed to raise sea cucumber in captivity, but difficulties exist, such as locating the sexually mature sea cucumbers, the timing of mating the animals, providing the necessary food for the larvae, and then releasing the sea cucumbers at the right time. (Coh!The sea cucumber, or Cucumaria frondosa, make up the class Holothuroidae, of the phylum Echinodermata. The sea cucumber is related to the starfish, and can be described as big slug-like blobs. Sea cucumbers have a rubbery-like, warty body and th
Encyclopędia Britannica Online. Sea cucumber; Galapagos. http://search.eb.com; Sullivan, Ron. Summer 1999. Bio watch. Earth Island Journal 14 (2): 6 The Galapagos is a cluster of volcanic islands that belongs to the province of Ecuador. The islands are located 600 miles from the coast of South America. The islands were named "Galapagos" after one of its inhabitants, the giant tortoise or galapagos. The bishop of Panama, Tomas de Berlanga, happened upon the Galapagos Islands by accident in 1535 during his voyage to Peru when his ship had drifted of its course. Spanish voyagers of the 16th century used the islands as a place to stop, as did pirates and hunters. Ecuador took possession of Galapagos in 1832, after the area had set without colonization for almost 300 years. The English naturalist Charles Darwin's visit to the islands in 1835 resulted in international fame for the area. Darwin's theories on natural selection can be attributed to his visit to Galapagos. The native finches on the islands are commonly referred to as Darwin's finches. (Encyclopędia Britannica Online) The extreme over-fishing forced the government's decision to shut down the sea cucumber season one month early. The fishermen were so outraged by the shut down, that with the help of an Ecuadorian congressman, they illegally seized the national park and research facilities. The three-day take-over was accompanied by threats from the fishermen to set fire to the habitat, kill rare animals, and take innocent tourists as hostages. (Cohn, 1996) The fishermen illegally went ashore to dry their catch of sea cucumbers in preparation for shipping. There were fears that because the fishermen left behind debris, that rats from the fishing boats would come ashore. The scientists were very concerned about the rats finding the reptile eggs. "Rats would absolutely devastate a whole set of species if they got ashore," said Canadian ecologist Peter Bednekoff. (Langreth, 1995) Researchers are very concerned that mainland rats and other species that may have hitched a ride on the fishermen's boats, which were anchored just off the islands. These rats could pose a serious danger to the species that are natural inhabitants of Galapagos. (Stone, 1995) In an effort to protect Galapagos, the islands were declared a na
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hong Kong, Resources Reserve, Galapagos Sullivan, Galapagos Islands, Britannica Online, Encarta Encyclopedia, Charles Darwin, Galapagos Stone, Charles Darwin's, sea cucumber, Bednekoff Langreth, sea cucumbers, cohn 1996, britannica online, encyclopędia britannica, environment database, encyclopędia britannica online, trade environment database, trade environment, galapagos islands, online sea cucumber, cucumber fishermen, sea cucumber season, 2000 sea, britannica online sea,
Approximate Word count = 1558
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
