The British government announced to mark a marine reserve in the Atlantic. The area, located in the waters of Ascension Island in the southern part of the Atlantic, is slightly smaller than the United Kingdom itself.
Over half of the surrounding water area of Ascension Island will be closed to fishing in order to protect marine life. A grant from the Bacon Foundation worth £300,000 will be used in the preservation. The entire area measures 234,291 square kilometers.
This is the latest marine reserve declared around Ascension Island. This announcement will increase the total marine conservation to 2 percent of the entire ocean. This is still far too low to the recommended 30 percent in order to preserve species and expand fish stocks effectively. The latest reserve in Ascension Island is known to be the home of some of the largest marlins in the world, as well as the haven of green turtles, tropical seabirds and a unique frigate bird.
"This donation will help fund the enforcement to protect the closed area from illegal fishing," Dr. Judith Brown, director of fisheries and marine conservation for Ascension Island government, said. She also added that economic benefit from the fishery has provided much-needed income for the said island.
The Great British Oceans Coalition, a coalition of environmentalist groups, which includes the Blue Marine Foundation and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds had been campaigning the last two years for the Ascension waters to be marked as a marine reserve.
"Ascension has been at the frontiers of science since Charles Darwin went there in the 19th Century, so it is entirely appropriate that it is now at the center of a great scientific effort to design the Atlantic's largest marine reserve," Charles Clover, Blue Marine Foundation chairman, said.
Other known government-mandated marine Parks are Palau in the North Pacific, Easter Island and the Pitcairn in the South Pacific and New Zealand Kermadec Islands.
