KNOW THE VALUE OF OUR OCEAN RESOURCES

Over the last few years, public awareness of the ocean has grown. New legislation has been passed to help further protect our reefs and to prevent overfishing. Unfortunately, this legislation is not perfect. So we must continue to allow laws to change, when concerns arise.

One concern is the loss of big fish. When fishing, fishermen return little fish to the sea. However, the larger fish that they take are the ones that can reproduce easily with the healthiest babies. By removing the big fish, the younger fish and their offspring do not live as long.

Raising awareness of problems such as the need to protect big fish will help create a framework to alleviate this problem. Though there are laws to protect our natural resources, people should not stop thinking about the importance of our reefs.

We need everybody to do what they can to help. It doesn't matter if help is clearing the reef of invasive seaweed, or just being aware so that you do not destroy or affect the reef when you visit a beach.

Be aware of our reefs — if taken for granted, they will not last long.