However, larger boats and modern navigational equipment have opened up much of the area to commercial and recreational fishing and the sharp decline of key fishery species is clear. Tortugas 2000 is an extension of the zoning plan of the Keys Sanctuary, which was created from 1991-97 by a diverse advisory council of Floridians working in cooperation with state and federal agencies. The Sanctuary currently contains only one reserve of 9 square nautical miles in the western Sambos reefs near Key West. Since it was implemented in 1997, studies in the Sambos reserve by state and federal agencies show that there are already greater numbers of larger-sized lobsters and some fish. We have no reason to doubt the eventual outcome.
Large fish are surprisingly important.
They produce a disproportionately greater number of eggs and ocean currents transport their larvae downstream to grow up in areas open to managed fishing. The larger fishes in reserves spill over to surrounding areas and may be caught. For example, the de facto reserve created around the Kennedy Space Center has resulted over the years in a number of world record catches just outside its boundaries. Finally, marine reserves are very attractive to tourists. A large grouper, for example, is more valuable on her home reef photographed by thousands of divers and snorkelers each year than she is on the end of a fishing line.