Legacy of rebirth: lessons from Monterey Bay

View Large Image | Download PowerPoint SlideThe narrative of conservation biology is rich with cautionary tales. Whereas stories of catastrophe and collapse are common in the popular media, reports of recovery are rare. Imminent threats facing the natural world leave little time to reflect upon success. In The Death and Life of Monterey Bay, Stephen Palumbi and Carolyn Sotka unravel the history of Monterey Bay, its discovery, exploitation and rebirth. Although they weave together the stories of many stakeholders, including the fisheries and canneries that made their fortune exploiting the Bay; the mayor whose foresight led to the first marine protected areas in the USA; and the writers, scientists and entrepreneurs who made Monterey Bay an American icon, the main character is always the Bay itself. Over a history that spans more than 250 years, Palumbi and Sotka reveal the crucial moments that led to the downfall of Monterey Bay and its eventual recovery.The decline of Monterey Bay began with the overharvesting of sea otters for their pelts. The trophic cascade that followed has been well documented [1xFood web: linkage, interaction strength, and community infrastructure. Paine, R.T. J. Anim. Ecol. 1980; 49: 667–685CrossrefSee all References][1]: After the removal of their chief predator, urchin and abalone populations boomed, overgrazed the kelp forests and destroyed crucial habitat. With the otters gone, pressure shifted to whales and squid, both of which all but vanished from the region. By the time the sardine fishery began, Monterey Bay had entered an ecological dark age. Canneries dotted the landscape and the water was lousy with the discarded offal of processed fish. A modern ecologist looking out over that depauperate bay might have been inclined to write it off as a lost cause, too far gone to be worth saving.Fortunately, there were some who saw the potential in Monterey Bay. Julia Platt, one of the first women in America to earn a doctorate, became mayor of the coastal town of Pacific Grove. She served during the darkest days of Monterey Bay, but she laid the foundation for its eventual recovery. During the early 1930s, she established the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge and the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens, some of the first marine protected areas in the world. These small protected areas were preserved in perpetuity, an act of foresight that would enable them to gestate until the ecosystem was ready to rebound. Despite these efforts, the bay continued to decline and it was several decades before the investment of Pacific Grove in these two small reserves paid off.The collapse of the sardine fishery finally released Monterey Bay from the pressure of the canneries. The canning houses closed, taking the noxious slicks of oil and offal with them. Julia Platt's reserves provided the reservoirs of marine diversity necessary to repopulate the Bay, and the otters slowly returned. Many other factors, both human and environmental, converged to bring Monterey Bay back from near-total collapse. The details of this complex interplay among humans, the Bay ecosystems and a nascent environmental ethic form the heart of The Death and Life of Monterey Bay. It is here that Palumbi's background as an ecologist sets this book apart from similar works. Palumbi and Sotka take a subject that often encompasses the better part of an introductory marine ecology class and present it with clarity and brevity that leaves the reader inspired to dig deeper without feeling overwhelmed.In the final chapters, Palumbi and Sotka hold up the Monterey Bay Aquarium as leading the charge to revitalize the bay and foster a sense of ocean stewardship. They contrast its focus on the local environment with the transplanted exhibits of other aquariums, exhibits that create a disconnect between the audience and the ecosystem. Yet their reasons for criticizing the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the New England Aquarium are the same reasons that many find these places so compelling. The exhibits of the grand East Coast aquariums are windows into distant shores. They enable visitors to glimpse places few have the means to witness. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is equally magnificent, but how could it hope to compare to Ed Ricketts’ Great Tide Pool, which lies just outside?Palumbi and Sotka have taken the legacy Monterey Bay and created a model for successful ocean conservation: understand the ecology of the area, commit to marine protected areas, educate the public, be patient and persevere. Individual contributions might only be apparent in hindsight, but that does not make them any less significant. The story of Monterey Bay is not only a story of exploitation and collapse, but also one of resilience and hope.