Discuss how international efforts can contribute to the conservation of fish stocks.

Outline the biogeographical features of nature reserves that promote the conservation of diversity.

a. oceans are huge ecosystems with no borders / many important fishing grounds are in international waters;
b. fishing vessels often have a large geographical range / operate outside of national jurisdiction;
c. marine organisms migrate so need protection across their full range / breeding sites may be distant from feeding grounds so both need to be protected;
d. agree on maximum sustainable yields/quotas;
e. apply the precautionary principle in determining the level of exploitation;
f. agree on allowed fishing sites and exclusion zones;
g. agree on fishing seasons and moratoriums;
h. identify and agree on species that may be fished and those that may not;
i. determine and agree on which fishing methods are allowed and which are not/net and mesh size limitations;

a. nature reserve is a well defined/limited region with a protective framework/legislative protection;
b. large reserves promote biodiversity more effectively than small reserves;
c. size must be enough to have a well defined community of organisms;
d. edge effect is seen at or near the boundary between ecosystems;
e. leads to differences in population densities/biodiversity/levels of predation in central areas compared to edges;
f. habitat corridors allow organisms to move between parts of a fragmented ecosystem;
g. example of habitat corridors such as hedges/canals/drainage channels/tunnels/underpasses/overpasses;

This was also a very popular option but not very high scoring in many cases.

Many were able to get 3 or more out of 6 marks, which made this Question 3 higher scoring than in some of the other options. The marks were usually for giving examples of agreed international conservation efforts such as maximum sustainable yields, but many candidates discussed pollution control and the monitoring of fish stocks rather than focusing specifically on conservation measures.

This was also a very popular option but not very high scoring in many cases.

This was poorly answered by most candidates as they did not seem to understand (or ignored) “biogeographical features”. Instead some talked about in situ and ex situ conservation