Marine management on solid ground.

• Author: Harris, Guillermo
• Position: Argentina

The Malvinas current, which runs north to south along the Patagonian coast, affects the lives of all the region's inhabitants in many ways. The great mass of cold, moving water gains its greatest velocity and impact along the border of the Argentine continental platform; there, hundreds of miles away from the coast, where the ocean's depth suddenly plunges from about sixty feet to two thousand feet or more, the current moves at just over one mile an hour. Resembling a gigantic marine river, it drags with it water enriched with nutrients that form the basis for an extensive food chain. The marine plankton concentrations associated with this phenomenon create sustenance for fish, squid, whales, sea lions, and birds. These animals, in turn, are the basis of income for two important industries on Patagonia's shore -- tourism and fishing.

Those who live along the Patagonian coast -- human beings as well as wildlife -- ultimately depend on the sustainable and integrated use of all marine resources. But these resources are limited. For the most part, the coast is empty, with large, biodiverse communities existing in only a few places. However, an interdependency exists among all parts of this ecosystem, and the exploitation of some resources cannot be isolated from the whole. Overfishing, as well as the dumping of poisonous hydrocarbons and other materials, could result in the destruction of an intricate web of life.

Two years ago, in response to these concerns, the Argentine government, along with the United Nations Development Program, created the Integrated Management Plan for the Patagonia Coastal Zone. Two private, nongovernmental organizations are charged with implementing the plan -- the Fundacion Patagonia Natural...