IV. REGULATORY ALTERNATIVES ELIMINATED FROM DETAILED STUDY 



A. Regulations for Snorkeling and SCUBA Diving 



Snorkel ing and SCUBA diving for the purposes of observation, under- 

 water photography, nature study, non-collecting scientific research and 

 educational training were not judged to have the potential for causing 

 significant damage to the reef. Therefore, alternative regulations for 

 these activities were reviewed but not proposed. All sanctuary users 

 are regulated to the extent that they must abide by regulations aimed at 

 protecting the natural system. 



B. Regulations for Commercial Fishing Beyond the 5 Square Nautical 

 Mile Boundary Alternative but Inside the 10 Square Nautical Mile 

 Boundary Alternative 



Although the northern portion of this area contains extensions of the 

 patch reefs found in the 5 sq nm boundary, the southern portions do not 

 contain any reef comparable to the center portion of the 5 sq nm proposed 

 sanctuary. There is also low probability that the deepest parts of this 

 area include coral communities similar to the Deep Reef within the 5 mile 

 area. It therefore seemed unnecessary to include this area in the proposed 

 sanctuary since the five ecological zones were included in the smaller 

 boundary alternative. 



In addition, the Looe Key Onsite Survey indicates that local fishermen 

 depend on the 5 sq nm sanctuary proposal area for approximately one-third 

 of their catch and the area beyond the 5 sq nm boundary for approximately 

 two-thirds of their catch. Regulating commercial fishing within a 10 sq nm 

 area would thus cause considerable economic hardship on local long-tenn 

 commercial fishermen. 



It was therefore determined that the environmental benefits of regu- 

 lating commercial fishermen to protect the natural resources in this area 

 were not substantial enough to propose regulations. 



C. Regulations for Net Fishing 



Only 12 percent of the fishermen use nets to catch fish at Looe Key. 

 Netting does not require anchoring and cannot be undertaken close to the 

 coral reefs. For these reasons, alternative regulations for netting were 

 not considered. 



D. Regulations for Hook and Line Fishing 



Commercial hook and line fishing for yellowtail snapper, mangrove, 

 mutton snapper, grouper, mackerel, some dolphin, pompano and lane snapper 

 occurs primarily along the outer reef track between and including American 

 Shoal and Big Pine Shoal with approximately 24.9 percent of the total catch 

 (671,880 lbs.) coming from the Boundary Alternative 2 area (Onsite Survey). 

 Ecological damage from commercial hook and line fishing does not seem to be 

 a major problem. 



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