CHAPTER TWO ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE 



I. INTRODUCTION 



NOAA proposes to designate Looe Key as a marine sanctuary to protect 

 and enhance its natural features and to promote scientific understanding, 

 public appreciation and wise use of its resources. Various management, 

 boundary and regulatory alternatives have been considered in the evaluation 

 of the proposed action. 



This section presents a brief analysis of all reasonable alternatives, 

 including a no action alternative (status quo) and the preferred alterna- 

 tive, and a brief discussion of the physical, biological, ecological and 

 socioeconomic impacts resulting from the proposed action. A detailed impact 

 analysis is presented in Chapter Four, Environmental Consequences. 



II. NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE: RELY ON THE STATUS QUO 



Looe Key is located on the high seas just seaward of State jurisdic- 

 tion. A variety of Federal laws, regulations, policies and procedures 

 apply to activities occuring in the general area of the proposed sanctuary 

 (for a detailed description please see Chapter Three, Section V The Legal 

 Status Quo). 



An alternative to the proposed action is the "no action alternative" 

 (status quo), meaning that Looe Key would not be designated as a marine 

 sanctuary. Under this alternative, the existing authorities as described 

 in the Legal Status Quo would continue, to control activities and protect 

 the environmemt in and around Looe Key. No comprehensive management program 

 for research, monitoring or education would be instituted. In addition, 

 long range planning focused on insuring continued ecosystem viability would 

 be lacking. 



As discussed below under the Preferred Alternative and in more detail 

 in Chapter IV, Looe Key is a special marine area; a complex, fragile eco- 

 system containing valuable natural resources. Part of it's uniqueness lies 

 in the fact that it is readily accessible to all user groups and it offers a 

 range of water depths which will accommodate novice to expert swimmers, 

 snorklers and divers. These factors in combination with its spectacular 

 beauty have resulted in increasing levels in human uses (Please see Chapter 

 One - Purpose and Need for Action). Human activities that either singularly 

 or in combination may place stress on the reef system include anchoring, 

 wire trap fishing, spearfishing, tropical specimen collecting, and damage 

 to or removal of historical and cultural resources. The current literature 

 suggests that coral reef resources, are unusually susceptible to some forms 

 of environmental perturbation. In addition, when a reef system is seriously 

 damaged the ecological conditions that follow cannot be expected to coincide 

 with those preceeding so that it cannot be taken for granted that the reef 

 will ever replace itself. 



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