Myths and Fallacies in marine conservation Dissected by Dr J Floor Anthoni (2003 - ) www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/cons/myths.htm After 25 years of good news propaganda, while unaware of changing circumstances, proponents of marine reserves have spread disinformation, exaggerating the actual benefits of marine reserves while hiding bad news. Now most people, being uninformed about how different the sea is from the land, have strong beliefs which they use to bring harm to others for no benefit in return. Through the United Nations, all nations are pressured to lock up a substantial part of the sea, for little or no benefit. This section aims to redress the arguments, not to discredit people but to remove myths and fallacies from the marine reserves debate. Only through truth will we be able to save the sea for future generations.

• Protection of sea good for everyone - NZ Herald 15 Apr 2003. (Min of Conservation)
• Hobby fishers will be better off - minister- Rodney Times, 12 December 2002. (Min of Conservation)
• Marine reserve will be a valuable asset - Rodney Times 10 Jan 2003. (Forest & Bird)
• Marine reserve options out for public comment - Rodney Times 3 January 2003. (NZ Underwater Assoc)
• Reserve will boost business and fishing, Rodney Times, 3 December 2002 (NZUA)
• The Tutukaka experience - Rodney Times, Tuesday 3 December 2002 (Dive Tutukaka)
• myths2, (11 pages)
• On the value of marine reserves. A letter by Ken Catt, Forest&Bird, addressed to Option4. 28 Apr 2003
• Insuring Our Marine Reserves. 30/04/2003 05:12 PM - Mark Feldman - The Independent
• myths3, (9 pages)
• Let's have more marine reserves ..... Speech of the Min of Conservation, Chris Carter 15 May 2003
• Marine reserves are essential Letter to the Editor,  Rodney Times 11 Mar 2003
• DOC's job to preserve natural character. Article by Peter Crabb, NZUA. Rodney Times 20 Mar 2003.
• Progress on Tiritiri Marine Reserve Proposal. Tony Poulsen, Letter to Option4. 30 May 2003.
• myths4, (12 pages)
• Reply by the Director General of Conservation, Hugh Logan. 4 June 2003.
• Campaign for more reserves. Forest & Bird's campaign is not respectful of the truth. Feb 2002.
• Ocean life crisis. Barry Weeber, Forest & Bird magazine 306. Not practical. November 2002
• myths5, (11 pages)
• MPA Perspective: Scientific Principles for Marine Reserve Systems By Dr Bill Ballantine, Leigh Marine Laboratory
• Marine Reserves Called Best Hope for Ocean Species  Pew Oceans Commission, Feb 2001 (ENS)
• Marine reserves: a tool for ecosystem management and restoration Dr S R Palumbi, Jan 2003
• myths6, (8 pages)
• Sharks circle Marine Reserves Bill - Forest & Bird Conservation News. Aug 2003.
• MPA News casts doubt over validity of marine reserves research - Two important articles, abbreviated - very important reading.
• Marine reserves science flawed - Letter to the editor of MPA News, by Floor Anthoni Dec 2003
• Burdens of Proof - casting doubt on the validity of marine research worldwide
• myths7, (25 pages)
• The New Zealand Marine Reserve Experience: the science behind the politics Russ Babcock (2003). A marine scientist attempts to bring science into the debate but fails. Important reading.
• myths8, (14 pages) DoC answers concerns but bogs down in a morass of propaganda.
• DoC’s Answers to Questions raised by option4 - 22 December 2003.
• DoC’s Response to Issues Raised in Submissions - 22 December 2003.
• myths9, (8 pages) Various articles showing how myths are propagated, often resulting in large wrong decisions
• More fish anyone? by Dave Hansford, Barrier Bulletin 1 April 2004
• A DOC trick by Floor Anthoni, Barrier Bulletin 15 April 2004
• Massive boost to Barrier Reef no-fish zone,  March 25, 2004
• Lapse of sanity? Letter to the editor of MPA News. 12 May 2004
• Reef down to half its former self. by Brian Williams for The Courier-Mail, 24 June 2004
• myths10, (8 pages) A critical look at Dr Daniel Pauli's public statements (8p)
• A critical look at Dr Daniel Pauli's public statements.
• Fishing down marine food chains: Pauli et al. Original publication in Science magazine. (6p)
• Fishing down aquatic food webs: Pauli et al. American Scientist article. (8p)
• More public statements of Dr Pauli, gleaned from Internet (20p)
• myths11, (19 pages) examining DoC's report on monitoring results from various marine reserves. Unbelievable, educational, with links to a carefully documented litany of misrepresentation of facts and right-out lies. A must-read for all. The honeymoon is over.
• Marine reserves protect the marine environment - Media statement, 1 October 2004, by Felicity Wong
• Summary results for each marine reserve - a summary of the report produced by DoC staff. DOC Marine Unit
• Questions and Answers - an attempt to pre-empt difficult questions, but fails. Our FAQs remain unchallenged.
• Monitoring summary - a summary table provided by us, derived form data supplied by DoC. Gives a good overview. Messy.
• Detailed monitoring results - the actual text from the DoC web site, dissected by us.
• What next?
• Related chapters on this website: more information about misunderstanding the sea, marine conservation and marine reserves.
• FAQs about marine reserves: a quick overview of easily misunderstood concepts in marine conservation.
• Biodiversity/marine: contains a large section about why the sea is so different that people make mistakes in their thinking.
• The war for marine reserves: like many other countries, NZ is waging a war for marine reserves that do not perform. (large)
• Science exposed: marine science related to the urchin barrens myth dissected and rebutted. Just bad science (42p)
• Storm barrens of New Zealand: principles of storm barrens, with and without urchins, and many pictures of what they look like. (10p)
• Science, technology and human nature: an essay about the culprits behind our threats, and how we hope they will save us.
• Threats to humans and environment: a concise summary of the threats we face.