Endangered Eden.

The article focuses on efforts by Ecuador's government to preserve the Galapagos Islands. Small towns have grown up on two of the islands, but many of the others are near pristine. But over the past few years, a struggle between conservation and development has been building. The latest fight is over shark fishing. Fishermen, both local and foreign, have been caught with sharks, or slicing off their fins and returning the fish to the water to die. Shark fins command high prices in Asia. Another clash looms over sea cucumbers, a soft-bodied creature equally coveted in Asia. Fishermen are pressing for longer seasons in which to catch these marine animals. Environmental groups fear the sea-cucumber population is shrinking; they are likely to argue for a total ban this year. Fishermen and others among the islands' residents complain that they are left out by the tourist industry. Some environmentalists have come to believe that ways must be found to give locals more of a stake in tourism--and thus in conservation. But they also want the government to tighten controls on migration to the archipelago.