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FEWER FISH IN CARIBBEAN REEFS Nils Bruzelius- The Washington Post
Populations of both large and small fish have been declining sharply across the Caribbean in the past 10 years, say researchers, who combined data from 48 studies of 318 coral reefs conducted over more than 50 years.
The data show that fish "densities" that had held steady for decades began to drop significantly around 1995, a trend not reported previously. Although overfishing has long taken a toll on larger species, the drop in smaller species that are not fished indicates that other forces are at work, said author Michelle Paddack of Simon Fraser University in Canada.
Drastic losses in coral cover and changes in coral reef habitats, driven by warming water temperatures and coral diseases, as well as sediment and pollution from coastal development could be among the factors. Overfishing may also have secondary effects by removing species that help keep reefs free of harmful algae.
"All these factors are stressing the reefs and making them less able to recover from disturbances such as hurricanes, which also seem to be occurring more frequently," Paddack said in a statement.
Paddack and her colleagues reported last week in the journal Current Biology that fish densities have been declining by 2.7 percent to 6 percent every year all across the Caribbean.
"If we want to have coral reefs in our future," the researcher said, "we must ensure that we reduce damage to these ecosystems," by such personal measures as not eating species that are in decline and by pushing lawmakers and resource managers for changes in how coral habitats are sustained and protected.
Reef Check Baja Update: Join Us on Our Expedition to Isla Natividad! By Reef Check Assistant Program Manager Mary Luna
Once in Baja, and traveling with an open heart and mind, it is not difficult to imagine why tales of the colonization describe the natives as the “happiest people on earth.” Historically, Baja has enjoyed a low population and development rate due in part to the dry landscape and limited supply of fresh water. It is this relatively unspoiled beauty, the desert meeting the sea, the starry sky unclouded by blinding city lights, the mile after mile of open surf breaks, and abundance of breathtaking kayak-snorkel-dive spots, that take the traveler back to their adventurous, primordial self. Despite the rapid development of Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, and Ensenada northwards, the traveler may be delighted to learn that the largest total area of national park in Mexico (Areas Naturales Protegidas) is found in Baja. Yet the same forces that drive visitors to Baja also threaten the very attributes that make it so desirable. There, as in many other places in the world, the solution is not to stop socioeconomic development, but to direct it in such a way that it preserves nature and generates an educated population of locals and visitors. Ultimately, it is for the delight of every human to know that there still exist some pristine places in Baja that one can visit in body or spirit.
In 2007, Reef Check entered into a synergistic partnership with the Mexican non-profit Community and Biodiversity (Comunidad y Biodiversidad or COBI) to provide assistance to two Baja fishing cooperatives to design scientifically sound resource management plans.
The island of Natividad lies about half-way down the Pacific side of Baja. The local fishing cooperative has a name that is longer than the island: Cooperative Society for the Production of Fisher-Diver and Fishermen (Sociedad Cooperativa de Produccion Pesquera Buzos y Pescadores de Isla Natividad). With about 80 members, this cooperative is one of the oldest and best organized in Mexico. They have an exemplary fisheries management program. Following training in 2006, 2007 and 2008, they have adopted Reef Check’s California protocol to monitor self-imposed marine reserves that have been in place since 2006. Each year they pay some of their best divers to survey inside and outside the reserves and collect data to assess the reserve effect. They spend over $100,000 annually to patrol the island perimeter and discourage poaching. The ability of the local citizens to control access to their fishery, along with an innate conservation ethic, has contributed to a well-preserved marine ecosystem. The diving in Natividad is superb and currently restricted to cooperative members and national and international researchers working on projects approved by the cooperative.
Fishing cooperatives like Natividad’s make a monetary investment when they set up marine reserves. The “opportunity cost” associated with not fishing in these areas increases over time as organisms inside the reserves grow in number and size. Part of the opportunity cost is expected to be offset by migration of juveniles and adults to surrounding areas in a “spillover” effect as well as by increased export of larvae produced by bigger, more fecund individuals. Another approach to offset the opportunity cost of not fishing these areas may be found by starting non-exploitive businesses such as tourism. The economic return of any emerging tourism activity must be substantial to make it worth the associated risks.
As part of a project on specialized markets and marine reserves COBI and RC, in cooperation with national protected areas agency CONANP, will be running an eight-day expedition to Isla Natividad this fall 2009. Interested divers will pay about $3000 all inclusive. This pilot expedition will serve to collect ecological data on sites along the Baja peninsula, and to compare them with the near-pristine marine ecosystem of Natividad (all sites of interest to CONANP, COBI & RCCA). It will also serve to collect information (e.g. diver experience, basic costs, etc.) useful in creating innovative market concepts. We expect that in future years the expedition price will skyrocket based on limited access and increasing demand. For details contact Mary Luna.
On the Gulf of California side of Baja, a second fishing cooperative known as the Women of the Gulf (Cooperative Mujeres del Golfo or CMG) is based in the Loreto Bay National Park (LBNP). This small cooperative of nine women is focused on sustainable fishing of marine aquarium species. The marine aquarium trade is a controversial mix of emotions and opinions for many. COBI and RC are advising the Cooperative on sustainability issues for this pre-existing ornamental fishery in and around LBNP. Reef Check has trained COBI scientists in our detailed MAQTRAC stock assessment protocol to assist in the development of catch quotas and zonation of the area.
Monitoring data are yielding some very interesting results. One example involves the bluespotted jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti), an endemic species of the Gulf highly desired by hobbyists and protected under the Norma Oficial Mexicana - the equivalent of the US Endangered Species Act. This mouth-brooder invests a lot of effort in raising its young and consequently produces few offspring. MAQTRAC surveys indicated that the jawfish population is currently too low for sustainable exploitation inside LBNP. Therefore CMG has not applied for a permit to collect this species in 2009. Mexican scientists and literature seem to indicate that such patchy, low-density distribution is common in most of the Gulf. This is an example of why continuous monitoring is a key component in accomplishing an economically and ecologically sustainable fishery. It also indicates the need for a campaign to educate hobbyists regarding what species they buy.
CMG is also working on minimizing mortality and habitat degradation at every step of the collection and sales chain (capture-holding-handling-transportation). CMG would like to be identified with a label that highlights the socioeconomic and ecologic sustainability of their origins.
If you are interested in learning more about the Natividad and LBNP projects please contact mluna@reefcheck.org.
Reef Check California February Update By Reef Check California Director of Science Cyndi Dawson
Reef Check California held its second annual Staff/Instructor Retreat at Catalina Island this month. We were graciously hosted by our partner Guided Discoveries at their Catalina Island Marine Institute, located a couple miles west of Avalon. We had 12 attendees from all over the state, with the largest contingent coming from northern California. The three-day retreat focused on calibrating all RCCA Instructors to ensure our counting techniques were in tip-top shape. As the program has continued to grow, we now have several academic institutions that are teaching our protocols without RCCA staff involvement. This is an exciting development and is allowing RCCA to reach and engage even more people across the state. In addition to completing calibration both inside the classroom and out in the field, the attendees also generated some important ideas that will help us guide RCCA in the future. It was a great opportunity to have people in a single location and ensure we translate volunteer ideas into future plans.
Reminder: We have put the final touches on the 2009 Training Schedule. Spread the word and get your friends and neighbors involved! There is no better way to take direct action to improve marine management in California than to become a trained RCCA diver. If you are an experienced certified diver please visit our training page and sign-up, the spots are going fast. This year, we are also piloting a project that can allow non-divers to take the course as well. If you are a non-diver, prefer warm waters, or have a friend or family member who would like to be more involved, please contact california@reefcheck.org for details, requirements, and pricing.
Celebrate the new administration in Washington and make a tax-deductable donation to support Reef Check California. With some strong signals coming out of Washington that science will be the driving force for environmental decisions in the future, getting the data Reef Check collects is more important now than ever. We continue to be on the front lines of improving marine management in California and need your continued support! So if you aren’t a member -- join us. And if you are a diver, sign up for a training in 2009.
Invasive Algae Leads to Boom, Bust, and Maybe Boom Again By Erik Olsen, The New York Times
“Alien algae is the worst invasive species problem we’re dealing with in the state of Hawaii,” said Tony Montgomery, and aquatic biologist for the state of Hawaii.
The problem goes back to the early 1970s, when a globe-trotting scientist from the University of Hawaii named Maxwell Doty brought back several fast-growing algae species from his travels in warm Pacific seas.
Dr. Doty was a well-regarded aquaculturalist, specializing in growing algae and other aquatic plants in order to extract useful compounds like carageenan, which is still used today as a thickener and additive in products like shampoo, shoe polish, toothpaste and even beer.
Indeed, Dr. Doty’s work eventually helped countries like the Philippines develop their own multi-million dollar industries around these compounds.
By the 1990s, however, it became apparent that several of the imported species, which Dr. Doty nurtured in the waters of Kanoehe Bay near the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, were not only flourishing, but exploding, posing a serious threat to the health of coral reefs here.
“What they do is directly overgrow corals,” explains Eric Conklin, the marine science advisor in Hawaii for the Nature Conservancy. “They smother it, they abrade it, they kill it,” Dr. Conklin said. “They also fill in all of the habitat and complexity of the reef that coral creates, which is what so many of the other reef organisms depend on.”
In 2006, to deal with this worsening problem, the Nature Conservancy teamed up with the University of Hawaii and the state’s government to develop a barge-and-pump system they call the Supersucker.
Employing divers in the water, the algae is removed from the reefs by hand, stuffed into long corrugated tubes, and deposited onto a sorting table on the barge where coral and other living organisms are removed. The project is still in a pilot phase, but it has proven very effective on certain patch reefs in Kanoehe Bay.
Brian Parscal, the project’s operations supervisor, says the supersucker can slurp betwen 3,000 and 3,500 pounds per day off the reefs.
And what do they do with all that algae? Well, Dr. Doty’s unintended legacy appears to be providing an unintended benefit. For several years now, Mr. Parscal says he has been handing over bags of algae to local farmers who use it as fertilizer. “They take all we can give them,” he said.
OVER-DEVELOPMENT: Researchers refer to the coral off Orchid and Green islands as the final paradise in the nation, but say its future is threatened by human activity By Shelley Huang STAFF REPORTER Saturday, Feb 07, 2009, Page 2
A disease spreading quickly through coral reefs near Taiwan’s outlying islands poses a serious threat to the nation’s marine environment, experts and environmentalists said yesterday.
The International Year of the Reef last year called on people from 157 countries in the world to sign an online petition pledging to protect coral reefs. Each person who signed the petition pledged to behave in an environmentally responsible way — such as by using products that would not pollute the sea and eating only seafood that is caught in a sustainable manner.
Taiwan ranked fourth in the number of people who have taken the pledge, after the US, Malaysia and China.
“If calculated in proportion to the total population and surface area covered by coral reefs, Taiwan would actually be the champion,” said Allen Chen (陳昭倫), assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center. “This shows that Taiwanese care a lot about the preservation of coral reefs.”
Chen was one of the leaders of last year’s reef check project. Funded by Academia Sinica and other preservation organizations, 2008 Reef Check in Taiwan gathered volunteers from local Aboriginal tribes and diving groups to check the condition of coral reefs around the nation’s offshore islands.
What the volunteer divers and researchers discovered astounded them. While coral reefs were still relatively unaffected in the areas off Taitung (台東) and Penghu (澎湖), human activities were threatening their future.
“When we dived down and saw [the coral], we couldn’t believe that such a sight would exist in Taiwan. We thought, this is Taiwan’s ‘last remaining heaven,’” Chen said.
However, human activity such as development and construction, combined with over-fishing, threatens to destroy the coral reefs and endanger marine life, he said.
The researchers also found that a “black disease” was spreading quickly, covering reefs with a black disease and causing the reef coverage rate to drop in areas with more frequent human activity, such as Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (蘭嶼).
The discovery of a problem long suspected but seldom documented showed that coral was suffering widely in waters up to 5m deep and 300m offshore, Chen said.
“We still have to do more research to determine where the black disease comes from — is it caused by over-fishing or pollution?” Chen said.
Chen also expressed concern that in all the coastal areas they investigated, there was a serious deficiency of the types of fish that indicate the overall health of marine life. Over-fishing is caused by Taiwanese having a rich “seafood culture,” but lacking knowledge about marine preservation, he said.
Chen and other environmentalists urged the government to view coral reefs as living organisms, not rocks.
“Coral reefs are even more important than pandas because they are the largest living organism in the ocean,” Chen said, urging the government to pass laws to protect the reefs in order to ensure a rich and diverse marine ecology.
The environmental groups will be conducting another round of reef checks this year and encourage those who are interested in protecting marine life to sign up to volunteer at http://e-info.org.tw/node/40662 .
Founded in 1996 by marine ecologist Dr. Gregor Hodgson, the Reef Check Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conservation of two ecosystems: tropical coral reefs and California rocky reefs. With headquarters in Los Angeles and volunteer teams in more than 80 countries, Reef Check works to create partnerships among community volunteers, government agencies, businesses, universities and other non-profits. Reef Check goals are to: educate the public about the value of reef ecosystems and the current crisis affecting marine life; to create a global network of volunteer teams trained in Reef Check's scientific methods who regularly monitor and report on reef health; to facilitate collaboration that produces ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions; and to stimulate local community action to protect remaining pristine reefs and rehabilitate damaged reefs worldwide.
In 1997, Reef Check conducted the first-ever global survey of coral reef health that provided scientific confirmation that our coral reefs were in crisis due to over-fishing, illegal fishing, and pollution. The results, published in a scientific journal in 1999, shocked many marine biologists who had not realized the extent of human impacts on reefs. In August 2002, Reef Check released its first five-year report, The Global Coral Reef Crisis – Trends and Solutions, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. Based on data collected by thousands of Reef Check volunteer divers in over 80 countries and territories, the report was the first scientific documentation of the dramatic worldwide decline in coral reef health over a five year period. The report concluded that there was virtually no reef in the world that remained untouched by human impacts, such as over fishing, pollution and climate change. Yet the success stories discussed in the report show that, with proper monitoring, management and protection, coral reefs can recover. It is up to us.
Since then, Reef Check's fast-growing network has expanded throughout all tropical seas, and has played a major role in efforts to preserve and sustain reef ecosystems. Reef Check’s approach is to engage partners, especially businesses in a non-confrontational manner to develop mutually beneficial solutions especially the creation of self-funding Marine Protected Areas. In 2005, Reef Check launched its first temperate reef program in California.
Reef Check has received international environmental awards for its work, and is the United Nations' official community-based reef monitoring program.
Reef Check carries out its work through three major programs:
EcoAction Program – an education and certification program for kids to adults who want to learn more about the ocean and take part in protecting reef ecosystems.
Coral Reef Management Program – a coral reef monitoring and management system that focuses on establishing Marine Protected Areas to conserve coral reefs while encouraging sustainable use of surrounding reefs by local residents.
Reef Check California – a volunteer monitoring program for California rocky reefs designed to provide data for managers and to build a conservation constituency among California divers.
Meet our Los Angeles Headquarters Staff
Reef Check - Education – Science – Conservation
Reef Check is an international non-profit organization devoted to the following goals and objectives:
* Educate the public and governments about the value of coral reefs and rocky reef ecosystems and the crisis facing them
Create a global network of volunteer teams, trained and led by scientists, that regularly monitor and report on reef health using a standard method
* Facilitate collaborative use of reef health information by community groups, governments, universities and businesses to design and implement ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions
* Stimulate local action to protect remaining pristine reefs and rehabilitate damaged reefs worldwide especially through the creation of Marine Protected Areas.
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