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Future of the reefs is shared responsibility

Nicolette Craig investigates how an eco-disaster can be averted only if all parties respond...

If you live nowhere near a coral reef, the 2008 International Year of the Reef may have passed you by. However, with losses of reef fish at an all-time high and 90% of all marine aquarium fish coming from the wild, this is maybe something to which we should all be paying more attention.

Although reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean’s floor, they support an estimated 25% of all marine life, including more than 4,000 species of fish alone. They protect land, acting as natural barriers to storms, provide local people with food and are also a natural sustainable form of eco-tourism income.

A study by Stanford University found they may also be the longest-lived marine organisms, surviving for more than 4,000 years, meaning they can provide essential data on climate change and how the oceans have changed. The United Nations place the economic value of coral reefs at between $100,000- $600,000/£67,300-£404,000 per square kilometre per year.

Despite this, coral reefs are under threat and dangers include physical degradation by both by tourism and development, pollution, rising sea temperatures, changes in oxygen levels, increased acidification and overfishing.

Helen Brylewska, a scientist who has worked extensively with coral in Bermuda, told PFK: “Overfishing is a huge problem for coral reefs, resulting in increased competition from fast-growing algae that would normally be kept in check by grazing fish species and eventually overgrowth, and a shift from a coral dominated community to an algal-dominated one.”

Weight decrease
Other recent studies reported in PFK back this up, with one finding that nearly 80% of spawning aggregations of reef fish in Asia and the Western Pacific had declined. Another study, made off the Florida Keys, found the average weight of reef fish has decreased from 19.9kg in 1957 to 2.3kg in 2007.

A recent PFK online article also highlighted a study of 300 reefs in the Caribbean which found that reef fish have been declining at 2.7-6% a year since 1995. Coral reefs in the Caribbean have declined massively since the 1970s, with an overall 80% reduction in cover.

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia has declined by 14% since 1990 and a report on the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral reef information System (CORIS) states: “Current estimates note that 10% of all coral reefs are degraded beyond recovery: 30% are in critical condition…and, if current pressures are allowed to continue unabated, 60% of the world’s coral reefs may die completely by 2050.”

Michelle Paddack, who co-authored the Caribbean study, said these studies should serve as a call to action. “On a personal level, this may mean not buying wild-caught aquarium fish and corals, not eating declining reef fish species, taking care not to anchor on reefs, and reducing our carbon emissions to help control climate change.

“We need to let lawmakers and resource managers know we care about these ecosystems and we need to push for changes in how they are managed.”

So what can be done to hopefully reverse the trend? Reef fish are tricky to successfully breed in captivity. Alex Ploeg of OFI told PFK: “Some months ago I discussed this with a breeder of marine fish and we came to over 400 species, including clownfish, Pseudochromis, some gobies and seahorses, and a number of marine food fish. However, most cannot be bred commercially.”

If we must collect from the wild, we must look for sustainable ways
CORAL, the Coral Reef alliance, are one of the few international organisations working on sustainable projects to protect the corals.

Julie Bennett, their communications manager, said: “We work at local level among communities that live near and depend directly on coral reefs for food, livelihood and coastal protection. By empowering coral reef community members to become passionate stewards of their resources, we help create economic benefits from conservation that ensure the survival of healthy reefs for generations to come.”

The importance of protection in protected areas has been highlighted by studies which show that a large percentage of fish found on reefs have dispersed and then returned to their natal sites.

Professor Geoff Jones, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and James Cook University, said: “Our study shows not only how effective a marine protected area can be for conserving breeding stock on a particular reef – but how important it is to have a network of protected reefs at the right distance which can help to re-stock one another.”

Huge trade
The international trade in marine life is huge. In 2005 alone over one million coral colonies were traded internationally, with the US and EU making up nearly 90% of this trade. There needs to be legislation to ensure that the animals imported into these countries are from sustainable sources.

Certification is another means by which reefs can be protected, with schemes such as that introduced by MAC aiming at ensuring that the fish and marine life are caught in an environmentally, ethically and sustainable manner to protect the reef.

An alternative scheme focuses largely on the retailers. The idea behind the Sustainable Aquarium Industry Association (SAIA) is that retailers would display a mark of recognition to show they had reached certain standards of welfare, education and ethics in terms of the sustainability of the fish and coral they stock.

We the consumer ultimately have a responsibility for the coral and reef fish we buy. All hard coral is protected by CITES II legislation, meaning it can only be traded with relevant certificates and permits. However, a look on various reef forums shows it is still too easy to buy coral and marine fish as illegal imports.

Rachel Jones, who is senior aquarist at ZSL, told PFK: “Our relationship with HM Customs has meant that the enforcement of CITES on the ground has an effect on (illegal) trade. We take anywhere from none to hundreds of corals every year from customs – it is unpredictable and erratic. However, identification is a real headache for customs officers in the CITES teams as they have to deal with such a wide range of animals.”

Help customs and always be conscious of where your potential purchases have originated — and ensure you are buying from a legal and sustainable source.

Published: Nicolette Craig Thursday 28 January 2010, 8:15 am
Views: 1,326 times
Filed under: reef marine conservation SAIA CORAL CoECRS

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Reader comment

"I wonder how many reef keepers would check out a new shop and refuse to buy anything from them if they weren't SAIA registered? Hopefully, all of them would, but maybe I'm being too optimistic."

Posted by: dunnrm
Date: Wednesday February 3rd, 2010, 1:10 pm