Archive for September, 2011
A recovering plate coral dominated reef in the central Indian Ocean, Credit: Nick Graham
Redorbit.com September 27, 2011
An international team of scientists has achieved a major breakthrough in fishing sustainability on coral reefs which could play a vital role in preventing their collapse.
“Fishermen and scientists have long wondered how many fish can be taken off a reef before it collapses, says Dr Nick Graham of the ARC Centre of Excellence (ARC CoE) for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University.
“The consequences of overfishing can be severe to the ecosystem and may take decades to recover, but hundreds of millions of people depend on reefs for food and livelihoods, so banning fishing altogether isn’t a reality in many nations.” Read the full story
by Underwatertimes.com News Service – September 22, 2011 16:32 EST
NEW YORK, New York — Leaders from eight countries launched an initiative today to prevent the extinction of sharks, symbolizing the latest development in the growing movement to safeguard the ocean’s top predator. Members of the coalition committed to a declaration supporting the development of sanctuaries that end commercial shark fishing in their national waters. Read the full article
By, Rudy Bonn, Reef Relief’s Director of Marine Projects
On Wednesday, August 31st, I had the privilege to meet and dive with Dr. James Porter from the Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Dr. Porter was accompanied by Meridith Meyers, a PhD student who is doing her work on the genetics of coral species in the genus, Agaricia.
Dr. Porter and a number of fellow researchers were the first to link a devastating disease in the threatened Elkhorn Coral, Acropora palmata, to a unique strain of a bacterium known as Serratia marcescens, strain PDR60, that is an opportunistic pathogen found in human waste.
The disease, known as acroporid serratiosis ( APS ), commonly referred to as white pox, has devastated the elkhorn coral populations in the Florida Keys, and was the main reason why the coral was listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act ( ESA ) in 2006.
White Band Disease ( WBD ), another coral killer, is mainly responsible for the high mortality that the staghorn ( A. cervicornis ) coral populations have suffered in recent years and the etiology of WBD is still unknown. Both corals are listed as threatened under the ESA.
What is also very important about the research that Dr. Porter and colleague, Dr. Kathryn P. Sutherland, of Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida, have discovered is the first example of a marine “reverse zoonosis” involving the transmission of a human pathogen to a marine invertebrate. Their findings underscore the interaction between public health practices and environmental health indices such as coral reef survival
The effluent from the Fleming Key Wastewater treatment plant was tested by Dr. Porter and the bacterium was not found, so where is the source
Water quality is one of the biggest issues and concerns here in Monroe county. E. coli outbreaks are a common occurrence, as we all know when we read the health advisories in the Citizen every week. E. coli is another enteric bacterium found in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, not iguanas- a cold-blooded animal- as so many people here think, that is an impossibility and comes from disinformation being generated by misinformed people.
The sources of these pathogens are many: Leaking septic systems, cesspits, storm water run-off, even waters that reach the keys from as far away as the Mississippi Delta via loop currents in the GOM can bring pathogens and nutrients to our near-shore waters, and there are many others, ocean outfall pipes still being used in Miami and Palm Beach for example, among others!
The challenges are many, and the work needs to be broad and comprehensive in scope if we are to save our coral reefs.
Climate change, especially rising water temperatures, and its evil twin, ocean acidification, along with over fishing, and pollution are the three biggest threats to coral reef ecosystems world wide and are working in synergy against the corals. The coral reefs of the world are being attacked by a multitude of stressors simultaneously, and cannot keep ahead of the onslaught in terms of evolutionary adaptability—the pace of the present onslaught is unprecedented in the history of the natural world.
On our dives we were fortunate not to encounter any white pox, but we did witness bleaching in almost every colony. Bleaching occurs when corals reach their thermal thresholds, hot or cold, and leads to the coral expelling its symbiotic algae partner known as zooxanthelle
The algae are an endosymbiont of the corals and reside in the cells of the coral’s tissues. It produces food for the coral in the form of a carbohydrate produced through photosynthesis, and is why reef-building corals are found in clear, nutrient-free tropical waters. The alga cells also contain pigment and are what gives corals their bright color
Bleaching is a stress response, the photosynthetic process is interrupted at the molecular level and the alga cells actually begin producing radical oxides which are poisonous to the corals. The corals expel their colorful partners and turn a ghostly white, thus the term, bleaching.
Corals can survive for a limited time but will succumb if the alga cells are not replaced within a couple of weeks or so depending upon species- some being more resilient than others. Science has found more resistant strains of the algae, but successfully inoculating other corals is still in the research stages as these alga cells seem to be species specific in terms of their coral hosts
What can we do? What are our choices in terms of mitigating these challenges. There are lots of things we can do: the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions would be an enormous first step in the battle against climate change. Commercial and recreational fishing can be managed in such a way that all parties involved derive benefit, and pollution, we have to stop treating our oceans, rivers, and lakes, as garbage dumps.
Reef Relief runs Coral Camp for kids every summer and one of the things I have to tell them is that there is the possibility that their children might not get the opportunity to see a living, vibrant, coral reef right here in the Keys. That we are leaving their generations with all these challenges, but you know what, from what I gather from these small kids, is that there up to the challenge and want to save the coral reefs.
Dr. Porter and colleagues also want to thank members of the media for the sharing of this important information. It is vital that people realize the urgency that is needed if we are going to save our reefs– the cascading effects throughout marine ecosystems that would occur if this were to happen is not a pleasant thing to contemplate as there would be a mass extinction throughout the marine environment involving most metazoan phyla– an event never witnessed by modern humans and to think that we might be the first is very unsettling.
Dr. Porter’s and Dr. Sutherland’s important work was funded through grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Tropic Cinema located at 416 Eaton St., Key West, FL 33040. Tickets $10
For tickets call 877-761-FILM (3456), or click the link below. You can, also, purchase yours directly from Reef Relief at 631 Greene St., Key West. For more info. call Reef Relief 305-294-3100
SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival inspires people and unites communities to take action to protect their local Wild & Scenic places. At Wild & Scenic, filmgoers are transformed into a congregation of committed activists, dedicated to saving our increasingly threatened planet. Festival Films illustrate the Earth’s beauty, the challenges facing our planet, and the work communities are doing to protect the environment. Through these films, Wild & Scenic both informs people about the state of the world and inspires them to take action. This is the second year that Reef Relief has been able to host the Wild and Scenic Film Festival here in Key West. Reef Relief has spent 24 years helping to conserve and protect the wild and scenic coral reef ecosystems here in the Florida Keys. We are excited to bring this fantastic film festival back. Thanks to our local sponsors the Saltwater Angler, Clearly Unique Charter, Debora Designs, Inc. and Dancing Dolphins Spirit Charters.
- DiscoveryNews. Analysis by Rossella Lorenzi . Tue Sep 13, 2011 02:26 PM ET
The dusky grouper, one of the major predators in the Mediterranean sea, used to be so large in antiquity that it was portrayed as a “sea monster,” a new study into ancient depictions of the endangered fish has revealed.
This ancient Roman mosaic from the Bardo National Museum in Tunis shows a giant grouper swollowing a fisherman. Courtesy of Giorces/Creative Commons.
“Amazingly, ancient mosaic art has provided important information to reconstruct this fish’s historical baseline,” Paolo Guidetti of the University of Salento in Italy, told Discovery News.
Considered one of the most flavorful species among the Mediterranean fish, the dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) is a large, long-lived, slow-growing, protogynous hermaphrodite fish (with sex reversal from female to male). It can be found mainly in the Mediterranean, the African west coast and the coast of Brazil.
Read more: http://news.discovery.com/history/ancient-mosaics-marine-conservation-110913.html
by Underwatertimes.com News Service – September 14, 2011 21:43 EST
DURHAM, North Carolina — The number of sea turtles accidentally caught and killed in fishing gear in United States coastal waters has declined by an estimated 90 percent since 1990, according to a new study by researchers at Duke University Project GloBAL and Conservation International.
The report, published in the scientific journal Biological Conservation, credits the dramatic drop to measures that have been put into place over the last 20 years to reduce bycatch in many fisheries, as well as to overall declines in U.S. fishing activity.
Read more: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=57691001843
By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers
CABO PULMO, Mexico — What’s happened at the Cabo Pulmo marine reserve off the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula is fishy — in a good way.
Once severely depleted of fish, the reef system off Cabo Pulmo now teems with marine life, thanks to fishing restrictions imposed more than 10 years ago.
But environmentalists are worried that that ecological advance will be lost if the Mexican government allows a $2 billion development plan to go ahead that would place a “new Cancun” less than three miles north of the Cabo Pulmo marine sanctuary.
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/14/124121/in-mexicos-baja-worry-that-a-new.html#ixzz1Y26Q7zpo
Cabo Pulmo Marine Reserve from Gulf Program on Vimeo.
September 8, 2011
Contact: Martha Bademan, 850-487-0554
On Thursday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) took final action on a series of proposed changes to its marine life (aquarium species) requirements. The amendments extend state conservation efforts governing the harvest of marine life into federal waters adjacent to state waters.
For octocorals, a group of soft corals like sea plumes and sea whips, the changes also create an annual quota and adopt the federal areas currently closed to harvest by the NOAA Fisheries Service. These conservation efforts take effect Oct. 31.
The federal fishery management councils are in the process of repealing federal regulations for octocorals in federal waters off Florida, which allows Florida to take over management of these species. At the request of the federal councils, Florida agreed to manage the octocoral fishery in both state and federal waters.
Specifically, the octocoral rule amendments extend existing state regulations into federal waters, establish an annual harvest quota and prohibit the use of power-assisted tools. The new rules continue to prohibit all harvest of octocorals in Atlantic federal waters north of Cape Canaveral and in the Coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern adjacent to Florida state waters (Stetson-Miami Terrace and Pourtales Terrace). Finally, the rule clarifies that regulations for all marine life species apply in state and adjacent federal waters.
To see the Marine Life Rule Extension: Octocoral, go to MyFWC.com/Commission, select “Commission Meetings” and click on the link to the September meeting agenda.
- Sep 08, 2011 Global Campaign to End Illegal Fishing, Protecting the Deep Sea Contact: Shannon Pao, 202.540.6568
The deep sea, home to some of the world’s most unusual creatures, is teeming with biological diversity, most of which has yet to be scientifically-documented. But in spite of the wonders that exist far below the surface, the deep sea is being destroyed.
While threats to this fragile marine habitat are not new, the blatant failure of high-seas fishing countries to safeguard deep-sea ecosystems can no longer be ignored.
A new report, Unfinished Business: A Review of the Implementation of the Provisions of UNGA Resolutions 61/105 and 64/72 (PDF), reveals that many high-seas fishing countries and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) have failed to implement measures to protect the deep sea. This comes five years after the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) passed the first of several resolutions outlining how vulnerable deep-sea biodiversity should be safeguarded. The study by the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition also highlights how bottom fishing in the deep sea continues with few or no constraints.
Here’s the results of Reef Relief’s and T.R.A.S.H.E.D. in the Keys’ August clean-up at Hurricane Hole. Our great volunteers removed 247 lb of marine debris from the mangroves and shoreline. Thanks everyone and many thanks to Lazy Dog for once again donating the use of kayaks for this event!
