http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0930-07.htm?language=printer
Published on Monday, September 30, 2002 by OneWorld.net
All U.S. Coral Reefs Face Human Threats
by Cat Lazaroff
SILVER SPRING, Maryland - Every United States coral reef
system is suffering from both human and natural disturbances,
warns a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
The first national assessment of the condition of U.S. coral
reefs links development, pollution and destructive fishing
practices with the decline of reefs in U.S. waters and around
the globe.
The 265 page report, "The
State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the
United States and Pacific Freely Associated States,"
(http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/)
identifies the pressures that pose
increasing risks to the nation's estimated 7,607 square miles
of coral reefs, particularly in hot spots located near population
centers. The report also assesses the health of reef resources,
ranks threats in 13 geographic areas, and details ongoing
efforts to mitigate damage to coral reefs.
Craig Manson, the Interior Department's assistant secretary
for fish and wildlife and parks, called the study "an important
first report card on the health of U.S. reefs. It's a valuable
tool for raising public awareness about the global decline of
these unique treasures."
Raising public awareness and stimulating official action on
coral reefs is crucial, the report's authors say, because an
estimated 27 percent of the world's shallow water coral reefs
may already be beyond recovery. An estimated 66 percent are
now considered to be severely degraded.
Thirty-eight coral reef experts and 79 expert contributors
collaborated on the report, led by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Ocean Service. They found
that while some U.S. reefs are in good to excellent health,
all are already at risk from human activities.
U.S. reefs share problems with reefs around the world,
particularly the effects of growing coastal populations.
More than 10.5 million people now live in U.S. coastal areas
adjacent to shallow water coral reefs, and every year,
some 45 million people visit these areas.
Natural environmental pressures such as temperature,
sea level changes, diseases and storms have shaped coral
reefs for thousands of years, but human induced pressures
are now forcing rapid changes on reef ecosystems. Coastal
pollution, coastal development and runoff, and destructive
fishing practices are among the top ranked threats to reefs.
Other risks come from ship groundings, diseases, changing
climate, trade in coral and live reef species, alien species,
marine debris, harmful tourist activity and tropical storms.
Coral reefs - Earth's largest biological structures - are an
essential source of food, jobs, chemicals, shoreline protection
and pharmaceuticals for the United States. Tourism in U.S.
coral reef areas generates more than $17 billion a year,
while commercial fishing generates an additional $246.9 million.
In South Florida alone, where many reefs are damaged or
dying, reefs now support 44,500 jobs, providing a total
annual income of $1.2 billion. Live coral cover in the
Florida Keys has declined by 37 percent over the past
five years.
The NOAA report shows that reefs along Florida and
the U.S. Caribbean are in the poorest condition of
all U.S. corals, because of nearby dense populations
and the effects of hurricanes, disease, overfishing and
a proliferation of algae. Of 31 coral reef fishery stocks
in federal waters, 23 are overfished in the U.S. Caribbean.
Coral disease is also a major problem in the Caribbean,
where more than 90 percent of the once abundant longspine
sea urchins died in the early 1980s. These urchins, which
keep coral from being overgrown and killed by algae, have
since recovered to just 10 percent of their original numbers
off the coasts of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands.
In the past 20 years, white-band disease has killed almost
all the elkhorn and staghorn corals off the coasts of
St. Croix, Puerto Rico and southeast Florida.
The report also details coral reef conditions in the
Flower Garden Banks of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico,
Nassau, the Hawaiian Archipelago, American Samoa, Guam,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana islands and the
Pacific Freely Associated States, which include the
Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States
of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau.
Prepared under the guidance of the U.S. Coral Reef Task
Force, the report is intended to establish a baseline that
can be used for biennial reports on the health of U.S. coral
reefs. The task force was established in 1998 to help lead
U.S. efforts to address threats to coral reefs.
Co-chaired by the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior,
it includes the heads of 11 federal agencies and governors
of seven states, territories and commonwealths.
Among the initiatives spearheaded by the Task Force, and
detailed in the new report, is an innovative mapping project
used to explore coral reefs around Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. The project used a new, 26 category
classification system to examine the environmental health
and biological diversity of the reefs.
"The new classification is a vital management tool that
tells us where the reefs are, what lives on them, and
what relationships may be to neighboring habitats and
human activities," said NOAA Administrator Conrad
Lautenbacher. "We now have a complete snapshot of the
U.S. Caribbean region, a clear, consistent baseline for
future mapping, and a solid model to implement good
management in other regions."
The mapping process developed in the Caribbean is now
being applied in Hawaii, and future projects will map
reefs in Guam, American Samoa and other U.S. territories
with coral reefs.
Data and other information derived from NOAA's coral
reef efforts are now available at CoRIS, a new Coral Reef
Information System website that provides a single point
of access for almost 20,000 aerial photos, navigational
charts, photo mosaics, monitoring reports, professional
exchanges and more.
One of the highlights of the website is NOAA's report to
Congress on "A National Coral Reef Strategy," outlining
13 major goals, including continuing mapping and monitoring,
intended to safeguard reefs.
The strategy and the report on U.S. coral reef status
will be referenced this week when the U.S. Coral Reef
Task Force holds its annual meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Copyright 2002 Environment News Service (ENS)
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