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The Need for Better Reef Protection, Part I: Why Should I Care?
By Keith R | September 2, 2006
Topics: Marine/Coastal Issues | No Comments »
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Loading...Although my snorkeling experience is limited, and I’m only just now learning to scuba dive, and I have never worked on reef protection issues in my job, even I had some idea of the beauty and value of coral reefs and the pressures facing them. But in the process of preparing a blog series on the reefs of the Dominican Republic for the Green Team, I learned much, much more about their importance and what is happening to them in all the Americas, and have become convinced that more needs to be done to increase awareness, promote responsible behavior and yes, adopt, implement and enforce appropriate policy responses.
It helps, too, to have my teenage son come back from his first diving camp (with the Scouts) in the Florida Keyes to lecture me on the importance of the reefs and how even the US is not doing enough to protect them. 🙂
Before discussing specific projects, organizations and policies, though, how about a primer on reef protection generally and the reefs of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in particular, and generally what the average person can do to help? In part I of this “primer,” I examine why it is important to protect coral reef systems, what sort of things threaten their survival. In Part II, I look at what coral reefs LAC has, what condition they are in currently, and a brief overview of what currently is being done to protect and/or rebuild them. In Part III I’ll provide “eco-tips” on how divers, snorkelers and the average reader can help. Later blogs will look at what groups are working on the reef issue in the region, which international agencies are helping, and what governments are (and are not) doing. 
The Importance of Protecting Coral Reefs
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Coral reefs tend to be incredibly biodiverse. Growing coral (the coral itself is, after all, a living, delicate being) both shelter and habitat: home to one of every four marine species — over 4,000 fish species, 700 coral species and thousands of other plants and animals, including sponges, crabs, lobsters, mollusks and worms. They are home to many known endangered and threatened marine species — and who knows how many more that have yet to be identified and cataloged (scientists estimate anywhere from one to eight million undiscovered species).
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Healthy coral reefs are important to the fishing trade — it is estimated that about 25% of all fish caught for consumption are linked to coral reefs.
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Coral reefs — as long as they are alive — are very important to tourism, in that their health is crucial to tourism businesses such as diving, snorkeling, boating and fishing. Coral reefs also represent the main sources of the white sands that tourists go to many Caribbean beaches to enjoy. Once the coral reefs die off, these businesses, and the revenue they create for the local economy, are put in jeopardy.
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Reefs help protect the shores from erosion. Waves are broken on the reefs before reaching shore, weakening the force of the waves. This is particularly valuable during tropical storms.
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Many ports, harbors and marinas are protected by coral reefs.
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Coral are important in controlling how much carbon dioxide is in ocean water, and thus may influence global climate change. Coral polyps turn CO2 in the water into a limestone shell. Without live coral, CO2 levels in ocean waters will rise, contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions.
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Reefs also protect sensitive and very productive coastal wetlands and estuaries. Shrimp, for example, live for part of their life near the reef and for part of their life in an estuary before they reach “eating” age.
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Research on the marine organisms that live in reefs have yielded valuable new medicines (such as AZT, the famous treatment for people with HIV infections, or a large number of cancer and cardiovascular treatments being developed), foods, fertilizers and emulsifiers, and scientists think that there is far more to learn from reefs — if they don’t die out first!
Things That Threaten Coral Reef Health
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Sedimentation caused by poorly planned/implemented coastal development and land-use policies cause soil erosion that induce coral stress and block light necessary for coral growth.
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Excessive Nutrient Feeds: untreated sewage, septic tank leakage, phosphate-laden cleaning products, stormwater run-off, and fertilizer run-off from agricultural lands, golf courses, etc. introduce excessive nutrients to reef environments, slowing coral reef growth rates while spurring algae growth, reducing light and water flows and may induce coral bleaching.
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Coastal Development: poorly planned/implemented development destroys vital ecosystems — such as mangrove forests and sea grass beds — that serve as nurseries for many reef inhabitants.
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Deforestation: when land and forests are cleared for agriculture, pasture or homes, the topsoil washes downriver into coastal ecosystems, smothering reefs.
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Pollution and Poor Trash Management: untreated sewage, litter, and discharges of oil, petroleum products, chemicals (including pesticides), heavy metals, etc. can injure or kill coral reefs and the marine living within. Plastic bags, flip-tops from soda cans and other trash thrown overboard from vessels or originating from the beach can snag reef animals or harm them when swallowed.
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Irresponsible Practices by Boats, Ships, Yachts:
chief among these are dropping anchor in or near coral reefs. In many spots in the Caribbean, divers report significant damage to reefs due to dropped anchors from cruise ships. Cruise ships are not the only vessels that can do considerable damage to coral reefs, however. Large yachts, which tend to have heavy anchors and chains can do considerable damage – to see just how much, check out this link. But the truth is, in many places the large number of small boats doing the same thing (and running aground on reefs through careless navigation) literally chip away at reefs steadily, often damaging the reef more and faster over time than the large vessels.
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Irresponsible Practices by Tours and Tour Operators: I myself have seen intoxicated tourists allowed to touch or stand on coral in the DR with little protest from their tour operators. At a recent reef check training session on the DR’s North Coast, locals reported how some tour operators let tourists break off coral for souvenirs. “We had many of these, but there are none left” was said frequently. Some tour operators encourage tourists to crumb bread or cookies or some other food on the water in order to attract brightly colored reef fish to give tourists “a better experience” – but probably harming the reef fish in the process (cookies are not appropriate fish food!).
Global Climate Changes: warmer ocean temperatures — probably caused by greenhouse gas emissions and depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer — stress reef ecosystems, causing some to bleach and die.
- Overfishing and Destructive Fishing Practices, such as the use of bleach to stun reef fish (which harms the coral more than the fish). Some of over-fished herbivores (such as scarids, acanthurids, etc.) keep algae in check; once their stocks are depleted, algae grows unchecked and smoothers the reef. Then there is the problem of desperate fishermen pursuing dwindling stocks seeking escape from the divers in the coral: we have heard of North Coast divers in the Dominican Republic that break up coral to capture an escaping lobster.
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Lost or discarded fishing nets entangle fish and mammals and suffocate reefs.
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Souvenir Industry: in coastal zones throughout LAC, there has been an increase in harvesting of coral pieces and reef inhabitants such as starfish, sea urchins, black coral, hermit crabs, ornamental reef fish and “live rocks” for the souvenir and home aquarium industries.
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Natural Threats: predators (such as parrotfishes), coral diseases, damage from hurricanes and major tropical storms. Hurricanes hurt reefs not only through physical force, but also excessive run-off caused by the heavy rains.
— Keith R
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