Reef Ramblings

23 February 2011

A new comprehensive analysis finds that 75 percent of the world’s coral reefs are currently threatened by local and global pressures. For the first time, the analysis includes threats from climate change, including warming seas and rising ocean acidification. The report shows that local pressures— such as over fishing, coastal development, and pollution— pose the most immediate and direct risks, threatening more than 60 percent of coral reefs today.

“Reefs at Risk Revisited,” the most detailed assessment of threats to coral reefs ever undertaken, is being released by the World Resources Institute, along with the Nature Conservancy, the World Fish Center, the International Coral Reef Action Network, Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, and the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Center, along with a network of more than 25 organizations. Launch activities are taking place in Washington, D.C., London, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Caribbean, Australia, and other locations around the world.

“This report serves as a wake-up call for policy-makers, business leaders, ocean managers, and others about the urgent need for greater protection for coral reefs,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “As the report makes clear, local and global threats, including climate change, are already having significant impacts on coral reefs, putting the future of these beautiful and valuable ecosystems at risk.”

Local pressures – especially over fishing and destructive fishing – are causing many reefs to be degraded. Global pressures are leading to coral bleaching from rising sea temperatures and increasing ocean acidification from carbon dioxide pollution. According to the new analysis, if left unchecked, more than 90 percent of reefs will be threatened by 2030 and nearly all reefs will be at risk by 2050.

“Coral reefs are valuable resources for millions of people worldwide. Despite the dire situation for many reefs, there is reason for hope,” said Lauretta Burke, senior associate at WRI and a lead author of the report. “Reefs are resilient, and by reducing the local pressures we can buy time as we find global solutions to preserve reefs for future generations.”

The report includes multiple recommendations to better protect and manage reefs, including through marine protected areas. The analysis shows that more than one-quarter of reefs are already encompassed in a range of parks and reserves, more than any other marine habitat. However, only six percent of reefs are in protected areas that are effectively managed.

“Well-managed marine protected areas are one of the best tools to safeguard reefs,” said Mark Spalding, senior marine scientist at the Nature Conservancy and a lead author of the report. “At their core, reefs are about people as well as nature: ensuring stable food supplies, promoting recovery from coral bleaching, and acting as a magnet for tourist dollars. We need apply the knowledge we have to shore up existing protected areas, as well as to designate new sites where threats are highest, such as the populous hearts of the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, East Africa and the Middle East.”

Reefs offer multiple benefits to people and the economy – providing food, sustaining livelihoods, supporting tourism, protecting coasts, and even helping to prevent disease. According the report, more than 275 million people live in the direct vicinity (30 km/18 miles) of coral reefs. In more than 100 countries and territories, coral reefs protect 150,000 km (over 93,000 miles) of shorelines, helping defend coastal communities and infrastructure against storms and erosion.

For the first time, the report identifies the 27 nations most socially and economically vulnerable to coral reef degradation and loss. Among these, the nine most vulnerable countries are: Haiti, Grenada, Philippines, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji, and Indonesia.

“The people at greatest risk are those who depend heavily on threatened reefs, and who have limited capacity to adapt to the loss of the valuable resources and services reefs provide,” said Allison Perry, project scientist at the World Fish Center and a lead author. “For highly vulnerable nations – including many island nations – there is a pressing need for development efforts to reduce dependence on reefs and build adaptive capacity, in addition to protecting reefs from threats.”

The report is an update of “Reefs at Risk,” released by WRI in 1998, which served as an important resource for policymakers to understand and address the threats of reefs. The new report uses the latest data and satellite information to map coral reefs— including a reef map with a resolution 64 times higher than the original report.

“Through new technology and improved data, this study provides valuable tools and information for decision makers from national leaders to local marine managers,” said Katie Reytar, research associate at WRI and a lead author. “In order to maximize the benefits of these tools, we need policymakers to commit to greater action to address the growing threats to coral reefs.”

To learn more about Reefs at Risk Revisited and to access the full report, maps, and additional data, go to: The World Resources Institute.

Michael Oko

Director for Media Relations at the WRI,

February 23, 2011

A few notes about the SAIA Unsuitable and Unsustainable Species List and the criteria for inclusion.

You can download the list as a PDF from the SAIA website.

The SAIA list is explicitly aimed at the average or casual reef keeper. We recognise that it is only through the efforts of advanced aquarists, that progress is made in successfully keeping new or difficult species, but this is no excuse for these fishes to be held as a general stock item by retailers.

The SAIA List of Unsuitable & Unsustainable Species, numbers around 300 fish species that are considered beyond the capabilities of the average aquarist for the following reasons:

• Require a specialized diet, very difficult to duplicate in captivity.
• Require a specialized habitat, which is very difficult to simulate.
• Collected using Sodium Cyanide or drugs, or come from areas where these methods are still used.
• Extremely aggressive, have large territories in the wild, and are unsuitable for community aquariums. Aggression in fish is due to highly territorial behaviour.
• Fish that can poison or severely hurt the hobbyist, possibly resulting in death or trauma. In most cases, this does not necessarily mean they cannot be kept successfully in a home aquarium, however it is recommended to exercise caution when catching, or when cleaning the aquarium, and to not keep if you have small children.
• Grow too large for home aquariums, requiring 4000 litres or more.
• Species that are sensitive and stress easily, do not transport well, and are susceptible to parasites and disease.
• Species that only seem to survive in an aquarium when kept in large shoals
• Fish that are collected from deep water, often improperly.
• Fish with limited distribution in the wild that may be an indicator of rarity. The industry does not want to stand accused of collecting a species to extinction!

Some of the species listed are fish that:

• can be kept successfully in public aquaria where their specialized needs can be met, such as territory size;
• can be kept successfully in larger reef aquaria, but usually do not survive in fish-only aquariums (commonly due to specialized diet requirements that reef aquaria provide, in the way of naturally occurring micro-crustacean populations, due to the more complete natural ecosystem found in reef tanks);
• can be bred and raised in captivity, so there’s no need to take them from the reef;
• are predatory species, requiring special consideration when choosing tank mates;

Please note that not all members of a listed Genus or Family are difficult to keep. Many species that are closely related to those listed here are hardy.

Tim Hayes

SAIA

©2011