Caribbean coral reefs desperation

Major Study Highlights Threat to Caribbean’s Coral Reefs and Opportunity for Saving Them

A BBC news item called "From Despair to Repair:  Dramatic Decline of Caribbean Corals Can Be Reversed" published last week is a resounding call to action for anyone interested in the future of the Caribbean. Write Dr Owen Day (Director of Ecosystem-based Adaptation and the C-FISH Project, CARIBSAVE) and Dr Ulric Trotz (Deputy Director, Caribbean Community Climate Change Center)

The news item was based on the publication of an important report by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which found that most Caribbean coral reefs may disappear in the next 20 years, primarily due to the loss of grazers.

The report, Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012, is the most detailed and comprehensive study of its kind published to date – the result of the work of 90 experts over the course of three years.

It contains the analysis of more than 35,000 surveys conducted at 90 Caribbean locations since 1970, including studies of corals, seaweeds, grazing sea urchins and fish.  This landmark report highlights the risks faced by coral reefs from climate change, but emphasized that restoring populations of parrotfish and reducing excessive coastal pollution would halt their decline and help them recover by making them more resilient to the impacts of climate change, such as mass bleaching events caused by rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification caused by the dissolution of carbon dioxide in the ocean.

Caribbean coral reefs, spanning a total of 38 countries, generate more than US$3 billion annually from tourism and fisheries.  Their loss would be disastrous for the economy of Caribbean islands, which rely on tourism as their main source of revenue.  Beach erosion would accelerate, as reefs would no longer be able to protect the shoreline from storms.  The Caribbean’s famous white sand, which is constantly being produced by living coral reefs, would also eventually disappear.   The loss of reefs would also mean the loss of countless jobs in fisheries, and further threaten the region’s already vulnerable food security.

"The rate at which the Caribbean corals have been declining is truly alarming," said Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme. "But this study brings some very encouraging news: the fate of Caribbean corals is not beyond our control and there are some very concrete steps that we can take to help them recover." The authors explain that climate change does pose a serious threat to coral reefs by making oceans more acidic and causing coral bleaching, it is the loss of parrotfish and sea urchins – the area’s two main grazers – that has, in fact, been the key reason of coral decline in the region.  Reefs protected from overfishing, as well as other threats such as excessive coastal pollution, tourism and coastal development, are more resilient to pressures from climate change, according to the authors.

The report also shows that some of the healthiest Caribbean coral reefs are those that have vigorous populations of grazing parrotfish. These include the US Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda and Bonaire (Netherlands), all of which have restricted or banned fishing practices that harm parrotfish, such as fish traps and spearfishing. Other countries are following suit.

Reefs where parrotfish are not protected have suffered tragic declines, including Jamaica, the entire Florida Reef Tract from Miami to Key West, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Well-managed reefs have bounced back suggesting that climate change is not the main determinant of current Caribbean coral health and that good management practices can save larger areas of reef if tough choices are made.  This report makes a number of recommendations, which are listed in the box at the end of this article.

This important report clearly supports the decision by the Government of Jamaica taken to establish and support a network of fish sanctuaries (now officially called Special Fisheries Conservation Areas). There are currently 14 fish sanctuaries in Jamaica, and many of them have been very successful at restoring populations of fish and lobsters, with one sanctuary achieving an amazing 540% increase in fish biomass in just 2 years.  

The sanctuary wardens, who are often fishermen, have defied the skeptics and proven that rapid recovery is possible when enforcement is taken seriously.   In some cases wardens have been patrolling day and night to ensure that no fishing takes place inside the boundaries. These hard-working men and women are passionate about their work and understand how important fish are to their communities and coastal areas, as they have seen the dramatic and tragic decline in fisheries.  Many fishermen also see the benefits of these fish sanctuaries and they are starting to catch more fish in the surrounding areas.  Some fishermen are now asking for more sanctuaries to be established.

There is absolutely no reason why the early successes in the fish sanctuaries at Bluefields Bay, Galleon in St Elizabeth and Oracabessa cannot be replicated and expanded around Jamaica.  What has started is a process of fisheries management that is owned by the local community and supported by the government.  It could potentially bring back the once productive fisheries and beautiful coral reefs that Jamaica was famous for. The findings of this new report strengthen the justification for this network of fish sanctuaries not just as an opportunity to safeguard the future of the Islands coral reefs, but also as way of ensuring the survival of our beaches, our tourism industry and our food security.

It is imperative that the Jamaican government continues to provide financial support to the network of fish sanctuaries and embrace this enlightened policy with a growing number of partners from the private sector and the international donor community. It is also imperative that governments of the region replicate the Jamaican example and provide the support for the establishment and management of fish sanctuaries as a direct response to the crisis facing their coral reef ecosystems.  It is an investment in our future that we cannot afford to ignore.

The report made several important recommendations:

• Adopt conservation and fisheries management strategies that lead to the restoration of and so restore the balance between algae and coral that characterises healthy coral reefs.
• Maximise the effect of those management strategies by incorporating necessary resources for outreach, compliance, enforcement and the examination of alternative livelihoods for those that may be affected by restrictions on the take of parrotfish;
• Consider listing the parrotfish in the Annex II or III of the SPAW Protocol (The Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife) in addition to highlighting the issue of reef herbivory in relevant Caribbean fisheries flora;
• Engage with indigenous and local communities and other stakeholders to communicate the benefits of such strategies for coral reef ecosystems, the replenishment of fisheries stocks and communities’ economy.

Dr Owen Day (Director of Ecosystem-based Adaptation and the C-FISH Project, CARIBSAVE) and Dr Ulric Trotz (Deputy Director, Caribbean Community Climate Change Center)