Caribbean Coral Suffers Record Death

[dbartco]

Caribbean Coral Suffers Record Death By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

2 hours, 4 minutes ago

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060330/ap_on_sc/coral_death

 

WASHINGTON - A one-two punch of bleaching from record hot water followed by disease has killed ancient and delicate coral in the biggest loss of reefs scientists have ever seen in Caribbean waters.

 

 

 

 

Researchers from around the globe are scrambling to figure out the extent of the loss. Early conservative estimates from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands find that about one-third of the coral in official monitoring sites has recently died.

 

"It's an unprecedented die-off," said National Park Service fisheries biologist Jeff Miller, who last week checked 40 stations in the Virgin Islands. "The mortality that we're seeing now is of the extremely slow-growing reef-building corals. These are corals that are the foundation of the reef ... We're talking colonies that were here when Columbus came by have died in the past three to four months."

 

Some of the devastated coral can never be replaced because it only grows the width of one dime a year, Miller said.

 

Coral reefs are the basis for a multibillion-dollar tourism and commercial fishing economy in the Caribbean. Key fish species use coral as habitat and feeding grounds. Reefs limit the damage from hurricanes and tsunamis. More recently they are being touted as possible sources for new medicines.

 

If coral reefs die "you lose the goose with golden eggs" that are key parts of small island economies, said Edwin Hernandez-Delgado, a University of Puerto Rico biology researcher.

 

On Sunday, Hernandez-Delgado found a colony of 800-year-old star coral

[Caribbean Jake]

:bigcry: Caribbean.... my home

[Sharkb8]

Here too

 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/150...oral_Death.html

 

How sad. This, plus the devastation caused by invasive c. taxifolia, etc.

 

http://www.enn.com/aff.html?id=282

 

better go see the reefs now if you can, they won't be here much longer . . .

[Caribbean Jake]

. :bomb:

i'm speachless .....

 

now seriously.. what CAN WE DO ? as WAMAS members

[Guest Larry-T]

I've said in the past that most of us will live to see the day when all reef species, and many other marine organisms, will be banned from wild capture and import and we will have to use only CB livestock. Actually, I would like to go further and say that the day will come when hobbyists around the world will be asked to provide specimens for captive breeding programs designed to re-introduce them to what were formerly reefs which will be rebuilt.

[Sharkb8]

There is a lot we can do. We are in DC, the nation's capital, after all. The Hill is just down the road for many of us. We just need to get together and formulate some plans, find other groups with similar interests, and assist in getting the word out. We can push for more protection, more funding, more research dollars, etc. The sky is the limit. WAMAS would be a great platform from which to bring this issue to the attention of our Representatives on the Hill, especially since we are so close, geographically.

[dzekunoi]

There is a lot we can do. We are in DC, the nation's capital, after all. The Hill is just down the road for many of us. We just need to get together and formulate some plans, find other groups with similar interests, and assist in getting the word out. We can push for more protection, more funding, more research dollars, etc. The sky is the limit. WAMAS would be a great platform from which to bring this issue to the attention of our Representatives on the Hill, especially since we are so close, geographically.

 

Yes, I agree with this. That MUST be one of the WAMAS missions. Maybe in connection with other pro-ecology groups and organizations.

[Sharkb8]

Hmm, so maybe WAMAS should have a political action committee of some sort?

[F&Fmgr]

. :bomb:

i'm speachless .....

 

now seriously.. what CAN WE DO ? as WAMAS members

 

Makes me want to convert to all TR and cultured specimens

[Sharkb8]

Now also carried on CNN.com:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/03/31...h.ap/index.html

[BeltwayBandit]

Somewhat selfishly speaking but along the lines of what Larry said. Couldn't this be used to justify *limited* collection of Carribbean species for sake of their own protection. I mean if we could get captive specimens going, at some point in the future they could be used to reintroduce them to the wild in the event that they are completely wiped out.

[OUsnakebyte]

. :bomb:

i'm speachless .....

 

now seriously.. what CAN WE DO ? as WAMAS members

 

 

1) We vote with our dollars. Start demanding captive-born livestock. If there is a captive-produced option to a wild-collected one, demand the captive and refuse the wild.

 

 

2) I think it would be fantastic if WAMAS could offer a fellowship or help fund a graduate student (or two, or three...) who is doing work in the area of reef conservation. I don't know how much excess funds are lying around, but $1,000 to $3,000 a year would go a long way towards someone's research. And, it would show that the aquarium community does care about what goes on out there.

 

 

Thoughts?

[Guest alex wlazlak]

Somewhat selfishly speaking but along the lines of what Larry said. Couldn't this be used to justify *limited* collection of Carribbean species for sake of their own protection. I mean if we could get captive specimens going, at some point in the future they could be used to reintroduce them to the wild in the event that they are completely wiped out.

 

couldnt places like the baltimor aquarium or somthing like that get a few pieces of this stuff so that it can grow in their tanks? thatd save the species and attract more people because i think i speak for most of us, but i like to see rare stuff and id like to see it around for a long time to come!

[Guest Larry-T]

2) I think it would be fantastic if WAMAS could offer a fellowship or help fund a graduate student (or two, or three...) who is doing work in the area of reef conservation. I don't know how much excess funds are lying around, but $1,000 to $3,000 a year would go a long way towards someone's research. And, it would show that the aquarium community does care about what goes on out there.

Thoughts?

 

Perhaps we could approach either NOAA Sea Grant or either the Maryland or Virginia Sea Grant colleges about this. Another possibility is for WAMAS to send a few people to the International Recirculating Aquaculture Conference this July in Roanoke. It's a place that will enable you to make some valuable contacts. There is an annual Ornamental Aquaculture Conference every year in Hawaii which NOAA also participates in.

 

Just some ideas, which we can discuss at our next meeting.

 

<<** Larry **>>

[BeltwayBandit]

couldnt places like the baltimor aquarium or somthing like that get a few pieces of this stuff so that it can grow in their tanks? thatd save the species and attract more people because i think i speak for most of us, but i like to see rare stuff and id like to see it around for a long time to come!

 

Educational institutes (schools/aquariums) can obtain permits for these species. But, with the collective volume of the recreational reefers out there we could have a much larger captive brood stock in case the need ever arose to restock wild populations. Of course we would have the issues associated with people not wanting to keep the "ugly" ones

 

"2) I think it would be fantastic if WAMAS could offer a fellowship or help fund a graduate student (or two, or three...) who is doing work in the area of reef conservation. I don't know how much excess funds are lying around, but $1,000 to $3,000 a year would go a long way towards someone's research. And, it would show that the aquarium community does care about what goes on out there."

 

I think that would be awesome. With some due diligence on our parts I'm sure we could find an appropriate avenue to help fund valuable research. Even if we don't use club funds, perhaps a fundraiser to put together something.

 

BB