Por Lissette Rolón Collazo  

Puerto Rico no es una isla; es un archipiélago. Esta aseveración parece sencilla, pero está lejos de serlo. Héctor Sánchez, el turistólogo, ya la había declarado y había alegado argumentos geográficos significativos para sustentarla. Pero reconoce la rareza de su postura.

¿Por qué esta idea de nosotrxs no es parte de nuestro sentido común colectivo? Sospecho que la lógica de lo único, de lo individual y de lo aislado se nos impone, impidiéndonos atisbar lo fructífero que pudiera ser pensarnos y actuar como un junte de islas a pequeña escala. Ya Marta Aponte Alsina y otrxs magníficxs escritorxs de nuestro gran Caribe han apostado por dicha mirada y su consecuente poética. Vamos a convertirla en política.

Como me ha dicho Beatriz, si actuáramos como archipiélago, tendríamos uno de los mejores sistemas de transporte marítimo: diverso, accesible, frecuente, puntual. Si actuáramos como archipiélago, la clase de natación sería número uno en la oferta de educación física en el sistema de educación pública. Si actuáramos como archipiélago dejaríamos de relacionarnos con nuestras llamadas islas-municipios con la caridad o el turismo por delante –que, a veces, vienen a ser lo mismo– y ensayaríamos una política solidaria inspirada en las mejores prácticas al uso.

Si nos concibiéramos como archipiélago, la lógica colectiva, solidaria y participativa podría ser parte de nuestra cotidianidad. Conoceríamos la historia de Culebra, Vieques, Mona, Monito, Desecheo y Caja de Muerto, por no mencionar la historia de nuestros cayos. El mar sería nuestro espacio del encuentro con esa historia que nos une.

Puerto Rico es muchas islas. Puerto Rico es un archipiélago. Vamos a atrevernos a serlo.

Recurso: http://www.80grados.net/puerto-rico-no-es-una-isla/

Por Miprv.com

La organización Sierra Club Capítulo de Puerto Rico ha iniciado una campaña para que los puertorriqueños presionen al Consejo de Pesca del Caribe para que proteja las agregaciones reproductivas de desoves de peces y el hábitat de los arrecifes de coral.

“Estos recursos son especiales y son esenciales para asegurar ecosistemas marinos saludables y economías costeras vibrantes. Es de conocimiento popular que cuando se permite la pesca en las agregaciones de desove desaparecen estos eventos reproductivos y se afectan las poblaciones de especies de meros y pargos. El Consejo tiene la oportunidad ahora mismo para mejorar la protección de estas especies importantes en lugares de conocidas agregaciones de desove en Puerto Rico”, reza una carta que los participantes de la campaña pueden enviarle al Consejo por vía electrónica.

Para registrarte y enviar la carta, presiona aquí.

La organización busca apoyo a la prohibición a toda la pesca en los lugares de agregaciones de desove desde el 1 de diciembre hasta el 31 de mayo. La información científica ha demostrado que ésta es la principal época de estos eventos reproductivos, en particular del mero cherna (Nassau grouper), que actualmente se encuentra amenazado de extinción en la UICN.

“El anclaje en estas áreas sensitivas no se debe permitir en ningún momento para preservar el hábitat crítico del fondo marino. Nuestro patrimonio natural, la pasión por la recreación en el océano, y los pescadores locales dependen de una pesca sostenible y de arrecifes de coral saludables. El Consejo ha reconocido la importancia de los lugares de desove de los meros y dado pasos hacia la protección. Sin embargo, se necesita más para asegurar un futuro sólido para nuestras especies de peces y la próxima generación”, finaliza la petición.



Recurso: http://www.miprv.com/toma-accion-para-proteger-la-pesca-puertorriquena/

Por Alfonso Rodríguez / Agencia EFE

San Juan - El tinglar, la tortuga marina más grande del mundo, mejora su situación en Puerto Rico gracias a los planes de las autoridades locales para prevenir los ataques contra los miles de nidos que cada temporada excavan los ejemplares que llegan a las playas de la Isla.

El biólogo de la Sección de Especies en Peligro de Extinción del Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA) de Puerto Rico, Carlos Diez, señaló hoy a Efe que, de hecho, esta tortuga, cuyos mayores ejemplares superan los 6 pies de longitud y las 1, 100 libras de peso, ha pasado de estar considerada una especie en peligro de extinción, a contar con un estatus de especie vulnerable.

El tinglar llega cada temporada a las playas de Puerto Rico -entre los meses de marzo y julio- para anidar en un territorio cada vez más hostil para él, debido a la contaminación lumínica, la creciente urbanización de su costa y la basura acumulada.

El peligro que durante décadas sufrieron los ejemplares de tinglares que arriban cada temporada a Puerto Rico contribuyó a la aprobación, en 1999, de la Ley de Vida Silvestre local, que se sumó así a la Ley de Especies en Peligro de Extinción a nivel federal.

"El objetivo ahora es hacer respetar esas leyes por los cuerpos de vigilantes del DRNA", subrayó este especialista que desde hace años es una de las caras más visibles para la defensa de las tortugas en Puerto Rico.

Diez indicó que otra de las iniciativas que ha contribuido a la mejora de la situación del tinglar en las costas de Puerto Rico es el plan de formación a los ciudadanos sobre la necesidad de respetar a estos animales.

El DRNA promueve también la puesta en marcha de grupos comunitarios repartidos por toda la Isla para la defensa del tinglar y otras especies de tortugas, cuyo resultado, dijo, ya es visible.

Diez subrayó que en la mejora de su situación ha influido que década tras década ha ido disminuyendo la demanda de carne y huevos del tinglar gracias a las campañas informativas en marcha y por la normativa introducida para proteger a la especie.

En esta temporada de anidación en Puerto Rico del tinglar, el DRNA ha contabilizado cerca de 2,000 nidos de la especie en las playas locales, lo que según Diez hace pensar que han llegado a este territorio cerca de 200 ejemplares.

Matizó que aunque pueda todavía registrarse la llegada de alguna tortuga se trataría casos aislados, ya que en julio se da por finalizada la época de desove.

Esta especie excava en la arena un hueco del tamaño de su cuerpo, deposita los huevos y los entierra con la ayuda de sus aletas traseras.

La razón de que el tinglar desove en Puerto Rico y en otras áreas cercanas el Caribe responde a la necesidad de que los huevos se incuben durante cerca de 60 días en arenas cálidas.

Raymond Flores, director de la Sociedad Chelonia de Puerto Rico, dedicada a la conservación de tortugas, advirtió hoy sin embargo a Efe que a pesar de la mejora de la situación registrada en los últimos años el tinglar y otras especies de tortugas se enfrentan a situaciones difíciles.

"El tinglar se enfrenta en los últimos años en Puerto Rico a la alta luminosidad que afecta a las playas de la Isla, la basura de las costas y, en definitiva, a la reducción de los arenales debido a la expansión urbanística no controlada", dijo el responsable de esta organización que vela por la recuperación de las tortugas.

La Sociedad Chelonia de Puerto Rico centra su acción en la investigación, documentación y protección de las tortugas marinas que anidan en el área de Dorado, municipio de la costa norte de Puerto Rico en el que trabajan varios grupos comunitarios dedicados a la defensa del tinglar.

Dijo que a menudo los ejemplares que llegan a Puerto Rico se desconciertan por la alta luminosidad de las playas, muchas urbanizadas, que alejan a los ejemplares de tinglar.

Flores resaltó que además la acumulación de basura es otro grave problema y en concreto las bolsas de plástico esparcidas por las costas, que las tortugas confunden con medusas -la base de su alimentación-, lo que en muchas ocasiones provoca su muerte por asfixia.

Las hembras de tinglar prefieren en Puerto Rico para el desove las playas de la costa norte dado que les facilita, por su mayor oleaje, la entrada y salida a la arena.

Los tinglares se reparten por todos los mares del mundo pero buscan las arenas de las zonas cálidas para su reproducción, lo que


Recurso: http://www.elnuevodia.com/mejoralasituaciondeltinglarenpuertorico-1811667.html

By David Malakoff

With smokers flicking an estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts into the ecosphere each year, it’s time take a tougher stand against the toxin-laden litter, researchers say. The paper tubes are essentially mini Superfund sites laced with pesticides, heavy metals, and formaldehyde, explain Thomas E. Novotny and Elli Slaughter of California’s San Diego State University in Current Environmental Health Reports. Especially problematic are the plastic filters found on many cigarettes (which manufacturers have long suggested—falsely—make tobacco safer). The filters accumulate toxins and can leach chemicals for a decade. As a result, tobacco waste carries a high potential for contamination, as millions of tons of butts end up on sidewalks, roadsides, and beaches. Indeed, cigarette litter is the single largest category of trash collected during coastal cleanups, accounting for 19 percent to 38 percent of the global total. And butts soaked in water for just an hour or so, studies show, release chemicals that wreak havoc with insect larvae and fish.

Despite such worrying results, regulators don’t see a smoking gun. Butts are “unlikely to be thought of as a toxic waste,” the pair writes, so reducing the threat will require “novel environmental interventions and new partnerships between tobacco control and environmental groups.” Gentler approaches could include using ads to educate smokers about the toxicity threat and to persuade them to drop their butts into trash cans. But the researchers suggest more radical regulation should be on the table, too. Governments could ban filtered cigarettes, for instance, or require tobacco companies to take back their butts and pay for the cost of cleanups. Environmental groups could even sue for ecological damages.


Novotny, T.E. and E. Slaughter. 2014. Current Environmental Health Reports doi:10.1007/s40572-014-0016-x.

Source: http://conservationmagazine.org/2014/07/cigarette-butts-beach-pollution/

By: Pam Frost Gorder
COLUMBUS, Ohio—The future health of the world’s coral reefs and the animals that depend on them relies in part on the ability of one tiny symbiotic sea creature to get fat—and to be flexible about the type of algae it cooperates with.

In the first study of its kind, scientists at The Ohio State University discovered that corals—tiny reef-forming animals that live symbiotically with algae—are better able to recover from yearly bouts of heat stress, called “bleaching,” when they keep large energy reserves—mostly as fat—socked away in their cells.

“We found that some coral are able to acclimatize to annual bleaching, while others actually become more susceptible to it over time,” said Andréa Grottoli, professor in the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State. “We concluded that annual coral bleaching could cause a decline in coral diversity, and an overall decline of coral reefs worldwide.”

The study, which appears in the July 9 online edition of Global Change Biology, indicates that some coral species will almost certainly decline with global climate change, while others that exhibit large fat storage and flexibility in the types of algae they partner with will stand a better chance of enduring repeated rounds of stress as oceans get hotter.

It also suggests that the most adaptable species would make good targets for conservation efforts because they are most likely to survive.

“If we conserve reefs that contain coral species with these survival traits, then we’re hedging our bets that we might be able to preserve those reefs for an extra decade or two, buying them enough time to acclimatize to climate change,” Grottoli said.

Corals are essentially colorless; the brilliant browns, yellows, and greens that we associate with them are actually the colors of algae living inside the corals’ animal cells. That’s why, when stressed coral dump most of the algae from their cells, their bodies appear pale, or “bleached.”

Bleached corals can recover by growing more algae or acquiring new algae once water temperatures return to normal. This research shows that corals’ ability to switch the type of algae that they internally grow has a large effect on their recovery.

But if corals don’t recover and reefs die, thousands of fish species and other sea creatures lose their habitat.

Normally, bleaching is a rare event. But by 2025, Caribbean waters are expected to be hot enough that the coral living there will be stressed to the point of bleaching once a year. The rest of the tropics are expected to experience annual bleaching by 2050.

Previous studies have only followed coral through one bleaching event, or through two events several years apart. So Grottoli and her team tested what would happen if they subjected some common Caribbean corals to bleaching for two years in a row.

Corals can supplement their diet by eating plankton, but they get most of their energy from their symbiotic relationship with algae. The algae get nutrients from the coral, and the corals get to siphon off sugars that the algae produce in photosynthesis. Like humans, corals can store excess energy as fat.

Two key survival strategies emerged in this study: the most resilient corals stored up fat reserves in times of plenty, and were willing to switch to a new dominant algal type in order to gather food in times of stress. Corals that didn’t store fat or were stuck with their algal partner didn’t fare as well.

And species that bounced back from one round of bleaching didn’t necessarily bounce back a second time.

“We found that the research on single bleaching events is misleading,” Grottoli said. “Species that we think are resilient to temperature stress are actually susceptible and vice versa when stressed annually.”

Grottoli and her colleagues tested three corals from Puerto Morelos Reef National Park, off the coast of Mexico. Two years in a row, they plucked samples of Porites divaricata, Porites astreoides, andOrbicella faveolata—more commonly known as finger coral, mustard hill coral, and boulder coral—from the ocean floor, and placed them in warm water tanks in an outdoor lab until the corals bleached. Both times, the researchers returned the corals to the ocean to let them recover. They measured several indicators of how well the different species recovered, including the number and type of algae present in the corals’ cells and remaining energy reserve.

The mustard hill coral kept lower fat reserves, and partnered with only one algal species. It recovered from the first round of bleaching but not the second. The boulder coral kept moderate fat reserves, but partnered with six different algae and changed between dominant algal types following each bleaching. It recovered from both rounds of bleaching, though it’s growth slowed.

The real winner was the finger coral, which switched completely from one algal partner type to another over the course of the study, and had the largest fat reserves—47 percent higher than the boulder coral or mustard hill coral. The finger coral was barely even affected by the second bleaching and maintained a healthy growth rate.

The bottom line: as some species adapt to climate change and others don’t, there will be less diversity in reefs, where all the different sizes and shapes of coral provide specialized habitats for fish and other creatures. Interactions among hosts, symbionts, predators and prey would all change in a domino effect, Grottoli said. Reefs would be more vulnerable to storms and disease in general.

It sounds like a bleak picture.

“We’re actually a bit optimistic, because we showed that there’s acclimation in a one-year window, that it’s possible,” she said. “In two of our three coral species, we have recovery in six weeks. The paths they took to recovery are different, but they both got there.”

Coauthors on the study included Grottoli’s former graduate students Stephen Levas, Verena Schoepf, and Justin Baumann; Ohio State research associate Yohei Matsui; and Mark Warner of the University of Delaware and his graduate students Matthew Aschaffenburgand Michael McGinley.

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://news.osu.edu/news/2014/07/09/corals-adapting-to-climate-change/

Por Frances Rosario frances.rosario@gfrmedia.com

Dos ballenas pilotos fallecieron luego que quedaran varadas en la mañana de este miércoles en el área de La Playuela, conocida como Playa Sucia, en Cabo Rojo, informó la secretaria del Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA), Carmen Guerrero.

Un tercer ejemplar fue restacado con vida pero murió poco después, confirmó a ELNUEVODIA.COM, la portavoz del DRNA, Carmen Milagros Díaz. La funcionaria no pudo dar más detalles en el momento sobre el deceso.

Guerrero Pérez había manifestado en declaraciones escritas que las biólogas intentarían mantener con vida a la ballena y devolverla al mar.

“Preliminarmente, creemos que una de las ballenas pudo llegar enferma y las restantes vararon con ella. La necropsia podría ayudar a revelar las causas del varamiento”, indicó.

Informó que las biólogas Griselle Rodríguez y Nilda Jiménez realizarán la necropsia.

Guerrero también detalló que una de las ballenas muertas se encuentra en el área de los acantilados, por lo que la recuperación de su cuerpo depende de que no ponga en peligro de la vida del personal del DRNA.

“Esperamos que no lleguen más ballenas varadas a la costa. Un grupo de vigilantes bordea la costa cerca de Playa Sucia para verificar que no hayan otras ballenas que pertenezcan al mismo grupo e intenten vararse”, añadió la titular, tras explicar que las ballenas pilotos tienden a varar en grupos.


Por otro lado, Carla Rivera, coordinadora de respuesta y rescate del Programa de Rescate y Atención a Varamiento del Centro de Conservación de Manatíes de Puerto Rico, explicó que una llamada recibida al Sistema de Emergencia 9-1-1 recibida por el director del Centro, el doctor Antonio Mignucci, a eso de las 8:45 a.m. dio cuenta de un delfín varado. No obstante, un ciudadano, identificado como Gabrielle Armstrong se comunicó con el Centro de Conservación de Manatíes y envió fotografías de los cetáceos, que resultaron ser ballenas pilotos.

Rivera explicó que personal del Centro se comunicó con el DRNA, agencia que se hizo cargo del varamiento.


Recurso: http://www.elnuevodia.com/muerendosballenaspilotoenplayasucia-1810758.html

By Alex Card 

Over the past 50 years, Caribbean coral reefs and fish populations have undergone major declines. Hundreds of marine protected areas have been established to restrict fishing across the Caribbean, but with little knowledge of fish movements to guide their design or assess their effectiveness.

An open access study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a cadre of international university scientists followed fish movement in the Caribbean Sea to determine if marine protected areas are doing their job and how they might be improved.

“The fish tracking project grew out of a long-term collaboration between the NOAA Biogeography Branch and the U.S. National Park Service,” said Simon Pittman, a marine ecologist at NOAA and the University of the Virgin Islands. “It became evident that we needed to gain a better understanding of fish movements to determine if the fishes were staying in the protected areas.”

Turning to tracking technology for assistance, the researchers used miniature acoustic transmitters and an array of fixed acoustic receivers to answer three questions: How far do Caribbean fish travel? Are adjacent marine protected areas truly connected? And are the areas large enough to protect the fish that swim within and between them?

The researchers studied 18 species from July 2006 to July 2008 and tagged 184 individual specimens — 21 of which were never detected. Before tagging, the fish were caught with locally made traps of traditional design. Researchers took the captured fish back to a field station for a quick bit of surgery, implanting the acoustic transmitter and suturing the wound with standard surgical equipment. The fish spent the night at the field station, underwent a postoperative check-up and were discharged back into the reef.

With more than 40 acoustic receivers continuously listening for tagged fish across the Puerto Rican shelf, there was plenty of routine equipment maintenance to perform.


“If we were downloading data from the acoustic receivers, then an average day would include 10 or more short SCUBA dives to clean the growth off the mooring lines where the receivers are attached,” Pittman said. The receivers would then be removed and taken to a boat where the researchers downloaded any data onto a computer before replacing the receiver.

Submerged mooring floats occasionally went missing, only to be found gouged and lacerated on the seafloor. Whispers of possible sabotage spread through the team, only to be assuaged months later, when a receiver picked up an unknown tag ID. After consulting a number of other research groups, it was determined that a 12-foot female tiger shark — tagged by the Guy Harvey Research Institute — had taken a liking to the floats.

“She must have been a little disappointed, as plastic is unlikely to be as tasty as her usual prey,” Pittman said.

While most of the fish were tracked automatically, researchers monitored 20 tagged fish manually, recording their position every 15 minutes over the course of a day. A rotation of three or four researchers took eight-hour shifts to accomplish the task, which Pittman called the study’s biggest challenge.

“We had to draw straws for the 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. shift, which was the hardest even with free pizza and drinks provided,” Pittman said. “Any field work at sea has its challenges, but working at night can be tricky.”

Long nights and fatigue weren’t the study’s only obstacles. Pittman recalled an instance where a Coast Guard patrol boat stealthily approached him and a student, ordering the two to keep their hands on their heads until they explained their business on the shore at 2 a.m.

In spite of the challenges involved, the study provided plenty of valuable data showing that fish often travel between and out of marine protected areas, and in some cases travel tens of kilometers away from their home range to spawn. One lane snapper arrived in the bay at sunrise and left along the same pathway at sunset, a behavior that Pittman described as clocking in and clocking out.


The study’s findings suggest that many marine protected areas, or MPAs, should be larger, and that managers should be mindful of activities outside of their jurisdiction. Furthermore, MPAs should be designed with attention to shape as well as size.

“Most MPAs are designed to protect nearshore resources, yet fish may need to cross the shelf at specific times of the life cycle to spawn or shift to deeper reefs with maturity,” Pittman said. “Our data highlights a potential problem that many MPAs are designed without any knowledge of the movements patterns of the species they intend to protect.”

Pittman and the other researchers have returned to the Virgin Islands to track key species that they previously missed, such as parrotfish. In the new study, the team will expand their acoustic network to examine connectivity between important spawning sites.

Source: http://www.fondriest.com/news/decades-caribbean-fish-declines-scientists-follow-fish-across-marine-protected-areas.htm

A new study on biological erosion of mesophotic tropical coral reefs, which are low energy reef environments between 30-150 meters deep, provides new insights into processes that affect the overall structure of these important ecosystems. The purpose of the study was to better understand how bioerosion rates and distribution of bioeroding organisms, such as fish, mollusks and sponges, differ between mesophotic reefs and their shallow-water counterparts and the implications of those variations on the sustainability of the reef structure.

Due to major advancements in deeper underwater diving technology, a large renewal of interest in mesophotic reefs has pulsed through the scientific community because of their high biodiversity, vast extent, and potential refuge for shallower water reef species at risk from the impacts of climate change.

"Studying how mesophotic reefs function and thrive is especially critical now, when considering results from the new IPCC report reviewed by over 1700 expects said that coral reefs are the most vulnerable marine ecosystems on Earth to the adverse effects of climate change," said David Weinstein, Rosenstiel School Ph.D. student and lead author of the study. "Developing effective environmental management strategies for these important reef systems requires a basic fundamental understanding of the underlining architecture that supports and creates diverse biological ecosystems."

Weinstein and his research team used previously identified mesophotic reefs at 30-50 meters deep located in the U.S. Virgin Islands composed of a surprising number of coral growing on top different types of reef structures (patches, linear banks, basins) to better understand the role sedimentary processes have in creating and maintaining so many different structures that are critical for maximizing the biodiversity and health of the ecosystem. Researchers analyzed coral rubble and coral skeleton discs collected after one and two years of exposure to determine the sources and rates of bioerosion at these reefs.

Results of the study found that the architecturally unique structures in the study area experience significantly different bioerosion rates.

"This has very important implications when trying to predict how these reefs will grow over time and where preservation efforts might be most effective," said Weinstein.

Although erosion of the coral skeleton disks at the very deepest sites was more uniform, the researchers suggest that this is likely because the substrates used in the study were all of uniform composition, unlike the diverse composition of the sites. These results imply that bioerosional processes at these depths still exaggerate differences in reef structure depending on the amount of living and dead coral at each reef, the amount of time that material is exposed on the surface, and different localized current flows experienced.

The study also confirmed important concepts in coral geology research that lacked proof from studies venturing deeper than 35 meters. Coral reef bioerosion in the U.S. Virgin Islands and potentially in most of the Caribbean does generally decreases with depth. This result stems from the finding that parrotfish are now the most significant bioeroding group from shallow reefs down to a mesophotic reef transition zone identified by Weinstein at 30-35 meters in depth. The study also was able to conclude bioeroding sponges are the primary organisms responsible for long-term structural modification of mesophotic reefs beyond the transitional zone.

"Coral reefs are essentially a thin benthos veneer draped upon a biologically produced inorganic three-dimensional foundation that creates habitats for many marine organisms," said Weinstein. "Since mesophotic reefs grow so much slower than shallower reefs, identifying the sources and rate of erosion on mesophotic reefs is even more important to understand the long-term structural sustainability of these tropical reefs systems."

However, Weinstein suggests that other processes, such as coral growth rates and cementation, must also be more fully studied before scientists have a complete understanding of mesophotic coral reefs.

The paper, currently available online and scheduled for print in a special coral reef edition of the journal Geomorphology later this summer is one of the first to address mesophotic reef sedimentology.

Source: http://phys.org/news/2014-07-largely-unstudied-mesophotic-coral-reef.html

Posted by Ayana Elizabeth of Waitt Institute in Ocean Views on July 2, 2014


Coral reefs are very complex ecosystems, but luckily managing them sustainably is not. Simply don’t catch fish faster than they reproduce, don’t damage the corals or pollute the water, and protect some areas as marine reserves.

That’s easier said than done, and it’s not news. What is new is that an exhaustive, Caribbean-wide analysis shows that the #1 thing we can do to ensure the health of coral reefs is to protect parrotfish.

Parrotfish are colorful and voracious herbivores that spend up to 90% of their day eating algae off of coral reefs with. And they poop sand (up to 200 pounds of it per year!) keeping beaches beachy, as this humorous video explains.  

However, parrotfish have been overfished and Caribbean reefs have gotten increasingly furry with algae over the past for decade, resulting in a far less pretty picture, and a far less productive and resilient ecosystem.

The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network of IUCN has just released a report by 90 experts* that analyzed a massive amount of data – 35,000 surveys conducted at 90 Caribbean locations since 1970! –including much that has never been analyzed and published before. You can find the report and executive summary here, and a video explanation here, but here’s my distillation:

1. Caribbean corals have declined by more than 50% since the 1970s.
2. Most Caribbean reefs have been dominated by algae since the mid 1990s. This shift from coral to algal dominance was initiated by the combination the mass die off of sea urchins (the other key herbivore) and the overfishing of parrotfish.
3. The healthiest Caribbean reefs are those that still have robust parrotfish populations, such as Bermuda and Bonaire, which restricted or banned fishing practices that harm parrotfish, such as fish traps and spearfishing.
4. Overfishing is the primary factor determining current Caribbean coral health, not climate change or pollution.

This may sound hopeless, but it’s far from it! Protecting parrotfish and urchins can help restore coral reefs, and unlike addressing climate change, can be done locally and does not require global coordination and cooperation. Algae hinder the growth of coral, so making sure there are plenty of herbivores grazing the reefs can help coral recover.

A spearfisher’s catch in Curaçao, mostly parrotfish. (Photo: Ayana)The report recommends:

1. Protecting parrotfish as completely as possible via fisheries laws and regulations;
2. Monitoring and enforcing these restrictions, while working with local communities to minimize impact on fishing livelihoods;
3. Listing parrotfish as a specially protected species under the SPAW Protocol; and
4. Providing education on the importance and the benefits of these measures to communities and stakeholders.

Or in the words of elder Barbudan fishers:

• Larkin Webber: “I am worried about the taking of parrotfish because they clean the reef. Now people are specializing in catching parrotfish and that’s a problem. Parrotfish should be protected.” (For more wisdom from Larkin, see this previous blog post.)
• Josiah Deazle: “Parrotfish is my favorite fish to eat because I have no teeth anymore. How I’m going to eat boney fish? … But catch of parrotfish should be banned. People are taking so much of them the reef is gonna die.” (For more from Josiah, see this previous blog post.)

In sum, overfishing is what caused Caribbean coral reefs to fall apart, not climate change. So local management of fishing, and protection of parrotfish in particular, matters immensely and can help save reefs.

This comprehensive report provides further support for banning catch of parrotfish altogether, or at least restricting the use of the fish traps (See “Solution: Escape Gaps for Fish Traps”), spearguns, and gill nets that target them as several locations have done, and for the ban drafted by the local government of Barbuda as part of the Barbuda Blue Halo Initiative.

This is not an ocean hugging environmental issue, Caribbean reefs generate more than US$ 3 billion annually from tourism and fisheries. This is a problem we can solve, to great benefit of ecosystems and economies. Here’s to hoping 2014 continues to be a year of strong action for ocean conservation, not just for establishing marine reserves, but also for saving parrotfish and therefore Caribbean reefs.

Queen parrotfish eating algae off a relatively healthy reef. Their beak-like mouth is perfect for this. (Photo: Stanley Bysshe)*Note: For more positive stories about solutions for ocean conservation see the Smithsonian Ocean Portal, State Department’s “ocean success stories,” MOS Foundation, and follow#oceanoptimism on Twitter.

*Disclosure: Dr. Jeremy Jackson, the report’s lead author was my PhD advisor, and I am one of the 90 contributing scientists. Kudos to Dr. Jackson for his herculean effort coordinating this project over the last three years.

Por The Associated Press

El pez loro y el erizo de mar son la clave para salvar los arrecifes de coral del Caribe, que podrían desaparecer en dos décadas si no se toman medidas, advierte hoy un informe emitido por varias organizaciones internacionales.

El estudio, que analizó la obra de 90 expertos a lo largo de tres años, dijo que los arrecifes caribeños han declinado en más del 50% desde los años 70. Agrega que aunque muchos expertos han culpado al cambio climático, una declinación en las poblaciones del pez loro y el erizo del mar es en gran medida responsable.

Esos dos animales se alimentan de algas marinas, y la baja de su población ha conducido a un aumento en las algas, que asfixian los arrecifes coralinos, dijo Jeremy Jackson, autor central del informe.

"La situación es realmente terrible en el sentido de que hay todos esos sitios con una pesca notablemente excesiva", afirmó Jackson en una entrevista telefónica desde Australia. Agregó que los principales culpables de la degradación de los arrecifes de coral son la pesca excesiva, la degradación de las costas y enfermedades introducidas en la región.

"En mi opinión, el cambio climático representa el 10% de la historia", dijo Jackson, alto asesor de la Unión para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, con sede en Suiza, que emitió el informe junto con el Programa Ambiental de las Naciones Unidas y la Red Mundial de Vigilancia de los Arrecifes de Coral.

Mark Eakin, coordinador para corales de la Administración Nacional del Océano y la Atmósfera, dijo que el informe subestima el impacto del calentamiento oceánico.

"Es algo que yo diría que no apreciaron en sus estudios", afirmó Eakin, que contribuyó al informe pero no estuvo involucrado directamente en él. "Realmente necesitamos lidiar con el cambio climático".

Eakin coincidió con otras conclusiones del estudio. "Para gran parte del Caribe los corales ya están devastados", afirmó. "No es un resultado sorprendente".

El Caribe tiene más de 8,000 millas cuadradas de arrecifes coralinos, la mayor parte de los cuales están muy deteriorados. Algunas naciones insulares han tomado medidas para controlar la pesca excesiva, pero los expertos dicen que se necesitan más trabajos.

Se calcula que los arrecifes del Caribe generan 3,000 millones de dólares anuales en turismo y pesca.

Recurso:http://www.elnuevodia.com/engravepeligrolosarrecifescoralinoscaribenos-1806172.html