Parrotfish key to reef survival The report also shows that loss of parrotfishes and other grazers has been far more important than climate change for Caribbean reef destruction so far. “While it is true that climate change poses an enormous risk for the future because of coral bleaching and more acid oceans, reefs protected from overfishing and excessive coastal development and pollution are more resilient to these stresses. Healthy reefs will bounce back faster after damaging extreme heating events and hurricanes” says Jeremy Jackson, lead author of the report. “We must immediately address the grazing problem for the reefs to stand any chance of surviving future climate shifts.” The new report confirms that reef locations where parrotfish are protected from overfishing are the healthiest - such as Flower Garden Banks in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda and Bonaire which are resilient reefs. But reefs where parrotfish are being overfished have suffered tragic declines. These ‘Failure Reefs’ are where local human impacts are not controlled; these impacts include overfishing but also overuse for recreation, excessive and destructive coastal development, and pollution. icriforum.org/caribbeanreport
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 07:03:13 +0000