Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs in the Eastern Caribbean
8,500mt. There are 40,000 Caribbean traps around these islands and about 20,000 are lost
each year in Guadeloupe during the hurricane season. As these are built with wire netting,
they continue to catch fish for months. The traditional fishery on Martinique includes 900
professional fisherman plus many non-official fishermen, with 848 fishing boats in 1997. The
total landing of 6,000mt is not enough to supply the local demand estimated at 16,000mt.
There are even more traps (50,000) around the island. There was major fish mortality in
September 1998 on the Atlantic coast of Martinique and dead reef fish from all trophic levels
washed ashore, but there were no obvious changes to the structure of the reef fish community.
The Netherlands Antilles
There are only approximately 20 commercial fishermen on Bonaire, although practically
everyone ‘goes fishing’. Since commercial fishermen target pelagic fish species (tuna, dorado,
wahoo) and fish predominantly with hook and line their impact on reef fish populations is
negligible. Fish caught are generally consumed locally, only big eye scad may be exported to
Curaçao. As a consequence reef fish are abundant and diverse and biomass is high.
Artisanal fishing practices include hook and line fishing, some rod fishing, and the use of
kanasters (fish traps), trai (throwing nets) and reda (encircling nets). Spearguns and spears,
although illegal, are still in sporadic use. Few fish traps are used on Bonaire’s reefs due to
conflict with recreational divers. Throwing nets are used almost exclusively to catch bait fish
and encircling nets are used to catch big eye scad. Target fish include grouper and
snapper; parrotfish are not considered edible. Illegal poaching of turtle continues and may
amount to as many as 20 turtles/month. Reef fish populations, however, do not appear to
be adversely effected by fishing pressure at the current level, but an exception is conch
which have been fished to the point of collapse. Collection for the aquarium trade is banned.
ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS TO CORAL REEF BIODIVERSITY
Most of the anthropogenic threats and impacts reported were common to most of the
islands represented here:
• Increased sedimentation from shoreline development, often for tourism
infrastructure, road construction, destruction of mangroves, and dredging. In the
BVI, even on the more remote islands with small populations and limited
construction, grazing by feral goats has reduced vegetation cover resulting in
erosion and sedimentation;
• Eutrophication from the input of agricultural chemicals and sewage, resulting in
proliferation of algae and increased turbidity;
• Physical damage from yacht anchors and divers, although the rapid expansion in
permanent mooring installation will greatly reduce this;
• Over-fishing.
In many cases, the common theme was a lack of enforcement of existing legislation to
reduce these impacts.
In contrast, the major impacts on reefs in Montserrat were from massive volcanic eruptions,
particularly in 1995 and 1996, which resulted in the deposition of large quantities of ash on
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