Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs in Southern Tropical America
there is now less than 6% of coral cover at Bahía Las Minas and about 13% at the Parque
Nacional Portobelo. In the San Blas (eastern coast) area, coral cover dramatically declined
from 40% down to below 15% due to natural and anthropogenic causes. Many reefs in the
Pacific were destroyed by the 1982-83 ENSO event and very little recovery has been
observed. Mortality ranged from 50 to 100% in some areas, particularly in the Gulf of
Panamá. Several reefs in Las Perlas archipelago now have less than 2% coral cover, while at
Isla Iguana (west from Las Perlas) coral cover is above 30%, probably the highest along the
Pacific coast of Panamá.
Venezuela
There is little recent information about the status and changes in the coral reefs. Coral reef
health and other animal communities collapsed in Morrocoy Natural Park during the 5 years
to 1996, with coral cover reducing from 43% to less than 5%. This mass mortality was
related to a climatic and oceanographic anomaly that resulted in a severe phytoplankton
bloom followed by sudden oxygen depletion, but also to chemical pollution. Many
diseased coral colonies (2-11%) were observed in the summer of 1999 in Morrocoy, with
yellow band, white plague and dark spots being common diseases. The oceanic islands of
Venezuela have the most pristine reefs e.g. coral cover at the Archipelago de Aves ranged
from 75-80% in the mid 1970s, but there are no recent assessments of this area. AGRRA
surveys of the Los Roques Archipelago during 1999-2000 showed coral cover near 60% for
several sites, with mean coral cover of 27%. Coral diseases (yellow band, black band,
white plague, dark spots and white band) were observed in the archipelago in several
coral species during 1999.
STATUS OF CORAL REEF FISHES
Data on reef fisheries and the status of reef fish populations are extremely scarce in this
region, however the general consensus is that that coral reefs fish communities have been
changed markedly and populations of important commercial species are severely
depleted, particularly in the Caribbean. These changes are probably related to the general
degradation of the reefs and over-exploitation of fish stocks. In Costa Rica, the aquarium
trade has resulted in reductions in populations of target species of Thalassoma lucassanum,
Pomacanthus zonipectus and Holacanthus passer. Recent fish counts during SIMAC
monitoring programme in Colombia on Caribbean reefs showed few commercial species
and snappers and groupers were absent or had densities less than 1 fish per 60m 2 .
However, populations of the three-spot damselfish (Stegastes planifrons) apparently
increased and are now resulting in significant coral mortality with high fish densities at all
sites (5.8-34.1 ind/60m 2 ). Fish counts on Gorgona Island (in the Pacific) showed that the
snapper Lutjanus viridis and the parrotfish Scarus ghobban were the most abundant target
species. On the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, 1999 there were abundant Stegastes
planifrons (mean density 19.2 ind/60m 2 ) in the Morrocoy Natural Park, whereas the
parrotfish Scarus iserti was the most common at Los Roques archipelago (9 ind/60m 2 ).
Surveys have showed that important commercial species are now rare in continental reefs,
whereas they are still abundant on most oceanic islands of Venezuela.
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