Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

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Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000 STATUS OF CORAL REEFS Bahrain The main coral reefs are limited to a few areas in extreme environmental conditions. Coral cover is generally low, with evidence of recent, widespread coral mortality. These coral communities are at the very limits of tolerance to salinity, temperature, and sediment load, but there are 28 species of coral in Bahrain. The reefs recently experienced two major coral bleaching events: summer of 1996; and more severely in the summer of 1998. These events resulted in the complete mortality of corals on Fasht Al Adhom, west Fasht Al Dibal, Khwar Fasht, north Jabari, Samahij, and Fasht Al Jarim. The only live coral reef surviving in Bahrain is on Abul Thama, a small raised area surrounded by 50m deep water about 72km north of the main island. In addition to coral bleaching in 1996, a large fish kill was reported in Ras Hayan lagoon. Sea surface temperatures of 38 o C were recorded in 1998 on Hayr Shutaya, about 30km north of Bahrain, and coral bleaching followed with morality between 85-90% of Fasht Al Ahdom, Jabari, Samahij, and Fasht Al Dibal. In 1996, corals were 100% bleached at Fasht Al Adhom, and 40% bleached (with 40% dead coral cover) at Jabari. At west Fasht Al Dibal there was 80% bleaching, and at Abul Thama corals were 33% bleached, with 33% dead coral cover. About 95% of the corals were dead on the Half Tanker wreck on Fasht Al Adhom by late-1996. On Abul Thama the hard corals on the seamount (which comes to 8m of the surface) were in better condition, because they are surrounded by 50m deep water. The cover of hard coral has remained relatively stable (25–35%), with a greater diversity of key invertebrate and fish species than Fasht Al Adhom. The major direct anthropogenic factors impacting on corals in Bahrain are commercial trawl fishing, dredging and land reclamation, with little consideration given to maintaining the environment. Prior to 1998, there were about 300 artisanal shrimp trawlers and 6 larger fish trawlers, which often poached in shallow waters around the coral reefs. The reappearance of small soft corals and crinoids on Bahrain reefs is linked to the 1998 closure of the industrial fishery. There are major industrial plants for electricity generation, water desalination, oil refinery, aluminium refining, and for petrochemicals that discharge heated seawater, which increases temperatures during the summer months. Land reclamation on the northern and eastern coasts have increased the area by 11km 2 in less than 10 years, often covering valuable coastal resources, but not yet directly impacting coral reefs. However, there are proposals to reclaim part of major coral reef areas at Fasht Al Adhom. There are government regulations concerning land reclamation, but there is little enforcement and compliance with these regulations, and many projects are completed without government approval. Dredging is used to maintain navigation channels and collect sand for reclamation and construction. About 10 suction dredgers routinely operate in Bahrain waters, including specialised cutter and suction dredgers. During dredging operations, large amounts of silt flow directly onto corals from Muharraq dredging area, with about 182,000m 2 reef area lost between 1985 and 1992. There was no regular monitoring of coral reefs in Bahrain until 1993, when a volunteer diving program started with assistance from the Department of Fisheries. These surveys show an almost total loss of live hard corals on Fasht Al Ahdom, with coral cover declining from 30- 58
Status of Coral Reefs in the Arabian/Persian Gulf 40% to 0% between 1997 and 1999. In 1999, divers saw small coral colonies (1-3cm diameter), but these were too few to be detected by Reef Check surveys. Key fish species were also scarce at 4-8m deep Fasht Al Adhom sites. Iran There are fringing hard corals along some parts of the coast and around most of the islands. Very little information is available on their status, with the most recent information from Kish Island, 18km from the most southern point of the mainland in the Gulf (26 o 30 ’ N; 53 o 54E’). Here there are sandy flats and mixed communities of live and dead corals, with the best live coral on north and northeastern margins. In shallower depths (8m) there is higher biodiversity of reef fishes, invertebrates and hard corals, compared to the deeper reef slope (13m). There was considerable destruction of branching corals during a storm in 1996, anchor damage is higher in deeper water (13m), and many corals in shallower waters are damaged by uncontrolled recreational activities. There are at least 35 coral species around Hormuz Island, with branching Acropora dominating around islands in the Gulf, as well as some soft coral (Sarcophyton) and crownof-thorns starfish (COTs) in the northern part of the Gulf (Tunb-e-Kuchak Island). At Kish Island, 19 coral species have been identified with Acroporidae, Favidae and Poritidae most frequently and Agariciidae and Dendrophyllidae are quite rare. Surveys showed that the upper slope at 8m depth had the best hard coral growth, with 22% cover, 21% dead cover coral, 44% sand and 13% for other invertebrates. Dead coral cover was 28% in deeper water, and 48% in shallow water. Reef Check surveys showed the highest diversity of fish in shallow water. Coral bleaching was observed in mid-summer (July-August) of 1996 around Kish, Faroor and Hindurabi islands, mostly in massive (Favia sp.) and sub massive corals (Porites sp.), with about 15% of all hard coral colonies showing some evidence of bleaching. Local divers reported the recovery of these reefs in the following summer (1997). Storms, bleaching and extreme environmental conditions (especially large variations in temperature during midsummer) are the major natural factors threatening the coral reefs at Kish island. Anthropogenic impacts come from coastal construction as this has been declared the main Iranian ‘free zone’. The ranking of impacts on reef corals around the Kish Islands are: overexploitation of living resources; poor land use practices; pollution from land-based activities; extreme environmental conditions; pollution from maritime transport; tourism activities; tropical storms; coral bleaching; and destructive exploitation of living resources. Kuwait Corals in Kuwait are in the northern Gulf, hence the extreme northern limit of distribution. Coral patches occur from Kuwait City south to the border with Saudi Arabia. There are also a few coral-fringed islands, and some patch reefs on sea mounts (all south of the major oil terminal at Mina Al-Ahmadi). Maximum depth averages 15m, with greatest coral diversity above 10m. Coral diversity is limited on offshore reefs at Mudayrah by offshore currents and rough seas and the reefs are surrounded by 30m depth. Qaro in the south has the most diverse reefs, dominated by Acropora and Porites, with above 80% live cover at many sites. There is an extensive reef surrounding Um Al-Maradem enclosing a lagoon about 400m offshore. Nearshore reefs such as Qit’at uraifjan are limited by high sediment loads, 59
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FOREWORD Over the past few years, I
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CONTENTS COUNTRIES, STATES AND TERR
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COUNTRIES, STATES AND TERRITORIES A
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Countries, States and Territories T
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Page 19 and 20: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CLIVE WILKINSON T
Page 21 and 22: Executive Summary CORAL BLEACHING I
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Status of Coral Reefs in South Asia
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8. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS OF EAST AN
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Status of Coral Reefs of East and N
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9. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS OF AUSTRAL
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Status of Coral Reefs of Australasi
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10. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN THE SO
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Status of Coral Reefs in the Southw
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11. STATUS OF SOUTHEAST AND CENTRAL
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Status of Southeast and Central Pac
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12. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS OF AMERIC
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Status of Coral Reefs of American S
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15. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN THE NO
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Status of Coral Reefs in the Northe
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17. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN THE EA
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18. STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN SOUTHE
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Status of Coral Reefs in Southern T
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19. SPONSORING ORGANISATIONS, CORAL
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Sponsoring Organisations, Coral Ree
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LIST OF ACRONYMS AGRRA AIMS ASEAN B
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