Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

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Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2000 must form co-operatives and are limited to 10 tons per day per license. New legislation will restrict extraction to fewer sites, with definitive cessation in 2001. About 2,700 jobs are generated by fishing activities on Mauritius and Rodrigues for a total catch of 6,800 tons per year. Amongst these fishermen, 786 have licenses and there are an indeterminate number of tuna fishermen and sport fishers. The main methods used are drag nets which are particularly destructive, but the practice has continued for over 30 years through licenses to fishing co-operatives. Legislation now limits the number of nets, their length and size and the Fishing Ministry has decided to ban these nets, which are not considered to be sufficiently selective. The incentives proposed are to provide each captain with 75,000 rupees (US$3,000) and 25,000 rupees (1,000) per sailor to turn in the licence and receive retraining, with the target of phasing out this fishing in 2007. The use of toxic plant extracts and dynamite for fishing is prohibited and rare, and spearguns are banned due to frequent fish trap raiding by divers. No fish species are threatened but environmental pressures are very high due to fishing. Although there is no legal limit to the number of fishermen, numbers have remained rather stable in the last 10 years while the total population on both islands has risen. Chemical and bacterial pollution from industrial or domestic sources constitutes a serious public health problem and also damages the reefs. Residential and tourist developments are concentrated but lack adequate sewage treatment systems, therefore there is chronic water pollution around urban and tourist areas. Only the 3 main towns are connected to sewerage systems, which discharge into the sea near currents that carry the wastes offshore. A project at Montagne Jacquot is building a waste treatment plant capable of complete treatment. Sugar cane farming is the main cause of agricultural pollution with cane farms occupying 88.5% of the 80,000 hectares of cultivated land with 17 sugar mills, which either discharge directly into the sea or into rivers. Rainwater runoff carries fertilisers, pesticides and large amounts of sediment into the lagoon, resulting in localised eutrophication and sediment damage to the corals. Laws from 1991 and 1993 require Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) prior to all coastal installations, and these are carried out by private, national or international consultants for the Department of Marine Ecology at the Albion Fisheries Research Centre which checks them prior to the final decisions being made by the Department of the Environment. While EIA is effectively used as a management tool, its efficiency in the management of coastal zone activities can still be improved. Tourism contributes 4% of GNP being the third largest sector in the economy and providing 10% of total employment (in 1995 there were 6,000 rooms and 51,300 jobs). Tourist arrivals increased by 31% in 2 years to 555,000 in 1997, and projected numbers are for 750,000 tourists in 2000. Most hotels are concentrated in a few areas, which results in serious sanitation problems. The 1991 ‘Environment Protection Act’ requires all hotels over 75 rooms to be linked to sewage treatment, and be preceded by an EIA, however, many hotels were built prior to this and now do not comply with these standards. Hotel operators deal only with visual aspects (cleaning the adjacent beach and lagoon, and revegetation) and leave the State to deal with wastewater treatment. This is now an urgent issue to resolve before adverse publicity ruins tourist and public confidence in the clean image promoted by Mauritius. Currently there is a 30% tourist return rate, which is exceptional. Actions to improve the environmental quality of the reefs and lagoons will 86
Status of Coral Reefs of the Southern Indian Ocean only occur if tourist operators are convinced that this is in their direct interest, and they should carefully consider tourist attitudes which are strongly towards environmental quality. La Reunion Island Pollution into the island lagoons is increasing in line with population growth, increased water consumption, and the proliferation of wastewater discharges. Urban developments on the coast, the sealing of lands for roads and other uses, and flood mitigation have lead to an increase in water runoff. Considerable efforts have been made since 1985 to improve urban sewage treatment, but problems still arise, including overflows from treatment works during peak tourist periods and heavy rains. This has resulted in bacterial pollution in the lagoons. Industrial wastes are generally discharged without treatment and are carried onto the reefs by ambient currents. Rainwater runoff carries fertilisers, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and sediments, particularly during cyclones, causing pollution to reef waters, particularly during the first rains of the rainy season. Eutrophication and adverse changes to coral communities have increased with increases in irrigation and the use of fertilisers and pesticides. La Reunion is a recent volcanic island and the reefs grow close to the shore, therefore, there is significant natural erosion of the land and coastline due to cyclones. This is now exacerbated by the high rate of development. Tourism is the major industry with over 300,000 visitors in 1995, and a target of 500,000 in the next few years, which makes La Reunion the second tourist destination, behind Mauritius. This concentration of tourists around limited reef resources is resulting in environmental damage, particularly through coral trampling and recreational fishing. Fishing on the reefs was originally practised by a few professional fishing families, but it has increased greatly. Intensive fishing pressure on offshore stocks in the 1980s has undermined this economic activity, which was considered marginal despite having 1,600 to 3,200 fishermen, including 800 registered boats. In order to reduce pressures on reef fish stocks, FADs have been installed successfully and fishers encouraged to target deep sea pelagic stocks, and seek employment with the longline fishing fleet. Parallel to this shift in professional fishing towards pelagic stocks, there has been an increase in subsistence level fishing associated with a 40% rate of unemployment. These fishers are targeting shore and reef fish using low cost hook and line and net fishing. Regulations have been introduced, but poaching is prevalent and decreases in reef fish stocks are clearly apparent. Seychelles Intensive exploitation of reef resources is not a major problem in the Seychelles, because of the large areas of reef and oceanic waters for a relatively small population that favours pelagic fish over reef species. A reduction in biodiversity in the Saint Anne Marine Park, which is only a few kilometres off major industrial and domestic pollution sources from the capital, Victoria indicates that coastal pollution may be damaging the reefs. These are also impacted by increased sediment runoff from development in the adjacent catchment area. Relatively high concentrations of tourists in the bays of the main island result in acute pollution problems with some localised damage to nearshore reefs. Tourism, however, is the largest economic sector in the Seychelles, with 120,700 tourists in 1995 generating 70% of the foreign revenue. There are 4,430 rooms in 122 coastal resorts, including 19 large complexes. 87
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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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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CLIVE WILKINSON T
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Executive Summary CORAL BLEACHING I
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Executive Summary South Asia Most r
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Executive Summary parts of Fiji and
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Executive Summary management and mo
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Executive Summary tourism developme
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Executive Summary problem is loomin
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Status of Coral Reefs of East and N
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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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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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