 |
|
Clown fish live symbiotically with sea anemones.
Photo credit: Andy Bruckner. |
|
|
Click on the links below to read highlights of NOAA's coral reef activities.
NOAA Issues
Report to Congress on the Coral Reef Grant Program. In December
2003, the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program released
a report to Congress on the implementation of the Coral
Reef Conservation Grant Program. Progress Report: The Coral Reef
Conservation Grant Program provides an overview of the program since its establishment in 2002. The report is available online at: www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/grantprogram/grantprogram.html.
Atlas
of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Available Online. The Bathymetric
Atlas of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is now available online. You can browse bathymetric data coverage, data sources, and statistical information, as well as download printable PDFs, synthesized raster grids, and metadata. The Atlas was produced by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fishery Science Center Coral Reef Ecosystem Investigation/Hawaii Mapping Research Group. Visit: http://crei.nmfs.hawaii.edu/BathyAtlas/.
Coral Disease and Health Consortium National Research Plan Released. The Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC), with support from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program, has published Coral Disease and Health: A National Research Plan.
This report presents a series of recommendations to address major gaps
in the understanding of and response to coral diseases and health. The
overall vision of the National Research Plan is to understand and address the effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on corals in order to contribute to the preservation and protection of coral reef ecosystems. Visit www.coral.noaa.gov/coral_disease/cdhc.shtml for more information on the CDHC or contact us to receive a copy of the research plan.
Coral Disease and Predation CD-ROM. NOAA Fisheries, in collaboration with the United Nation Environment Program’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, recently completed a coral disease and predation identification CD-ROM for western Atlantic coral reefs. The CD-ROM includes descriptions of the primary coral diseases and other syndromes reported from the wider Caribbean, hundreds of photographs of diseased, injured and bleached corals, simplified keys to assist in identification, and a reporting form for submitting records to the Global Coral Disease Database. The main objective of this CD is to assist dive operators and volunteer divers in the wider Caribbean to correctly identify causes of coral mortality. Copies of the CD and more information are available upon request from Andy
Bruckner. More information is also available at: www.unep-wcmc.org/
marine/coraldis/home.htm.
(top)
Summary
of Coral Reef Mapping Activities Available. The Mapping and Information
Synthesis Working Group of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force
has compiled a summary of coral reef ecosystem mapping-related
activities. The document (available as a PDF) is entitled Status
of Coral Reef Ecosystem Mapping Activities, and briefly describes coral reef ecosystem mapping activities completed or under way as of August 2003 within NASA, USGS, and NOAA. The Status report is available on the NOAA Biogeography Program home page. Click on the Status of Coral Reef Mapping Activities link in
the “What's New” box.
U.S. Coral
Reef Task Force Activities. The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force held it’s tenth meeting October 3 and 6, 2003, on the islands of Saipan (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) and Guam. Tim Keeney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and Craig Manson, Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Department of the Interior, co-chaired the meetings. Also in attendance were American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono, CNMI Governor Juan Babauta, Guam Governor Felix Camacho, and President Tommy Remengesau of the Republic of Palau. Senior representatives from ten other federal agencies, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands also attended. The Task Force adopted several resolutions on topics such as Pacific water quality, the Marianas Reef Assessment Monitoring Program, public and stakeholder involvement, and response to environmental impacts of natural disasters. Immediately following the October 2003 Task Force meeting, NOAA sponsored a Pacific Coral Reef Fisheries Management Workshop, which focused on fishery management activities and Local Action Strategy implementation. Summaries of past meetings are available on the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Web site. Read more on the Task Force in the September 2003 NOAA News article.
NOAA Releases Detailed Maps of Coral Reefs in the Hawaiian Islands. A new Web site and atlas are available from NOAA that provide baseline information about the location and distribution of shallow-water sea floor habitats and sea-bed features of the main eight and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Benthic Habitats of the Main Hawaiian Islands Web site and the Atlas of the Shallow-Water Benthic Habitats of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands-Draft support management, research, and conservation of critical coral reef resources in Hawaii.
Deep-Sea
Corals Workshop Summary Report Available. The Deep-Sea Corals
Workshop, hosted by the Irish Marine Institute and organized
by NOAA Research and NOAA Fisheries, was held in Ireland
on January 16 – 17,
2003. The workshop brought together leading experts to
begin formulating an International Deep-Sea Coral Action
Plan. The international scientists began to identify
and prioritize the research required to unlock the secret
of these ecosystems and to foster international conservation
initiatives to ensure their long-term viability. Download
a pdf of the report at www.nurp.noaa.gov/Attachments/DSC
Summary_June 2003_web.pdf.
News Archive:
