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NOAA First Ever Biennial Report Addresses Condition of Coral Reefs

Frequently Asked Questions

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service on September 18, 2002, released the first biennial "State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2002."

The report—prepared under the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force’s National Action Plan—provides a scientific baseline for subsequent reports on the health of U.S. coral reef ecosystems. NOAA and others involved in coral reef protection and management will use the report to evaluate coral reef conservation and management practices and help shape future actions and priorities concerning management and protection of these unique and valuable resources.

Background on the Report

Under the Coral Reef Conservation Act (Public Law 106–562, U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), enacted in December 2000, the Secretary of Commerce is responsible for helping to preserve, sustain, and restore the condition of coral reef ecosystems. The Act authorizes funds for the Secretary to establish a new Coral Reef Conservation Program and to fund a National Program to map, assess, and monitor coral reef ecosystems and conduct research, restoration, public outreach efforts and remove grounded vessels, fishing gear, or marine debris.

Presidential Executive Order 13089 in 1998 established the United States Coral Reef Task Force, comprised of 11 federal agencies, governors of seven states and territories, and presidents of the Pacific Freely Associated States of Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia. That task force adopted a National Action Plan calling, among other things, for preparation and distribution of this biennial national report.

What are coral reefs? Where are they located?

Coral reefs are Earth’s largest biological structures, consisting of millions of coral communities, each comprised of tiny interconnected corals. They generally sit on continental shelves and submerged bases of volcanoes in water up to 150 feet deep. They thrive in warm sea temperatures and cannot survive water temperatures colder than 60 or 65 degrees Fahrenheit for even a few weeks.

There are three general types of reefs—fringing reefs grow seaward from rocky shores of islands and continents; barrier reefs parallel shorelines and islands and are separated from land by shallow lagoons; atolls are ring– or horseshoe–shaped coral reefs and coral islets surrounding a lagoon.

The coral reefs discussed in this report are located along the Western Atlantic and the continental shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico and around Caribbean and Pacific Islands. The Western Atlantic and Caribbean shallow–water reefs described in this report are off the State of Florida, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge, between Jamaica and Haiti. The report also addresses deeper reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico. U.S. and unincorporated Pacific islands also are home to shallow–water reefs described in the report, and the reefs around the Freely Associated States are considered to be among the most biologically diverse in the world.

What is the extent of coral reefs under U.S. jurisdiction?

The U.S. has jurisdiction over coral reefs covering an estimated 7,607 square miles in the tropical–subtropical belt around the equator. Between 4,479 and 31,470 square miles of coral reefs are under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, collectively referred to in this report as the Pacific Freely Associated States. The report points out that not all coral reef ecosystems had yet been fully mapped as of the publication of the first biennial report, so it provides estimates of square miles covered where detailed mapping remains to be completed. It recommends completing basic mapping of all U.S. reefs, an effort now well under way.

Why are coral reefs important?

The product of thousands of years of growth and development and pre–human civilization, coral reefs are an important part of a country’s natural heritage. "Uses of reef resources are woven into the social and cultural fabric of coastal communities," the report notes, and native populations often are culturally and economically dependent on reefs and marine resources.

In addition, reefs often are closely connected with a locality’s or region’s economy. They help protect against storm wave action, help reduce coastal erosion and associated risks to life and also property damages. Worldwide, coral reef habitats are estimated to provide annual benefits of $375 billion in the form of fish and other food and ecological services related to tourism and coastal protection.

In the U.S. alone, more than 10.5 million people live in coastal counties and on islands near shallow coral reef ecosystems, and some 45 million tourists annually visit those areas. An estimated 44,500 jobs in south Florida—with total annual income of $1.2 billion—are linked to the state’s natural coral reefs. Noting a lack of "definitive data," the report says tourist expenditures in areas with coral reef ecosystems total about $17.5 billion annually, and commercial fishing accounts for an additional $246.9 million annually.

What is the general condition of coral reefs under the jurisdiction of the U.S. and the other partners in this study?

The conditions of coral reefs vary significantly from place to place, but the report finds that all coral reef systems have suffered some damages resulting from natural environmental and human disturbances. At the same time, it concludes that beautiful and healthy reefs "can still be found in all jurisdictions." The report says that "many scientists consider reef systems in Florida and the U.S. Caribbean to be in the poorest condition, mostly because they are close to dense populations and have been repeatedly hit by a series of hurricanes, diseases, and various chronic human–induced impacts. Pacific reefs, even around urbanized areas, are in significantly better condition."

It is best to consider coral reefs on a location–by–location basis, and the report’s individual qualitative regional summaries on coral reefs in 13 different jurisdictions is a good source for that information.

What are the pressures or stresses posing risks and damage to coral reef ecosystems?

Coral reefs are subject to naturally occurring environmental pressures and also to those resulting from human activities. Constantly occurring and gradual temperature changes and sea–level changes over the millennia and shorter term diseases, storms, and assaults from natural predators are among the most important natural environmental stresses. Effects can be cumulative over time, and coral reefs also can face multiple threats simultaneously or over a very short time period.

Environmental pressures resulting from human activities involve coastal development resulting from growing populations in coastal areas; chemical pollutants either in the form of toxic contaminants or nutrient enrichment; over–harvesting of fish resources and associated destruction of reefs and related habitats; direct harvesting for sale or trade of coral colonies or of exotic fish species living amidst the reefs; groundings of boats and ships and damages resulting from improper anchorage; adverse impacts associated with tourism and recreational activities; alien or invasive species; and marine debris.

The report notes that coral reef managers uniformly consider global climate change—with its potential for causing unacceptably rapid increases in sea surface temperatures and changes in mean sea level—to be "a major, yet large unmanageable threat" to coral reef survival. Global climate warming and the bleaching of coral reefs associated with it is seen as a "major threat" by reef managers from Florida, the Marshall Islands, and Pallau in particular, with some other reef managers considering climate change and associated bleaching a "medium threat."

Florida, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands coral reef managers consider diseases a prime threat to coral reefs in those regions, and coastal runoff, sedimentation and pollution and major hurricanes also are seen as major threats to reefs in a number of jurisdictions studied.

Only in the geographically isolated Florida Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary—more than 300 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, in the northwest Gulf of Mexico—is overfishing NOT seen as a medium or high threat to coral reef resources. Overfishing is of particular concern to coral reef experts in Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and offshore coral banks in the Gulf of Mexico.

What trends over time does the report describe concerning coastal reef conditions?

"There is relatively little quantitative information available assessing temporal and spatial trends in coral reef conditions," the report says. It says many coral reefs remain to be mapped and resources of many reefs have not yet been characterized, leaving "little comparative data" on coral reef function, structure, and condition.

"In cases where there has been credible long–term monitoring," the report points out, "there are alarming temporal trends" involving decreased live reef cover, disease and bleaching and significant mortality, and overfishing. Hunting over the past century has depleted sea turtle populations, leading to their now being protected under provisions of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

What is being done to protect and manage coral reef ecosystems under the jurisdiction of the report’s authors? What more do they recommend be done?

"Doing something" meaningful and effective about the risks posed to coral reef ecosystems requires, first, understanding those ecosystems and "what makes them tick" and, secondly, reducing stresses caused by human activities. An informed and engaged public is critical to achieving those objectives.

Experts agree that comprehensive mapping, assessment, and monitoring of coral reef ecosystems is critical in order for reef research and management activities to be well focused and cost effective.

Agencies of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, USCRTF—led by NOAA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in past months have made great progress in mapping the remaining unmapped coral reefs.

The three year old National Coral Reef Program is helping to fund state and island agencies to build local reef ecosystem assessment and monitoring capacities, and one outcome calls for a reef ecosystem health indicators "report card" on habitat, living marine resources, and water quality issues. A NOAA web–based data management and information system—http://www.coris.noaa.gov/—now provides scientists and others access to important coral reef data and information. NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program combines real–time environmental monitoring satellite data and information from in–water sensors, making "near real–time" bleaching alert information widely accessible.

More needs to be done to adequately protect irreplaceable coral reef ecosystems.
Among major recommendations detailed in the full report:

  • Complete mapping of U.S. coral reef ecosystems as a "top priority";
  • Conduct training of local coral reef managers in monitoring and assessment, and support those activities so that local capacities can be developed or strengthened;
  • Improve "no–take" enforcement activities in marine protected areas;
  • Reduce pollution and runoff from urbanized coastal areas through land–use, watershed conservation, pollution reduction, and other activities;
  • Increase citizen and community involvement and participation in issues related to conservation of coral reefs;
  • Increase interagency coordination among federal, regional, state, and local government interests.

The report, The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2002, is available in pdf format on the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s web site. Printed copies of the report are available from NCCOS, 1305 East–West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910–3281.