[Coral-List] Unidentified fish

booth booth at easternct.edu
Tue Aug 16 14:21:23 EDT 2011


Is it possibly a longnose lancet fish, Alepisaurus?  One would have to see
the dorsal and pectoral fins extended to be sure.

http://soknowthestarfish.blogspot.com/2010/03/fish-o-day-lancetfish.html

Chuck


On 8/16/11 6:21 AM, "coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov"
<coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

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> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
>    1. Unidentified fish species (Mark J A Vermeij)
>    2. Re: Economic Valuation and market based conservation
>       (Nim, Carl J. Mr.)
>    3. NOAA CRCP Capacity Assessment Solicitation (Tracy Parsons)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:36:46 -0400
> From: Mark J A Vermeij <vermeij at hawaii.edu>
> Subject: [Coral-List] Unidentified fish species
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <fc49ce351500ee.4e48e8ae at hawaii.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
> 
> Dear all
> 
> On the evening of August 13th a fish was caught by local fishermen at a
> depth of approximately 100 meters. At present no one has any idea what
> species this fish might be. Pictures taken by the fishermen are shown at our
> website:
> 
> http://www.researchstationcarmabi.org/news/latest-news/98-unknown-fish-species
> 
> and all who know  what species this fish is are invited to send an  email to
> m.vermeij at carmabi.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.
> You need JavaScript enabled to view it   This e-mail address is being
> protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   with the
> supposed species name so the information can be shared with the local fishing
> community. 
>  
>  Thanks in advance.
> 
> Mark
> 
> __________________________________
> Dr. M.J.A. Vermeij
> Science Director
> Carmabi Foundation
> Piscaderabaai z/n
> Cura?ao, Netherlands Antilles
> Phone: +5999-5103067
> Email: m.vermeij at carmabi.org
> Skype: markvermeij
> Web:http://www.researchstationcarmabi.org/
> 
> NOTE THAT THIS HAWAII MAIL ADDRESS WILL NO LONGER WORK AFTER SEPTEMBER 2010,
> PLEASE USE M.VERMEIJ at CARMABI.ORG OR CARMABILOG at GMAIL.COM INSTEAD.
> 
> Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics  IBED
> University of Amsterdam
> Science Park 700
> 1098 XH Amsterdam
> The Netherlands
> Web: http://www.science.uva.nl/ibed/home.cfm
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:42:32 -0400
> From: "Nim, Carl J. Mr." <nimcj at muohio.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Economic Valuation and market based
> conservation
> To: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Message-ID:
> <B48D65744884A54D9ABC479FCE9851CE70B6877230 at FACCMS4.it.muohio.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
> 
> Greetings Coral-List Readers,
> 
> I agree with Quenton about the numerous political initiatives and economic
> activities (such as tourism) that are not paid equal attention to in relation
> to other aforementioned coral reef related topics (e.g. agriculture, offshore
> energy, fisheries, MPAs), but I would also like to point out that the
> sub-discipline of political ecology is one area where these relationships have
> been investigated.
> 
> While political ecology is certainly not the most recognized area of research,
> there are numerous discussion threads from Coral-List where I have thought
> that political ecology would be a great theoretical basis for scientific
> inquiry to the the environmental problem mentioned. Political ecology directly
> addresses the political and economic powers that influence environmental
> problems and has been used by more well-known researchers, such as Susan
> Stonich, in tropical marine settings to address tourism related issues. In my
> personal opinion political ecology provides an appropriate and effective means
> of understanding the political and economic forces affecting coral reef
> ecosystems throughout the world and I would encourage researchers unfamiliar
> with this sub-discipline to see what they come up with on an ISI Web of
> Science or Google search. It is my hope that this area of research gains more
> attention and can provide information that can enable us to make wiser
> decisions i
>  n relation to our natural resource decisions.
> 
> Hope my polyp in a reef of information is useful to some!
> 
> Carl
> 
> 
> 
> Carl Nim
> Graduate Student
> Institute of Environmental Sciences
> Miami University
> Oxford, Ohio
> nimcj at muohio.edu
> 
> "It is not necessary to change.  Survival is not mandatory."
> W. Edwards Deming
> ________________________________________
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Quenton Dokken
> [qdokken at gulfmex.org]
> Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2011 18:57
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Cc: Yoskowitz, David; 'Bruce Tackett'; ddavis77127 at comcast.net
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Economic Valuation and market based conservation
> 
> Good Day All,
> 
> Discussion on the impacts of tourism is critical and perhaps long overdue.  In
> 2009 (or was it 2010?) the NOAA Coral Reef Task Force met in St. Thomas, VI in
> December.  This was a well attended meeting with strong representation from
> government and science.  It was held in a upper scale hotel located on the
> shore.  Outside the picture windows lining one entire side of the meeting room
> we could see the next five star hotel being built.  As it rained we could see
> dense sediment plums spreading out from the construction site across the bay.
> As we listened to scientists call for more research funding I commented to my
> friend, a VI government employee, that what we really needed was to stop the
> infrastructure development activities that were degrading the bays such as was
> plainly visible not more than 100 feet from where we were sitting.  My friend
> responded, "Oh no, you cannot say that.  The Governor would not like it
> because it could have a negative effect on tourism developmen
>  t."  And, therein lies the conundrum we face.  In Ecology 101 we learned the
> concept of "maximum holding capacity."  When it comes to tourism development
> the truth and wisdom of this maxim is null and void.
> 
> We vigorously debate the impacts of agriculture, offshore energy, fisheries,
> etc.  But do we give equal attention to tourism which, arguably, could be the
> most environmentally and economically impactful of all the industries? In all
> coastal areas tourism is a primary source of employment and business
> development, and its environmental impacts occur 24/7 every day of every year
> of every decade.... These impacts are not acute or plainly visible.  They are
> chronic and slow to express themselves; as such they do not get front page
> attention.  And, typically the community leaders, media, Chamber of Commerce,
> Tourism Board, banks, business owners, and land owners are the promoters of
> "more" tourism; often under guise of "eco" tourism.
> 
> We can discuss and manage offshore activities for evermore (CZM, CMSP, etc),
> but if we do not manage the activities above the high tide line just as
> stringently we will not achieve sustainability of environment, economy, or
> culture.  We need tourism just as we need robust agriculture, fisheries, and
> energy industries.  But, we do need to be paying more attention to the impacts
> of the tourism industry and devising strategies to minimize and when possible
> eliminate these impacts.  Not maximum, but OPTIMUM holding capacity needs to
> be the foundation of every discussion.  I am sympathetic to the plight of the
> native populations who only get the crumbs of the wealth generated by this
> industry.  I would also be the last to tell a man struggling to feed his
> family that he could not eat the last dodo bird.  But we must find solutions;
> otherwise the idea of sustainability will never be more than a concept.
> 
> Quenton
> 
> 
> Dr. Quenton Dokken, President/CEO
> www.gulfmex.org
> 
> Mailing: PMB 51 5403 Everhart Rd.
>                   Corpus Christi, TX 78411
> 
> Physical: 3833 South Staples Suite S214
>                   Corpus Christi, TX 78411
> 
> O: 361-882-3939   F: 361-882-1262   C: 361-442-6064
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Phil Dustan
> Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 1:04 PM
> To: Bill Allison
> Cc: Eugene Shinn; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Economic Valuation and market based conservation
> 
> However,
>     Right now one of the major rivers in that region of Peru, Rio de
> Madre de Dios, is being plundered by thousands of people searching for
> gold worth over 1700usd/gram. They use dredges, fire hoses, and shovels.
> For every gram of gold there are one to two grams of mercury released
> into the environment (estimated at 40 tons per year or more!).  Miners
> have rights to the minerals that trump conversation easements on the
> surface of the land.
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/8284407/Gold-rush-in-the-Amazon.html
> http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0018875#s1
> 
>  This is a place where there is still intact rainforest with  jaguars,
> pumas, ocelots, 13 species of monkeys, over 600 bird species, etc that
> are free ranging. But gold is more valuable to the thousands who have
> flocked there from urban areas.
>         So once again, even though nature may have a greater worth,
> commerce is destroying what little is left of intact nature.
>                 Phil
> 
> 
> Bill Allison wrote:
>> Catching up on PLoS One I came across this article relevant to this
>> discussion. In my experience eco-tourism is often less eco and more tourism
>> in part because the marine environment is harder to govern, but the article
>> provides some empirically grounded food for thought.
>> 
>> Kirkby, C. A., R. Giudice-Granados, et al. (2010). "The Market Triumph of
>> Ecotourism: An Economic Investigation of the Private and Social Benefits of
>> Competing Land Uses in the Peruvian Amazon." PLoS ONE 5(9): e13015.
>>     Annual revenue flow to developing countries for ecotourism (or
>> nature-based tourism) could be as large as US$ 1210?1012, providing an
>> enormous financial incentive against habitat loss and exploitation. However,
>> is ecotourism the most privately and/or socially valuable use of rainforest
>> land? The question is rarely answered because the relevant data, estimates
>> of profits and fixed costs, are rarely available. We present a social
>> cost-benefit analysis of land use in an ecotourism cluster in the Tambopata
>> region of Amazonian Peru. The net present value of ecotourism-controlled
>> land is given by the producer surplus (profits plus fixed costs of
>> ecotourism lodges): US$ 1,158 ha?1, which is higher than all currently
>> practiced alternatives, including unsustainable logging, ranching, and
>> agriculture. To our knowledge, this is the first sector-wide study of
>> profitability and producer surplus in a developing-country ecotourism sector
>> and the first to compare against equivalent measures for a spectrum of
>> alternative uses. We also find that ecotourism-controlled land sequesters
>> between 5.3 to 8.7 million tons of above-ground carbon, which is equivalent
>> to between 3000?5000 years of carbon emissions from the domestic component
>> of air and surface travel between the gateway city of Cusco and the lodges,
>> at 2005 emission rates. Ecotourism in Tambopata has successfully monetized
>> the hedonic value of wild nature in Amazonian Peru, and justifies the
>> maintenance of intact rainforest over all alternative uses on narrow
>> economic grounds alone.
>> 
>> http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013015
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 1:55 PM, Szmant, Alina <szmanta at uncw.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> Hi Gene:
>>> 
>>> Nice summary of the old times and history of the Keys.  I remember the
>>> Overseas Highway back in the 1950s when my family drove to Key West to take
>>> the ferry to Havana.  There were a few road-side stands with clumps of
>>> bleached Acropora cervicornis (no I did know the scientific name back then
>>> but I can clearly see the corals in my mind) and a few small A. palmata.
>>>  But I was most impressed as a child by the dried coconuts made into pirate
>>> faces!
>>> 
>>> The first time I went diving in Keys was 1977 and in the Bahamas (Nassau)
>>> 1971, and coming from living and working in La Parguera PR, where there were
>>> still lots of live coral (70+ % live cover) and fishes, and hardly any algae
>>> except in grassbeds and mangroe lagoons, I confess I was not impressed by
>>> what I saw, and attributed the differences to the marginal latitude and
>>> colder winters.  In PR we didn't start seeeing major loss of coral until
>>> after the 1987 bleaching events, and I was impressed with the amount of dead
>>> coral along the Andros reef line facing crystal clear Tongue of the Ocean,
>>> including unihabited Jolters Keys, in 1986-1987.  Mid 80's I had a chance to
>>> explore other parts of the Bahamas along Eleuthera, and was also impressed
>>> by high rates of bioerosion and partial mortality even in areas of minimal
>>> human presence.  My first work in the Florida Keys was on Carysfort in 1982
>>> when the reef was covered by dense thickets of A cervicornis and palmata ...
>>>  We had a re
>>>  al cold winter December of 1983, and when I went back to look for the
>>> corals, spring of 1984, they weren't there.
>>> 
>>> While I am not discounting the potential negative influence of Keys
>>> development on the state of corals of the Florida Keys, it appears to me
>>> that bigger/more broadscale factors have been at work.  Could be Sahara dust
>>> was bringing in harmful substances including pathogens in the early 1980s,
>>> but a lot of work on that angle has not produced any conclusive evidence
>>> that I am aware of.  I still put my last 10 chips on the global warming
>>> square as being the factor that tipped the cart on top of overfishing and
>>> local sedimentation/water quality issues.  Unfortuneately, the interest in
>>> getting a better handle on coral reproduction and recruitment came late in
>>> the game once there wasn't much coral recruitment occuring on many reefs,
>>> and so now we can't really interpret what we measure as present rates with
>>> century back patterns.  We do know that places like Curacao and Bonaire have
>>> much higher densities of juvenile corals that places like PR and FL, but now
>>> these southern locations
>>>  are going down-hill real fast as they have also been hit by severe
>>> bleaching this past year.  Thus we are losing our chance for comparative
>>> ecology with the loss of these until recently, fairly rich coral
>>> populations.
>>> 
>>> Now that I too am retired, it will be up to the younger scientists to see
>>> if they can figure all of this out.  Back in 1984, as I was applying for a
>>> different position with the University of Miami, I was asked by a
>>> terrestrial type within the Biology Dept., who had little regard for marine
>>> biology, and even less for anyone studying corals and coral reefs (we were
>>> obviously just sun-and-fun types), what I would work on if all the corals
>>> died:  My reply was that maybe that would at last shake loose some research
>>> funds!  It's unfortunate that both of these events came to pass, but the
>>> fudning came to late for coral reef ecologists to get enough work done on
>>> reefs before we were already studying sick systems (at least for much of the
>>> Caribbean)..
>>> 
>>> So much we have learned, so much more to learn, and not so much time to
>>> learn it in!
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> 
>>> Alina
>>> 
>>> P.S.  I agree with you that the social valuation tack has not and will not
>>> work, because the problem is bigger than just coral reefs, and there at 7
>>> Billion contributors to the problem (and growing fast)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> **********************************************
>>> Dr. Alina M. Szmant
>>> Professor of Marine Biology
>>> Coral Reef Research Program, Center for Marine Science
>>> University of North Carolina Wilmington
>>> 5600 Marvin K. Moss Lane
>>> Wilmington NC 28409
>>> Tel:  (910)962-2362; fax: (910)962-2410;  cell:  (910)200-3913
>>> http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
>>> **********************************************
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov[coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.
>>> .noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Eugene Shinn [eshinn at marine.usf.edu]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 2:53 PM
>>> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>>> Subject: [Coral-List] Economic Valuation and market  based conservation
>>> 
>>> Dear Listers,
>>>      My criticism of economic schemes for saving corals and calling
>>> it "social engineering" apparently raised blood pressures and
>>> stimulated many thoughtful discussions. I can't respond to postings
>>> about many reef areas mentioned in the posts, but Rudy's posting
>>> touches on several events/changes in the Florida Keys that I know
>>> very well.
>>>      I was born in Key West and began diving in the Keys in 1950.
>>> There are not many of us left. Because of age and location, I
>>> observed many historical and sociological changes leading to the
>>> present. Even though this is a rather long read, here is some history
>>> as seen through cynical eyes. Keys history suggests possible ways
>>> Keys history affected coral growth. One must first realize that the
>>> Florida Keys have been a magnet for people running away from
>>> something since the first pirates and later loyalists from the
>>> Bahamas. Key West for most of its history was like a foreign country
>>> more closely allied to Cuba than the US and people running from
>>> something are still arriving. First some diving and social history.
>>>      When I began driving from Miami to go diving in the early 1950s,
>>> the only gas station between Homestead and Key West was in Marathon.
>>> The Last Chance Bar and Grill off US 1 in Homestead was almost the
>>> last chance. The Overseas Liquor store in Marathon was the other one.
>>> This was a time  when bay bottom mud was being pumped up to create
>>> Duck Key and Key Colony Village, and other Keys were being enlarged
>>> and cut with canals.
>>>       There were about 20 hardcore divers spear fishing in the Keys
>>> at that time. We pretty much knew each other because we often met at
>>> the same Miami fish markets and restaurants selling our fish.
>>> AAU-sponsored spear fishing contests were held somewhere in the Keys
>>> every year. One could launch a boat at places like the Gulf Stream
>>> Club on Garden Cove or other out-of-the-way places with little worry
>>> that your car and trailer might be stolen. If you carried your 6-hp
>>> outboard in the trunk, as I did, you could rent a wooden skiff for 3
>>> dollars a day. There were no dive shops or dive boats. "Aqua lungs"
>>> were beginning to appear, but most skin divers could not afford them.
>>> The greatest deterrent to Keys diving and fishing was the mosquitoes.
>>> Getting from car to safely offshore was painful.
>>>      Some roadside shops sold a few conch shells and coral but there
>>> were few tourists. Mosquitoes kept them in their cars. The Coast
>>> Guard was still dynamiting coral to open a channel for supply boats
>>> that supplied the men living on lighthouses. About 5 people manned
>>> most lighthouses. Carysfort had telephone communications to shore and
>>> the remains of the cable are still in the access channel.
>>>      Motels were few and far between, and water barely trickled from
>>> showerheads. It came from a 12-inch-diameter pipe that ran from
>>> Homestead to Key West. Keys well water was brackish. Lack of water
>>> and periodic hurricanes such as Donna in 1960 and Betsy in 1965 kept
>>> development in check. The granddaddy of all hurricanes, of course,
>>> was the Labor Day Storm of 1935. It wiped out Flagler's railroad,
>>> killed more than 400 people, and remained on the minds of many Keys
>>> residents. But what about the coral reefs?
>>>      In the late 1950s, Dr. Gill Voss (one of my professors at UM)
>>> became concerned that the growing numbers of shell and coral
>>> collectors were collecting excessive amounts of coral. Few knew how
>>> fast corals grew, although the Carnegie Institute laboratory at
>>> Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas, had determined growth rates in the
>>> 1920s and 1930s. Voss published many articles that helped lead to
>>> creation of John Pennekamp State Park. The Park was named after
>>> Pennekamp because as Editor of the Miami Herald newspaper, he had
>>> played a major role in creating Everglades National Park. National
>>> Park rules prevented parks from being named after people. Ironically,
>>> the main purpose of the State Park was to prevent spear fishing.
>>> There had long been a war going on between Conchs (the name for Keys
>>> and Key West residents) and charter boat captains, and young spear
>>> fishermen from Miami. These young divers, including me, brought
>>> little money and competed for the local fish. They were socially very
>>> different. One diver I knew was actually murdered by lobster
>>> fishermen. No one was prosecuted. Interestingly, very few charter
>>> boat operators or lobster fishermen could swim or cared about
>>> learning. Fellow fishermen ridiculed them whenever one accidentally
>>> fell in the water. They literally looked down on those who donned
>>> masks (we called them face plates) and flippers. Hardcore divers
>>> scorned snorkels. They were for tourists and the usually had
>>> Ping-Pong balls or flaps on the top. So when did the major changes in
>>> the Keys begin and why?
>>>     Major changes began in the 1970s. First came the 36-inch water
>>> pipe to Key West. Motels and other businesses at last had sufficient
>>> water. Next came aerial spraying of toxic chemicals to control
>>> mosquitoes, and coincidentally butterflies. Additionally, and what I
>>> think most important, no hurricanes struck the Keys between 1965 and
>>> Andrew in 1992. Fortunately, Andrew missed the heart of the Keys.
>>> Burger Kings, McDonalds gas stations and marinas popped up by the
>>> later part of the 1970s. The biggest monetary change occurred when
>>> the square groupers arrived. Square grouper was the local name for
>>> bales of pot. Pot, smuggling, and later cocaine, brought sudden
>>> wealth, and almost overnight many lobster fishermen began driving
>>> Mercedes and purchased fleets of boats and thousands of traps. Motels
>>> and marinas enlarged and property values skyrocketed. Homes,
>>> property, and boats were being bought with suitcases of hard cash
>>> while beer trucks transported weed northward on US 1. Illegal aliens
>>> flooded in, leading to creation of roadblocks on US 1. They were
>>> usually right next to the Last Chance Bar and Grill. Inspecting car
>>> trunks revealed the true extent of drug smuggling so periodic
>>> roadblocks persisted. Roadblocks of course impacted tourism, leading
>>> to establishment of the so-called Conch Republic in 1981. Creating
>>> the Republic and threatening to secede from the Union was a joke but
>>> the term Conch Republic stuck and proudly remains today. To avoid the
>>> roadblock, smugglers could telephone the Last Chance Bar and learn if
>>> one was in place. Some Keys politicians and public employees could
>>> not resist easy money. Some roads to nowhere were constructed. The
>>> one on Sugarloaf Key was covered with skid marks where small planes
>>> landed to unload. It was a very different place worthy of many Jimmy
>>> Buffett songs. A pirate turns 40 became popular.
>>>      The exact dates escape me but a Federal court ruling limited the
>>> State's offshore jurisdiction to 3 miles on the Atlantic side of the
>>> Keys. Pennekamp State Park could no longer protect the best reef
>>> areas farther offshore. That change in Federal law provided an
>>> opportunity for NOAA's new Sanctuary Program to take over
>>> jurisdiction of unprotected offshore waters. By then, the National
>>> Marine Sanctuary Program had been created under the Department of
>>> Commerce to protect the site of the Civil War ship Monitor.
>>> Establishment of that site was followed by a proposal to create the
>>> Texas Flower Garden Reef Sanctuary; however, enactment took many
>>> years because NOAA was up against Texas politics and the petroleum
>>> industry. Sanctuaries were also being proposed in many areas
>>> previously selected as potential oil exploration areas. There was
>>> much angst within the petroleum industry and on Capitol Hill. But
>>> that's another long story.
>>>        Meanwhile, the Key Largo Marine Sanctuary was created after
>>> much wrangling, and State rangers were deputized to patrol both State
>>> and Federal waters. I was on the boat and took photos of the ceremony
>>> when John Pennekamp cosigned the official documents. At that time,
>>> corals were almost pristine.
>>>      After the new water pipe, initiation of mosquito spraying, lack
>>> of hurricanes, and the creation of the Sanctuary, the upper Keys
>>> became a magnet for out-of-state divers. They came in droves! Dive
>>> shops sprang up, as did dive charter boats. The war with line-fishing
>>> charter boats was over. Scuba diving became king!
>>>       Meanwhile, business leaders in the lower Keys took note and
>>> looked longingly at the activity and money lavished on the upper
>>> Keys. After some preliminary studies, NOAA next proposed
>>> establishment of the Looe Key Sanctuary. Several long and heated
>>> public hearings ensued. Most Conch Republic residents because of
>>> their independent nature resisted anything associated with the
>>> Federal government. Signs everywhere said, "Just Say No To NOAA."
>>> Some faded signs still exist. NOAA left but returned again thereafter
>>> and held the public hearings in Miami to avoid all the flack. Keys
>>> residents still did not want it, but finally the last bill Jimmy
>>> Carter signed on the night before he left office created the Looe Key
>>> Marine Sanctuary. Soon after, the first manager got busted and was
>>> fired for spear fishing at Looe Key.
>>>      Keys Conchs know the rest of the story. Sentiment began to
>>> change as non-Conchs (they are known as freshwater conchs) moved to
>>> the Republic. Population exploded, business flourished, and adult
>>> bookstores appeared on every major Key. Sometimes I wonder what the
>>> Keys real attraction really is?
>>>     On November 16, 1990, a new bill was signed that converted the
>>> entire Florida Keys into a National Marine Sanctuary. The final
>>> management plan was completed May 1993. It should be noted that the
>>> Sanctuary is under the Department of Commerce, which is
>>> philosophically and politically distinct from nearby Everglades Park
>>> and Biscayne National Park, which are under the Department of
>>> Interior. Pennekamp State Park still exists, as does the Looe Key
>>> Sanctuary, and there are several other State-owned land areas. In
>>> addition, there are Fish and Wildlife-protected areas nestled within
>>> the Marine Sanctuary. Fish and Wildlife is also under Department of
>>> Interior.
>>>        So what has all this activity created? By 1990, there were
>>> 30,000 septic tanks, about 10,000 cesspits (septic tanks without
>>> bottoms), and dozens of small sewage treatment plants outfitted with
>>> a total of 1,000 shallow injection wells to receive treated sewage. A
>>> regionalized sewage system is presently under construction, but green
>>> lawns flourish thanks to chemical fertilizers and weed killers.
>>> Mosquito spraying remains routine and I am told some butterflies are
>>> making a comeback. To my knowledge, no significant studies have been
>>> conducted to determine the effect of mosquito spraying on coral and
>>> the marine ecosystem. I conclude that even hardcore environmentalists
>>> draw the line between which organisms live and die. All these changes
>>> came rapidly, and one might at this point ask, did creating the
>>> Sanctuary to save the reefs have a reverse effect by publicizing and
>>> attracting more and more divers, businesses, residents, hotels, and
>>> motels, etc., to the Florida Keys? On other hand, did people come
>>> because of the unprecedented 27-year-absence of hurricanes? Or, could
>>> it have been the sudden abundance of freshwater and lack of
>>> mosquitoes? Was it the resultant increase in human sewage and
>>> chemicals that contributed to reef demise? Or was it caused by runoff
>>> of chemicals from agriculture, so-called "Big Sugar," to the north?
>>> Clearly overfishing explains the dwindling fish population, but
>>> whether that affected coral growth is controversial. Most Keys
>>> citizens have selected a favorite villain and some would like to see
>>> a barricade at the entrance to the Keys, or at least a tollgate. I
>>> personally maintain that a major factor has been the absence of big
>>> hurricanes since 1965. Periodic hurricanes, such as those that
>>> occurred repeatedly before 1965, would have greatly changed Keys
>>> history and development.
>>>      Nowadays, many argue coral demise is due to global warming, or
>>> the newest villain, alkalinity shift (a.k.a. ocean acidification),
>>> but they forget that major coral mortality began back when leading
>>> scientists were predicting global cooling.
>>>      As every coral scientist knows, the demise of the coral reefs
>>> began in the late 1970s and peaked in 1983 and 1984. Coral bleaching
>>> came to Florida later in 1986-87. Coral demise was occurring
>>> throughout the Caribbean in the early 1980s, even around islands with
>>> few people. The black-spined sea urchin Diadema suffered at least 90
>>> percent mortality everywhere in the Caribbean. The urchins literally
>>> died off in a period of one year during 1983, about the same year
>>> seafan disease appeared. Many acres of elkhorn and staghorn corals
>>> died within a few months adjacent to the Finger Lakes Marine
>>> Laboratory on remote San Salvador, Bahamas. The rapid die-off that
>>> happened in 1983 was well documented by the scientists at the Finger
>>> Lakes lab.
>>>      In retrospect, 1983 and 1984 were the banner years for African
>>> dust transport to the Caribbean as well as Acropora coral demise most
>>> everywhere in the Caribbean. I am reminded that the sponge industry
>>> suffered a similar Caribbean-wide demise in 1938 and later in the
>>> Gulf of Mexico in the late 1940s. The causes of the sponge deaths
>>> were not determined, and the events have long been forgotten. So what
>>> really caused reef demise and the earlier sponge deaths? Could it be
>>> a combination of factors? Many scientists and agencies seem to have
>>> their favorite candidates that shift with time. They generally prefer
>>> an activity such as anchor damage and boat groundings that can be
>>> controlled through fines. Natural biological cycles or the African
>>> dust hypothesis are not acceptable villains.
>>>      There is much we still don't know, and currently little research
>>> is aimed at experimentally determining causes. Finger pointing will
>>> likely continue until the coral bounces back and everyone can claim
>>> victory. I admit this is a personal rather cynical history not likely
>>> found in most publications such as those published by Chambers of
>>> Commerce and various agencies. Does any of this history relate to the
>>> original question of saving reefs through economic means? Will an
>>> economic valuation and market-based conservation approach as proposed
>>> for a mini-session at the next ICRS prevent a "tragedy of the
>>> commons?" Will these schemes actually save the corals? Who will
>>> profit and who will lose? I wonder if the corals will benefit.
>>> 
>>> Gene
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>>> 
>>> No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
>>> ------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
>>> E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
>>> University of South Florida
>>> Marine Science Center (room 204)
>>> 140 Seventh Avenue South
>>> St. Petersburg, FL 33701
>>> <eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
>>> Tel 727 553-1158----------------------------------
>>> -----------------------------------
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Coral-List mailing list
>>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>>> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Coral-List mailing list
>>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>>> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> --
> Phillip Dustan  Ph.D.
> Department of Biology
> College of Charleston
> Charleston   SC  29424
> (843) 953-8086 voice
> (843) 953-5453 (Fax)
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:26:36 -0400
> From: Tracy Parsons <Tracy.Parsons at noaa.gov>
> Subject: [Coral-List] NOAA CRCP Capacity Assessment Solicitation
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <4E4964DC.9080408 at noaa.gov>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> 
> Hello Coral Listers,
> I am writing to notify you that NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program 
> has published a solicitation in fedbizopps.gov related to our intent to 
> conduct capacity assessments in partnership with the seven US coral reef 
> jurisdictions.
> 
> If your organization provides these or related services, I encourage you 
> to respond to the solicitation. Responses are due by Sept. 2, 12pm EDT 
> and specific information can be found in the link below. If you know of 
> an organization that conducts this type of work, please pass on this 
> posting and link to the solicitation.
> 
> 
> Solicitation External Reference:
> https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/AGAMD/NCND10001102542/listing.html
> 
> Thanks in advance for your time.



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