[Coral-List] Newsletter on NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Activities Now Available

Fri May 21 08:26:56 EDT 2004

Dear Colleagues:

NOAA Coral Reef News is a new monthly e-newsletter established to
provide current information on the activities of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program
and other relevant NOAA programs. The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation
Program supports effective management and sound science to preserve,
sustain and restore valuable coral reef ecosystems.  The first edition
of the newsletter is available below.  To receive future editions of the
newsletter, please send an e-mail with "Subscribe coralreefnews" in the
subject line to: requests at willamette.nos.noaa.gov.

Best regards,
Roger B. Griffis
Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program

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CORAL REEF NEWS
Coral Reef Conservation Program
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
May 2004 Volume 1 No. 1

NOAA Coral Reef News is a monthly e-newsletter established to provide
current information on the activities of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program
(CRCP) and other relevant NOAA programs.  The CRCP supports effective
management and sound science to preserve, sustain and restore valuable
coral reef ecosystems.  Please share this newsletter with your
colleagues and constituents.  Back issues are available at
http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov.

IN THIS ISSUE:

OF SPECIAL NOTE
· The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy released its initial findings and
recommendations for a new, coordinated, and comprehensive national ocean
policy on April 21, 2004.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
· NOAA Fisheries Scientist Receives Presidential Award.
· ICRI Releases First Edition of Newsletter.
· New NOAA Research Publication on Coral Bleaching Available.

UPDATES
· New Exhibit Features Oldest Known Living Coral.
· New Publication Provides Technical Advice for Establishing Networks of
Marine and Coastal Protected Areas (MCPAs) for Biodiversity Protection.
· NOAA Labs Spawn Invasive Lionfish to Predict Propagation.
· Pacific Coral Reef and Coastal Economic Valuation.
· New Satellite Sea Surface Temperature Dataset Available.
· CITES Animals Committee Considers Fossil Coral Definition.
· Proceedings from Caribbean Fisheries Workshop Available.
· Coral Reef Investigator Wins Prestigious Aldo Leopold Leadership
Award.

CORAL REEFS IN THE NEWS
· Saipan Tribune Article on Coral Reef Valuation Studies in CNMI.
· Honolulu – Star Bulletin Article on Coral Reef Expert.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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OF SPECIAL NOTE

The Preliminary Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, released
on April 21, 2004, presents the Commission’s initial findings and
recommendations for a new, coordinated, and comprehensive national ocean
policy.  Chapter twenty-one - Preserving Coral Reefs and Other Coral
Communities – includes four recommendations on coral issues.  Chapter
twenty-one can be found on pages 261-267 of the report, which is
available on-line at:
http://www.oceancommission.gov/documents/prelimreport/.  For future
issues, send potential items of Special Note (new discoveries, key
events, notable facts, etc.) to Lindsey.C.Williams at noaa.gov.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS
--
NOAA Fisheries Scientist Receives Presidential Award.
Dr. Andy Bruckner, of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation,
was recently awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists
and Engineers.  Specifically, Andy was recognized "for international and
domestic leadership as a world-renowned authority in the conservation of
coral reef ecosystems, and excellence as an underwater photographer."
These awards are intended to recognize scientists and engineers who,
early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the
frontiers of scientific knowledge and to foster innovative and
far-reaching developments in science and technology.  Read more on-line
at: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/pr.cfm?ni=91.
--
International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Releases First Edition of
Newsletter.
ICRI recently released the first edition of their new quarterly
newsletter.  The first edition includes follow-up on the second
International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium (ITMEMS 2)
as well as news and upcoming events.  Each issue will be available
online in HTML and PDF format at: http://www.icriforum.org.  Contact the
ICRI News Editorial Team (newsletter at icriforum.org) with comments,
suggestions for topics and news for the next edition, to be published
just prior to the International Coral Reef Symposium in late June 2004.
--
New NOAA Research Publication on Coral Bleaching Available.
The March 2004 NOAA Research publication "The Effects of Combined Sea
Temperature, Light, and Carbon Dioxide on Coral Bleaching, Settlement
and Growth" is available as a PDF on-line at:
http://www.coral.noaa.gov/cmrc/think-tank.

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UPDATES
--
New Exhibit Features Oldest Known Living Coral.
A permanent exhibit featuring the oldest known living coral, located in
the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, is now on display at the
Fossil Reef State Park on Windley Key.  Called the "Bicentennial Coral,”
this 415-year-old "Redwood of the Sea" is a mountainous star coral
(Montastrea annularis). On display is a core sample of the specimen and
a full-length x-radiograph that reveals its annual growth bands.  A
similar exhibit is planned for the Nancy Foster Center in Key West.
http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/.
--
New Publication Provides Technical Advice for Establishing Networks of
Marine and Coastal Protected Areas for Biodiversity Protection.
An international science group has concluded that well managed Marine
and Coastal Protected Areas (MCPAs), that afford a high degree of
resource protection, can aid the recovery of fisheries and habitats from
over exploitation and environmental stress, and can help countries
achieve the goal of sustainable use of living marine resources.  The
document succinctly provides key technical advice on a variety of issues
involved in the successful establishment and management of MCPAs.
Reference: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
2004.  Technical advice on the establishment and management of a
national system of marine and coastal protected areas.  SCBD (CBD
Technical Series No. 13). 40 p.  A pdf of the publication is available
at:  http://www.biodiv.org/doc/publications/cbd-ts-13.pdf.
--
NOAA Labs Spawn Invasive Lionfish to Predict Propagation.
Will the recent invasive species, lionfish, Pterois volitans, reproduce
and propagate in their new habitat, or will they die out, with little or
no ecological consequence?  Lionfish, identified in 2002 by the NOAA
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research (CCFHR) as an invader
from the Indo-Pacific, have spawned in captivity for the first time in
CCFHR labs. This now answers the question of whether the lionfish
invasion is simply a flash-in-the pan, or whether it might rapidly
propagate and have serious ecological consequences to Western North
Atlantic ecosystems.  Research on the reproductive biology and vital
rates of lionfish will result in a predictive model that forecasts the
propagation potential of this invasive species in its new environment.
Visit http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/about/ccfhr.html to learn more
about the Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research.
--
Pacific Coral Reef and Coastal Economic Valuation Studies.
Technical assistance on the economic valuation of local coral and
coastal resources is being provided to Guam and the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).  In late March and early April 2004, an
environmental economist spent one week each in CNMI and Guam, meeting
with local coral and coastal managers, and stakeholders including
fishermen, cultural representatives, and tourism and other coastal
industries.  The outcome of the meetings will be locally-prioritized
Terms of Reference and Requests for Proposals that the local government
agencies will use to select experts to perform coral and coastal
economic valuation studies.  The studies will be supported by the NOAA
Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) Coastal Programs
Division and funded cooperatively by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation
Program, NOAA Pacific Services Center, CNMI and Guam.  This work is part
of a larger initiative to develop economic values for local coral reef
and coastal resources in the U.S. Flag Islands in the Pacific and
Caribbean.
--
New Satellite Sea Surface Temperature Dataset Available.
An improved climate data record for Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is now
available.  These new Pathfinder SST data have a resolution of 4 km
globally, the highest possible global resolution for Advanced Very High
Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data and a significant improvement over
previous Pathfinder and NOAA operational SST data.  Improved land
masking and processing systems result in greatly improved coastal
coverage.  Daily, 5-day, weekly, 8-day, monthly, and annual SST
summaries and climatologies, as well as data describing the quality and
variability of the SST measurements, are available for 1985-2001 from
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/sog.  An interim product is also available for
2002 and beyond.  The NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center, NOAA
Coral Reef Watch, and the University of Miami’s Rosentiel School of
Marine and Atmospheric Science released these improved data records.
--
CITES Animals Committee Considers Fossil Coral Definition.
At the 20th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Animals Committee,
the Coral Trade Working Group (WG) was requested to 1) consider
approaches suggested by Parties and NGOs to define and distinguish
fossilized corals in trade and 2) recommend a practical means of
distinguishing fossilized corals from non-fossilized corals in
international trade. Currently all stony corals (live and dead),
including live rock and reef substrate are listed in Appendix II, which
requires that exports are accompanied by permits that indicate the
corals were legally acquired and that their trade will not be
detrimental to the survival of the species or its role in the
ecosystem.  The WG had not come to consensus during previous meetings,
mainly because the existing proposal considered live rock as being
permanently buried by coralline algae, and hence trade in live rock
would no longer be regulated by CITES.  The WG adopted an alternative
approach that defines fossils as all categories of coral rock, except
live rock, as defined in Res. Conf. 11.10 (Rev. CoP12).  As defined,
fossils that are no longer subject to the provisions of the Convention
include dry coral rock with no readily recognizable corallite structures
as well as “reef substrate”, which includes small pieces of reef rock
with attached invertebrates transported in water, while live rock is
still under CITES control.
http://www.cites.org/eng/cttee/AC/index.shtml.
--
Proceedings from Caribbean Fisheries Workshop Available.
A report on the proceedings of the Fall 2002 “Caribbean Regional
Workshop on Coral Reef Fisheries Management: Collaboration on Successful
Management, Enforcement and Education Methods” is now available.  Visit
http://seagrant.uprm.edu/publications.html to download a copy.
--
Coral Reef Investigator Wins Prestigious Aldo Leopold Leadership Award.
Dr. Bob Richmond is one of twenty scientists recently selected as a 2004
Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow. Selected through a competitive
application process, the goal is to improve the flow of accurate,
credible scientific information to policy makers, the media and the
public. By training outstanding academic environmental scientists to be
better communicators of complex scientific information, the fellowship
program provides scientists with intensive communications and leadership
training to help them communicate scientific information effectively to
non-scientific audiences.  http://www.leopoldleadership.org.

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CORAL REEFS IN THE NEWS
--
Saipan Tribune Article on Coral Reef Valuation Studies in CNMI.
Read the April 2, 2004 article “Coral Reefs Valuable Asset in Pacific”
from the Saipan Tribune (http://www.saipantribune.com) at
http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2004/April/04-02-27.htm.
--
Honolulu – Star Bulletin Article on Coral Reef Expert.
Read the March 23, 2004 article on Dr. Bob Richmond, “World expert on
coral reefs joins UH staff.” at
http://starbulletin.com/2004/03/23/news/story9.html.

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UPCOMING EVENTS
--
If you have events you would like listed in future newsletters please
send them to Lindsey.C.Williams at noaa.gov.
--
June 2004
5: World Environment Day. http://www.unep.org/wed/2004/.
8: World Ocean Day.  http://www.worldoceanday.org/.
9 – 10: Capitol Hill Oceans Week 2004. Washington, DC.
http://www.nmsfocean.org.
21 – 25: 23rd Annual Pacific Islands Environment Conference.  Saipan,
CNMI.  Pacific Rim Concepts.
28 – July 2: 10th International Coral Reef Symposium. Okinawa, Japan.
http://www.plando.co.jp/icrs2004.
--
July 2004
11 – 13: Blue Vision Conference. Washington, DC.
http://www.bluevizmeet.com.
11 – 14: Watershed 2004 Conference.  Dearborn, Michigan.
http://www.wef.org/conferences/watershed04.jhtml.
18 – 22: National Marine Educators Association – Annual Meeting. Tampa
Bay, Florida.
http://www.floridamarine.org/education/category_main.asp?id=2088.
21 – 23: Climate Change and Aquatic Systems – Past, Present and Future.
University of Plymouth, U.K.
http://www.biology.plymouth.ac.uk/climate/climate.htm.
30 – August 2: Society for Conservation Biology, 18th Annual Meeting.
New York, NY.  http://cerc.columbia.edu/scb2004/
--
September 2004
12 – 15: Restore America's Estuaries' 2nd National Conference on Coastal
and Estuarine Habitat Restoration.  Seattle, WA.
http://www.estuaries.org.
14 – 15: 12th U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting. Miami, Florida.
http://www.coralreef.gov.
19 – 23:  13th International Conference of Aquatic Invasive Species.
Ennis, County Clare, Ireland.
http://www.aquatic-invasive-species-conference.org.

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Questions, comments?
Contact Lindsey.C.Williams at noaa.gov, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation
Program.

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Access to NOAA’s coral reef data and information is provided through
NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System at www.coris.noaa.gov.  Current
news on NOAA’s coral reef activities can be found on the NOAA Coral Reef
Conservation Program Web site, www.coralreef.noaa.gov.