From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Mon Jan 4 12:06:24 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:06:24 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] test post...and Happy New Year! Message-ID: <4B422010.4060606@noaa.gov> This is a test post to Coral-List. If you've sent stuff recently and it didn't go through, please re-submit. We had a power-outage at AOML over this last weekend. Thanks...and Happy New Year! Cheers, Jim From sealab at earthlink.net Mon Jan 4 15:26:19 2010 From: sealab at earthlink.net (Steve Mussman) Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2010 15:26:19 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Coral-List] Scientists and the Global Warming Debate Message-ID: <13816650.1262636780132.JavaMail.root@wamui-june.atl.sa.earthlink.net> >From the Washington Post & Chris Mooney. Seems apropos considering previous Coral-List discussions on the role of scientists involving themselves in the public debate on global warming. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123101155_2.html?referrer=emailarticle From stevenlutzmail at yahoo.com Tue Jan 5 12:54:43 2010 From: stevenlutzmail at yahoo.com (Steven Lutz) Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 09:54:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] Positive outcome from Copenhagen & Blue Carbon Blog (New) Message-ID: <174467.73198.qm@web57708.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Dear colleagues, One positive outcome from Copenhagen is movement on policy regarding the role terrestrial vegetation plays in storing atmospheric carbon (deforestation). This is basically a 'green carbon' solution, and can be seen as a important step in our appreciation of nature's role in countering climate change. A 'next step' may be an appreciation of the ocean's natural role in the global carbon cycle, a 'blue carbon' solution. This includes the carbon storing functions of mangrove forests and seagrass meadows. As many of these ecosystems are found adjacent to coral reefs, efforts to improve their health may also help conserve corals... Please see the new Blue Carbon Blog: http://bluecarbonblog.blogspot.com/ All things regarding natural ocean carbon / blue carbon / solutions to climate change to be discussed... Best regards, Steven Lutz Blue Climate Solutions A Project of The Ocean Foundation Email: steven.lutz at blueclimatesolutions.org Web: http://sites.google.com/site/blueclimatesolutions/home Blue Carbon Blog: http://bluecarbonblog.blogspot.com/ ><>?? ><>?? ><>?? ><>?? ><>?? ><>?? ><>?? ><>?? ><>?? ><> From eshinn at marine.usf.edu Wed Jan 6 13:29:50 2010 From: eshinn at marine.usf.edu (Eugene Shinn) Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 13:29:50 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Climate report from the Arctic Message-ID: >> >>US Weather Bureau Report >> >>The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in >>some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a >>report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consul Ifft, at >>Bergen , Norway . Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and >>explorers, he declared, all point to a radical change in climate >>conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. >>Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met >>with as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of >>3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses >>of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the >>report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have >>entirely disappeared.. Very few seals and no white fish are found >>in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts, >>which have never before ventured so far north, are being >>encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. >> >> I neglected to mention that this report was from November 2, >>1922 as reported by the AP and published in The Washington Post. >> -- 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- From mxr0777 at louisiana.edu Thu Jan 7 10:55:12 2010 From: mxr0777 at louisiana.edu (Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty) Date: Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:55:12 -0600 Subject: [Coral-List] Graduate Ph.D Fellowships in the field of Coral Molecular Biology Message-ID: The department of Biology of the University of Louisiana will be awarding University of Louisiana Fellowships and Board of Regents (BoR) Fellowships to Ph.D. students entering Fall 2010. UL Fellows are funded for 3-4 years and have limited teaching responsibilities, while BoR Fellows are funded for 4 years at and have no formal teaching duties. Stipends are up to $26,000 per year (with tuition waiver). Eligibility requirements include US citizenship, permanent residency, or a degree from a US institution (in the case for international students). Potential applicants interested to work in the field of coral molecular biology under the supervision of Dr. Rodriguez-Lanetty should contact him as soon as possible at rodriguez-lanetty at louisiana.edu (website: http://images.ull.edu ). GRE and TOEFL (for International students) are required. Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty, PhD Integrative Marine Genomics and Symbiosis (IMaGeS) Assistant Professor Department of Biology University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA 70504 Ph:1-337-482-6755 Fax: 1-337-482-5660 IMAGES Webpage: http://images.louisiana.edu/ email: mxr0777 at louisiana.edu From southern_caribbean at yahoo.com Thu Jan 7 09:15:49 2010 From: southern_caribbean at yahoo.com (RainbowWarriorsInternational) Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 06:15:49 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] Scientists and the Global Warming Debate In-Reply-To: <13816650.1262636780132.JavaMail.root@wamui-june.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <740872.30348.qm@web33005.mail.mud.yahoo.com> The article is quite clear and only reiterates what dozens on this list have already stressed, i.e. that scientists should speak out. The article also lists a report "Worlds Apart" about the relationship between media and the scientific community hailing from 1997, back when the Internet as we know it was in its infancy. It is really quite disheartening to see most of the predictions in this report not to have been heeded and the media and scientists drifting further apart. We have all the technologies and tools we need yet.... Something does not compute! Milton Ponson, President Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation (Rainbow Warriors International) Tel. +297 568 5908 PO Box 1154, Oranjestad Aruba, Dutch Caribbean Email: southern_caribbean at yahoo.com http://www.rainbowwarriors.net?(Global) http://www.projectparadigm.info To unite humanity in a global society dedicated to a sustainable way of life --- On Mon, 1/4/10, Steve Mussman wrote: From: Steve Mussman Subject: [Coral-List] Scientists and the Global Warming Debate To: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 12:26 PM >From the Washington Post & Chris Mooney. Seems apropos considering previous Coral-List discussions on the role of scientists involving themselves in the public debate on global warming. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123101155_2.html?referrer=emailarticle? _______________________________________________ Coral-List mailing list Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From sealab at earthlink.net Thu Jan 7 09:48:54 2010 From: sealab at earthlink.net (Steve Mussman) Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 09:48:54 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Coral-List] Climate report from the Arctic Message-ID: <3259288.1262875734505.JavaMail.root@wamui-junio.atl.sa.earthlink.net> With all due respect to Gene, the article posted from the Washington Post (1922) has made the rounds before. References can be found citing the same source in 2007 and 2008. Fox News and both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have already, in the past, effectively exploited this reference. A rather comprehensive explanation and analysis of the underlining factors can be found at this link: http://www.skepticalscience.com/article.php?a=1691 I only suggest that there must be a reason that these very same references keep somehow springing back into life as if they were new revelations. By the way, it sure is cold outside almost everywhere across the country. I expect my skeptical friends will continue to remind me of that. With warm regards, Steve From james.luyten at kaust.edu.sa Thu Jan 7 12:04:49 2010 From: james.luyten at kaust.edu.sa (James Luyten) Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 12:04:49 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Faculty & Research positions at KAUST Red Sea Research Center Message-ID: <647fe45d1001070904g1e432231se8450630713171f3@mail.gmail.com> The Red Sea Research Center at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) invites applications from scientists and engineers interested in joining in developing an integrated understanding of the Red Sea marine ecosystem, from the molecular/-omic level to the physical & chemical environment in which the whole ecosystem exists. We are seeking creative and independent individuals with specific interests in Physical, Chemical and Biological Oceanography, Marine Biology/Marine Ecology, Genomics, and Ecosystem Modeling. We are particularly interested in those who will make effective use of the unique access to the Red Sea region that KAUST can provide. We seek colleagues to join our Marine Science & Engineering faculty at the Assistant, Associate, or full Professor level with expertise in areas of: FA1) Ocean Physics and Modeling FA2) Coupled Bio-physical Oceanography Up to two additional faculty positions may be available. All expressions of interest should indicate the potential to complement and strengthen our existing expertise and utilize Red Sea Research Center and other KAUST facilities. Several research staff positions are also available.. Potential areas of expertise we seek to fill include, but are not limited to: RS1) Research scientist in the area of bioinformatics RS2) Research technician in the area of PCR/genetics facilities management RS3) Postdoctoral researcher in the area of fisheries research RS4) Postdoctoral researcher in the area of acoustic and/or archival tagging of fishes Our graduate program in Marine Science encompasses two tracks ? Marine Biology & Conservation and Ocean Physics & Modeling. Appointments to the Marine Science faculty will require involvement in the Marine Science academic program while those on the Research Staff do not. KAUST (*http://www.kaust.edu.sa* ) has been established as a world?class international graduate?level science and technology research university dedicated to inspiring a new age of scientific achievement in the Kingdom that will also benefit the region and the world. The KAUST mission emphasizes research on applications of science and technology to problems of human need, social advancement, and economic development, in collaboration with leading universities around the world. The overarching themes for KAUST in the coming decade are Energy, Water, Food, Red Sea and Environment, including high performance computing as a cross-disciplinary enabling technology. KAUST is dedicated to a respect for diversity and the highest standards of merit?based opportunity, and seeks the finest students and faculty without regard to race, gender, or religious belief. The campus is located in Thuwal, 80 km north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. KAUST has established advanced research centers that focus on interdisciplinary problems as the central organizing unit, and offering only graduate (M.S. and Ph.D.) degrees. KAUST has three academic divisions: Chemical and Life Sciences, Physical and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and Mathematical and Computer Sciences and Engineering. KAUST offers unparalleled analytical, research and computing facilities, with ready access to the Red Sea environment. Those interested in pursuing this unique opportunity should send a CV (including publication lists and contact information for at least three potential references) and a statement of research interests. Potential faculty members should include a statement of teaching interests. Send these materials and any additional inquiries to MarSE at kaust.edu.sa. Further details can be found on the University?s website, http://www.kaust.edu.sa/ James R Luyten Professor of Marine Science & Engineering Director, Red Sea Research Center Building 2, Office #UN2300 - 4274 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Thuwal 23955-6900 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia http://www.kaust.edu.sa/ V(KAUST): +966.2.808.2982 M:+966 54.470.0006 V(USA): +1.508.566.1198 F: +1.866.653.0679 Skype: jimluyten From eshinn at marine.usf.edu Thu Jan 7 11:51:39 2010 From: eshinn at marine.usf.edu (Eugene Shinn) Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 11:51:39 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] More on climate Message-ID: Another interesting take on climate change but its from now and not from 1922. Gene http://www.kusi.com/home/78477082.html?video=pop&t=a -- 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- From beth_nkoua at yahoo.com Thu Jan 7 17:43:34 2010 From: beth_nkoua at yahoo.com (beth polidoro) Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 14:43:34 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] Job Announcement: Marine Species Conservation Research Associate In-Reply-To: <4B057C2E.6030106@gmx.de> Message-ID: <15116.2118.qm@web51302.mail.re2.yahoo.com> The Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University, a "Doctoral Research - Extensive" state university, has an opening for a Research Associate in marine conservation.? The initial funding is for one year (potentially renewable) beginning as early as February 2010.? This position involves participation in a project to assess a large number of marine species for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species through a collaborative initiative with Conservation International and the IUCN Species Program.? The successful candidate will be expected to participate in the IUCN Red Listing process, including marine species research and conducting international workshops and meetings, supervise research assistants, and assist teaching courses in Ichthyology, and Systematics and Speciation.??At the time of employment, applicants must have a PhD in Biology, Zoology, Oceanography or a related field with a dissertation topic in marine conservation biology or marine ecology OR a Masters degree with at least five years experience in marine conservation biology or marine ecology.? A high level of proficiency in technical writing in English is required.? Geographical Information System experience, knowledge of Spanish or French, and a strong publication record are desirable. Please submit a curriculum vitae, statement of interest, and the names, telephone numbers, and addresses (postal and email) of three references to:? Old Dominion University Research Foundation, P.O. Box 6369, Norfolk, VA 23508 or email bpolidor at odu.edu. (electronic submission of materials is preferred).? Please specify Job #06022 and job title on application materials.? Review of applications will begin on 15 January 2010? and will continue until a suitable candidate is found.? Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.? Old Dominion University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and requires compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Fri Jan 8 05:59:51 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:59:51 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Job Seekers Message-ID: <4B471027.2010901@noaa.gov> From allison.billiam at gmail.com Fri Jan 8 07:31:46 2010 From: allison.billiam at gmail.com (Bill Allison) Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 07:31:46 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Climate report from the Arctic In-Reply-To: <3259288.1262875734505.JavaMail.root@wamui-junio.atl.sa.earthlink.net> References: <3259288.1262875734505.JavaMail.root@wamui-junio.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <1eab821b1001080431l5b08b473x5ba12bc72f03de04@mail.gmail.com> Here's a cherry: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2008/01/the_great_knickerbocker_snowst_1.html On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 9:48 AM, Steve Mussman wrote: > With all due respect to Gene, the article posted from > the Washington Post (1922) has made the rounds before. > References can be found citing the same source in 2007 > and 2008. Fox News and both Rush Limbaugh and > Sean Hannity have already, in the past, effectively > exploited this reference. A rather comprehensive > explanation and analysis of the underlining factors > can be found at this link: > http://www.skepticalscience.com/article.php?a=1691 > > I only suggest that there must be a reason that these > very same references keep somehow springing back > into life as if they were new revelations. > > By the way, it sure is cold outside almost everywhere > across the country. I expect my skeptical friends will > continue to remind me of that. > > With warm regards, > Steve > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From albert at ecology.su.se Fri Jan 8 08:07:33 2010 From: albert at ecology.su.se (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Albert_Norstr=F6m?=) Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 14:07:33 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] More on climate In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4E80D3A7-8F91-4BEB-8626-CF9BFF59988E@ecology.su.se> All John Coleman does is reiterate a bunch of arguments plucked straight out from the skeptic cupboard. Lets see, solar activity as the main driver of current warming? Oh yes, its in there. But seeing that there has been no positive trend in any solar index since the 1960s (and possibly a small negative trend), we can safely conclude that solar forcing cannot be responsible for the recent temperature trends. Cherry-picking data to show recent cooling trends? Sure, Coleman shows a graph with temperature curve from 2002 to 2006 and confidently claims that this proves that the dastardly IPCC and their cronies are wrong. Strange that the founder of the weather channel cant tell the difference between climate and weather; and that he chooses to ignore the latest report from the World Metereological Organization (http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/pr_869_en.html ) that states: ? The year 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).? and that ? The decade of the 2000s (2000?2009) was warmer than the decade spanning the 1990s (1990?1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s (1980?1989).? Does he mention climategate? Ofcourse! Data has been fabricated and journals pressed in not accepting papers that prove global warming is a hoax! Except that the emails referred to in the climategate scandal do not in any way show that data has been fabricated or that any research has been stopped from publication (see John Brunos post on this on climateshifts, http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=3717). There?s a few more, but I?ll leave it to other to debunk them if they see fit. I?m just curious as to why, when all of John Colemans arguments have been dealt with, recently, on this mailing-list, we must still be exposed to them over and over again? All the best, /Albert Norstr?m On 7 jan 2010, at 17.51, Eugene Shinn wrote: > Another interesting take on climate change but its from now and not > from 1922. Gene > http:// > www.kusi.com/home/78477082.html?video=pop&t=a > > -- > > > 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 > > Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- > ----------------------------------- > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > Albert Norstr?m > PhD Student > Dept. Systems Ecology > Natural Resource Management Group > Stockholm University > > Kr?ftriket 9A > 104 05 Stockholm > Sweden > > Email: albert at ecology.su.se > > Personal page: id=119>http://www.ecology.su.se/staff/personal.asp?id=119 > From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Fri Jan 8 08:41:48 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:41:48 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Fwd: Job Seekers Message-ID: <4B47361C.1010409@noaa.gov> Wonderful. Even MY posting got cut off! I tell ya' I'm still in the dark about why the listserver sometimes cuts content off and other times it doesn't. Here goes again: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greetings, Unfortunately, Coral-List policy is still that job seekers can not post resumes and job requests on Coral-List. However, keep your eyes open on Coral-List, because as you've just seen, jobs are posted all the time. You may also wish to scan the archives, at http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list/ and there are also some resources listed here, in an old December, 2005 post: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list/2005-December/034169.html I hope this helps! Cheers, Jim From dgriffin at usgs.gov Fri Jan 8 08:46:40 2010 From: dgriffin at usgs.gov (Dale W Griffin) Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 08:46:40 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] More on climate In-Reply-To: <4E80D3A7-8F91-4BEB-8626-CF9BFF59988E@ecology.su.se> References: <4E80D3A7-8F91-4BEB-8626-CF9BFF59988E@ecology.su.se> Message-ID: As I'm suffering through a second cruel winter in a row here in what should normally be 'balmy Tallahassee' I have to ask this question..........is the WMO data 'raw' "Everybody is ignorant, just on different subjects" Will Rogers Dale W. Griffin, Ph.D., MSPH Environmental/Public Health Microbiologist United States Geological Survey 2639 North Monroe Street, Suite A-200 Tallahassee, FL 32303 Office phone # - 850-553-3675 Laboratory phone # - 850-553-3659 USGS Tallahassee main office # - 850-553-3640 Fax # - 850-553-3641 Cell # 850-274-3566 email - dgriffin at usgs.gov From: Albert Norstr?m To: Eugene Shinn Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov Date: 01/08/2010 08:21 AM Subject: Re: [Coral-List] More on climate Sent by: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov All John Coleman does is reiterate a bunch of arguments plucked straight out from the skeptic cupboard. Lets see, solar activity as the main driver of current warming? Oh yes, its in there. But seeing that there has been no positive trend in any solar index since the 1960s (and possibly a small negative trend), we can safely conclude that solar forcing cannot be responsible for the recent temperature trends. Cherry-picking data to show recent cooling trends? Sure, Coleman shows a graph with temperature curve from 2002 to 2006 and confidently claims that this proves that the dastardly IPCC and their cronies are wrong. Strange that the founder of the weather channel cant tell the difference between climate and weather; and that he chooses to ignore the latest report from the World Metereological Organization ( http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/pr_869_en.html ) that states: ? The year 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).? and that ? The decade of the 2000s (2000?2009) was warmer than the decade spanning the 1990s (1990?1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s (1980?1989).? Does he mention climategate? Ofcourse! Data has been fabricated and journals pressed in not accepting papers that prove global warming is a hoax! Except that the emails referred to in the climategate scandal do not in any way show that data has been fabricated or that any research has been stopped from publication (see John Brunos post on this on climateshifts, http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=3717). There?s a few more, but I?ll leave it to other to debunk them if they see fit. I?m just curious as to why, when all of John Colemans arguments have been dealt with, recently, on this mailing-list, we must still be exposed to them over and over again? All the best, /Albert Norstr?m On 7 jan 2010, at 17.51, Eugene Shinn wrote: > Another interesting take on climate change but its from now and not > from 1922. Gene > http:// > www.kusi.com/home/78477082.html?video=pop&t=a > > -- > > > 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 > > Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- > ----------------------------------- > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > Albert Norstr?m > PhD Student > Dept. Systems Ecology > Natural Resource Management Group > Stockholm University > > Kr?ftriket 9A > 104 05 Stockholm > Sweden > > Email: albert at ecology.su.se > > Personal page: id=119>http://www.ecology.su.se/staff/personal.asp?id=119 > _______________________________________________ Coral-List mailing list Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From lisas at btl.net Fri Jan 8 09:21:49 2010 From: lisas at btl.net (lisa carne) Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 08:21:49 -0600 Subject: [Coral-List] MOC stopped?? In-Reply-To: <3259288.1262875734505.JavaMail.root@wamui-junio.atl.sa.earthlink.net> References: <3259288.1262875734505.JavaMail.root@wamui-junio.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <0AD40335-7466-4D70-96EA-00908E5FB42A@btl.net> Dear Climate change experts :) Am I being paranoid? about the freezing of britain and scandinavia countries and indeed most of north america? next door to belize guatemala & el salvador had droughts: most of their crops lost already- I know the other side of the world had 90 storms last year and fiji says they are having droughts & record heat... I did a very quick internet search to educate my facebook friends (who say things like so much for global warming) and couldn't really find a user friendly explanation-a lot of talk about how previous glacier melts (too much fresh water changing density relationships) have disrupted the oceans currents but who can say that will happen again? How much fresh water is needed?and a few assurances that we are good for another 100 years and yet it has slowed by 30% in the last few decades...and yet it seems all the worst predictions are coming true, faster (kinda like the melting of the glaciers in some cases has been faster than was predicted). and worse,every where it says we don't really have the science to predict and all bets are off...as to when it might happen.. actually the best website i found (so far) was wikipedia! It had some recent updates, honesty, and wasn't pages & pages of backpedalling. I write to you all for the latest info please and what could/will really happen. It's best to prepare for the worst & hope for the best! Here in Belize i greatly fear a huge influx "environmental" refugees and..much more... As further incentive for your expert answers/opinions: I promise to write an article(s) for the local & national papers (belize), and incorporate this topic into all my pp talks, work with tour guides.MPA managers, the fisheries dept, the public etc. How come I am not hearing about this topic right now? Please for some answers/direction to the answers. Esp as it relates to CO2 absorption in the oceans (which we are hearing is maxed out right?) and ocean acidification-as well as weather & climate conditions globally. easiest website below thanks lisa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_thermohaline_circulation From chris at oceanswatch.org Fri Jan 8 12:18:26 2010 From: chris at oceanswatch.org (Chris Bone, OceansWatch) Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 06:18:26 +1300 Subject: [Coral-List] Vacancy, Marine Projects co-ordinator In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8379CBE70CC849F2B5B95D218887322F@ChrisPC> OceansWatch has a vacancy for a Marine Projects Co-ordinator. Details are available here http://www.idealist.org/if/idealist/en/SiteIndex/Search/search?assetTypes=Job&keywords=oceanswatch&keywordsAsString=oceanswatch&languageDesignation=en Chris Bone From ladyfsu1 at yahoo.com Fri Jan 8 12:39:03 2010 From: ladyfsu1 at yahoo.com (Laine Smith) Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 09:39:03 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] hs teacher needs feedback Message-ID: <23968.9927.qm@web53103.mail.re2.yahoo.com> I've never posted on this list server before because I'm "simply a high school teacher," but I follow the discussions and read many of the publications that are found on coral-list (I can't even begin to tell you how much I wanted to say on the whole Ocean Literacy topic that was on here not too long ago). I've decided to post because I need some information from those who actually work directly/indirectly in the field at a higher level. I teach marine science honors to 11th and 12th grade students in Florida. We aquaculture corals and seahorses, do inquiry investigations regarding oceans and environmental issues (we were involved with the IYOR2008 project run by the Reef Stewardship Foundation), and we try to educate the public as well. I have the support from administration for a Marine Science 2 Honors next year. I have to now get this passed at district level. One of the questions they are asking me is "What is the need for adopting this course?" and asks for supporting evidence. Can any of you offer me insight as to how respond? I'm looking for things related to ocean literacy, employable skills, job market, higher education etc. (or any other great wisdom you can offer me). Thanks very much! Laine Smith River Ridge High School www.reefrascals.org Additionally, if there is anyone out there who would be willing to "Skype" or do a live interview online to my class from the field (even if that means hours of work at a desk - but underwater would be downright fun, too), PLEASE let me know. That would be for sometime this spring and hopefully quite a bit next school year. From jbruno at unc.edu Sat Jan 9 08:25:36 2010 From: jbruno at unc.edu (John Bruno) Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 08:25:36 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats Diadema? Message-ID: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> There was an interesting email thread about Diadema predators that went around among a group of 20 or so reef ecologists during the holidays. I just posted some of the highlights from the discussion and also some information on what eats Diadema from the classic Randall et al (1964) study of the biology of Diadema at ClimateShifts: http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=4188 (It is sad how many of these discussions take place online, but off of the coral list and are thus not archived and the collective knowledge in them is not widely disseminated) Predators of Diadema appear to include: snapper, jacks, porcupinefishes, trunkfishes, grunts including black margate, porgies, triggerfishes, pufferfish, large wrasses, parrotfish, octopuses, lobsters, large gastropods and even small crabs (which eat juvenile Diadema). Does anyone have further information or observation on Diadema predators that they'd be willing to share with the coral list or as a comment on Climate Shifts? jb From P.J.Mumby at exeter.ac.uk Sat Jan 9 08:51:24 2010 From: P.J.Mumby at exeter.ac.uk (Mumby, Peter) Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 13:51:24 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] reserves and coral recovery Message-ID: <0EA3DAA8DB70A041A4AFF40B1BED5013147D4A1E18@EXCHMBS04.isad.isadroot.ex.ac.uk> Dear Coral-list Some of you may be interested in a paper that's just been published in the open-access journal, PLoS One, which shows that the recovery of corals on Bahamian reefs was strongly impacted by macroalgal cover. Coral populations in a well-enforced reserve, that had elevated fish grazing and less macroalgae, exhibited a trajectory of recovery whereas those outside a reserve tended to remain static or decline further. The implication is that steps to manage algal cover, through the management of fish, urchins, water quality, and coral cover, can have a significant bearing on coral recovery - at least in the Caribbean. Apologies for advertising this paper on the list but the journal is not included in most reference databases and we thought that the results might interest reef managers. A pdf of the paper can be downloaded free of charge from: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008657 Cheers Pete & Al Professor Peter J Mumby Marine Spatial Ecology Lab University of Exeter e-mail: p.j.mumby at exeter.ac.uk >From 1st April: School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia From jcervino at whoi.edu Sat Jan 9 20:30:38 2010 From: jcervino at whoi.edu (James Cervino PhD.) Date: Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:30:38 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Long Term Temperature Trends Message-ID: <1263087038.4b492dbecd2ed@webmail.whoi.edu> Dear Colleagues- This is an Interesting paper & discussion on global warming. For those who want more information on the actual long term data trends in Arctic Ice please see: (if clicking does not work, cut and paste this URL). http://www.globalcoral.org/LONG%20TERM%20ARCTIC%20ICE%20TRENDS%20AND%20GLOBAL%20WARMING.1.pdf ************************************* Dr. James M. Cervino Visiting Scientist Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Contact Information: NYC Address: 9-22 119st College Point New York, 11356 Cell: 917-620*5287 ************************************ ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. From christian.voolstra at kaust.edu.sa Sun Jan 10 03:06:47 2010 From: christian.voolstra at kaust.edu.sa (Chris Voolstra) Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:06:47 +0400 Subject: [Coral-List] coral embryos temperature stress (Christian R. Voolstra) Message-ID: Hello colleagues, we have recently completed a study on the effects of temperature on gene expression in embryos of the coral Montastraea faveolata. The manuscript can be downloaded here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/10/627/abstract/ Gene expression data is available here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE15088 cheers, Chris -- Christian R. Voolstra Assistant Professor of Marine Science 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Building 2, office 4233 23955-6900 Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Tel.: +966 2 808 2377 http://faculty.kaust.edu.sa/christianvoolstra From allison.billiam at gmail.com Sun Jan 10 11:49:04 2010 From: allison.billiam at gmail.com (Bill Allison) Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:49:04 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats Diadema? In-Reply-To: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> References: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> Message-ID: <1eab821b1001100849i7fd64a3dsae773f717c6887ae@mail.gmail.com> Add the sea star Culcita to the list of possible Indo-Pacific suspects. Some asteroids are known to eat urchins (Dayton et al., 1977; Rosenthal & Chess, 1972; Schroeter et al., 1983) and I have witnessed Culcita eating large numbers of Echinometra (Tonga)and Echinostrephus (Maldives - where it could be collateral damage). It would not surprise me if they ate smaller Diadema but I have not seen it in Maldives where I have made most of my observations and Diadema are generally low density and adult thanks to a diversity of predators (large Balistids especially). Bill Refs Dayton, P. K., R. J. Rosenthal, et al. (1977). "Population structure and foraging biology of the predaceous Chilean asteroid Meyenaster gelatinosus and the escape biology of its prey." Marine Biology 39: 361-370. Rosenthal, R. J. and J. R. Chess (1972). "A predator-prey relationship between the leather star, Dermasterieas imbricata, and the purple urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus." Fish. Bull. U.S. 70: 205-216. Schroeter, S. C., J. Dixon, et al. (1983). "Effects of the Starfish Patiria miniata on the Distribution of the Sea Urchin Lytechinus anamesus in a Southern Californian Kelp Forest." Oecologia 56(2/3): 141-147. On Sat, Jan 9, 2010 at 8:25 AM, John Bruno wrote: > There was an interesting email thread about Diadema predators that went > around among a group of 20 or so reef ecologists during the holidays. I > just posted some of the highlights from the discussion and also some > information on what eats Diadema from the classic Randall et al (1964) study > of the biology of Diadema at ClimateShifts: > http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=4188 > > (It is sad how many of these discussions take place online, but off of the > coral list and are thus not archived and the collective knowledge in them is > not widely disseminated) > > Predators of Diadema appear to include: snapper, jacks, porcupinefishes, > trunkfishes, grunts including black margate, porgies, triggerfishes, > pufferfish, large wrasses, parrotfish, octopuses, lobsters, large gastropods > and even small crabs (which eat juvenile Diadema). > > Does anyone have further information or observation on Diadema predators > that they'd be willing to share with the coral list or as a comment on > Climate Shifts? > > jb > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From mxr0777 at louisiana.edu Sun Jan 10 12:00:21 2010 From: mxr0777 at louisiana.edu (Rodriguez-Lanetty Mauricio) Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:00:21 -0600 Subject: [Coral-List] The early molecular responses of coral larvae to hyperthermal stress Message-ID: <20100110164020.M27856@louisiana.edu> Dear Coral-list, A new publication on "the early molecular responses of coral larvae to hyperthermal stress" is available from Molecular Ecology (Volume 18 Issue 24, Pages 5101 - 5114; November Online) http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122680126/abstract Regards, IMaGeS lab ---------------------------------------- Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty, PhD Integrative Marine Genomics and Symbiosis (IMaGeS) Assistant Professor Department of Biology University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA 70504 Ph:1-337-482-6755 IMAGES Webpage: http://images.louisiana.edu email: mxr0777 at louisiana.edu From Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov Sun Jan 10 10:42:07 2010 From: Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:42:07 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Climate Change postings Message-ID: <4B49F54F.9070507@noaa.gov> Hey, folks, this climate change discussion could go in forty-eleven different directions, so if you're going to post things on this topic, please relate them to coral ecosystems; otherwise, things will get out-of-hand on this list. Thanks...Jim From solonnie at hotmail.com Sun Jan 10 14:31:14 2010 From: solonnie at hotmail.com (Longin Kaczmarsky) Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:31:14 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats Diadema? In-Reply-To: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> References: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> Message-ID: Hi John, I remember seeing on a few occassions, at night, Triton's trumpet snails apparently eating urchins, including Diadema. West Indian sea stars, Oreaster, eat them as well. Lonnie Kaczmarsky > From: jbruno at unc.edu > Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 08:25:36 -0500 > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Subject: [Coral-List] What eats Diadema? > > There was an interesting email thread about Diadema predators that went around among a group of 20 or so reef ecologists during the holidays. I just posted some of the highlights from the discussion and also some information on what eats Diadema from the classic Randall et al (1964) study of the biology of Diadema at ClimateShifts: http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=4188 > > (It is sad how many of these discussions take place online, but off of the coral list and are thus not archived and the collective knowledge in them is not widely disseminated) > > Predators of Diadema appear to include: snapper, jacks, porcupinefishes, trunkfishes, grunts including black margate, porgies, triggerfishes, pufferfish, large wrasses, parrotfish, octopuses, lobsters, large gastropods and even small crabs (which eat juvenile Diadema). > > Does anyone have further information or observation on Diadema predators that they'd be willing to share with the coral list or as a comment on Climate Shifts? > > jb > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From maggy.nugues at zmt-bremen.de Mon Jan 11 04:37:26 2010 From: maggy.nugues at zmt-bremen.de (Maggy Nugues) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:37:26 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] =?windows-1252?q?Ph=2ED=2E_opportunities_at_the_Leib?= =?windows-1252?q?niz_Center_for_Tropical_Marine_Ecology_=28ZMT=29=2C_Germ?= =?windows-1252?q?any_=96_All_nationalities_eligible?= Message-ID: <4B4AF156.60608@zmt-bremen.de> Dear Listers, Applications are invited for 2 Ph.D. positions at the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) (www.zmt-bremen.de) in Bremen, Germany in the field ecology of coral reefs. These positions are within the framework of the research project FORCE ?Future of Reefs in a Changing Environment? funded by the European Union. FORCE partners an inter-disciplinary team of researchers from Europe and the Caribbean to enhance the scientific basis for managing coral reefs in an era of rapid climate change and unprecedented human pressure on coastal resources. 1) Role of benthic algae in coral reef recovery processes: Research will involve field and laboratory experiments with coral larvae to study the effects of benthic algae on coral early life stages, including larval behavior, larval settlement and survival, as well as field studies on benthic algal dynamics, and settlement and post-settlement mortality of corals. Outcomes will be incorporated within an ecological model developed by other FORCE partners. The research will involve interactions with field ecologists, marine botanists and ecosystem modellers, and will be performed in close collaboration with the Marine Botany group at the University of Bremen (www.uni-bremen.de), the Research and Management of Biodiversity Foundation CARMABI in Cura?ao (www.carmabi.org), and partners within the FORCE project. 2) Ecology of benthic cyanobacterial mats on coral reefs: Work will involve field surveys to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of benthic cyanobacterial blooms in relation to biotic and abiotic parameters in the environment, as well as field and laboratory experiments to investigate the controlling factors of these blooms. The study will involve a variety of experimental and state-of-the-art analytical techniques for community-, functional- and geochemical analyses. The work will be multidisciplinary, involving biology, microbiology and biogeochemistry. The research will be performed in close collaboration with the Microsensor Research group of the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen (www.mpi-bremen.de), the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences MARUM (www.marum.de), the Marine Geology Department at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research in Texel (www.nioz.nl), and partners within the FORCE project. The field location for both positions will be Cura?ao, Netherlands Antilles. Both appointments are for a 3 year period starting April 2010 (negotiable). Requirements: Applicants of any nationality are eligible to apply for these positions. Applicants should hold a Master or Diploma degree in marine biology (position 1) or in biology (position 2). Experience in coral reef ecology, marine botany and scientific diving will be important assets for position 1. A background in microbial ecology with an interest in biogeochemistry and experience in coral reef ecology are desirable for position 2. Diving certification and good skills in English are essential for both positions. The candidates should be prepared to make long-term stays on Cura?ao, and have good communication skills to integrate efficiently into an interdisciplinary research team. Applications should be received by February 15th 2010, including a short outline of research interests and experience, a complete CV and names with email addresses and phone numbers of two referees by email in a single pdf-file to the address below. Only short-listed candidates will be notified. ZMT is an equal opportunity employer. Disabled persons with comparable qualification receive preferential status. Please feel free to get in touch if you have questions. Sincerely, Maggy -- Dr. Maggy Nugues Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) Fahrenheitstr. 6 D-28359 Bremen Germany tel: +49-421-2380025, fax: +49-421-2380030 e-mail: maggy.nugues at zmt-bremen.de, skype: maggy.nugues www.zmt-bremen.de ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leibniz-Zentrum f?r Marine Tropen?kologie (ZMT) GmbH Fahrenheitstra?e 6 28359 Bremen Tel. +49(0)421 238 00-0 Fax +49(0)421 238 00-30 www.zmt-bremen.de Sitz der Gesellschaft: Bremen, Deutschland Registergericht: Amtsgericht Bremen Handelsregister Nr. HRB 25746 HB; Steuer-Nr. 71/607/12036; USt.-IdNr. DE 266278207 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates: Dr. Walter D?rhage Gesch?ftsf?hrer: Prof. Dr. Venugopalan Ittekkot SAVE PAPER - Please do not print this email unless absolutely necessary From ak_braks at hotmail.com Sun Jan 10 14:56:23 2010 From: ak_braks at hotmail.com (Anna-Karin Arvidsson) Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:56:23 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Corallimorpharian growth iron Message-ID: Hey, I'm going to Zanzibar in the end of January to do my master thesis about Corallimorpharian phase shifts. My primary aim will be to investigate how iron, phosphorous and nitrogen, in isolation and in conjuction, influence growth rates in Rhodactis rhodostoma. A study by Work et al. (2008) reports a potential increased spread of the corallimorpharian Rhodactis howesii around a shipwreck on an isolated atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. Their hypothesis is that corallimorpharian growth is stimulated by iron leaching from the ship. Iron could be the limiting nutrient for some zooxanthellae. I need to simulate a "shipwreck" by adding iron in a realistic way. I wonder if anyone has any tips on what kind of iron (Fe) I should use? /Anna-Karin _________________________________________________________________ Hitta hetaste singlarna p? MSN Dejting! http://dejting.se.msn.com/channel/index.aspx?trackingid=1002952 From bryce at livingoceanproductions.com Sun Jan 10 22:52:15 2010 From: bryce at livingoceanproductions.com (Bryce Groark) Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:52:15 -1000 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats Diadema? In-Reply-To: <1eab821b1001100849i7fd64a3dsae773f717c6887ae@mail.gmail.com> References: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> <1eab821b1001100849i7fd64a3dsae773f717c6887ae@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <942c4fc1001101952t2479d5bbge3f0f6a34e36bd7a@mail.gmail.com> Eight years ago, I filmed a Zebra Moray feeding on a Diadema. See the low res version attached to this email. You can see the Eightline Wrasse and Saddle Wrasse opportunistically jumping in as well. Bryce -- Bryce Groark Living Ocean Productions 808.345.4538 www.livingoceanproductions.com From cfloros at ori.org.za Mon Jan 11 04:21:45 2010 From: cfloros at ori.org.za (Camilla Floros) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:21:45 +0200 Subject: [Coral-List] Looking for article Message-ID: Dear Listers I am looking for the following article. If any one has a PDF copy I would be very grateful if you could send it to me. Quinn, NJ and Kojis BL. 1990. Are divers destroying the Great Barrier cod hole? Diving Science, 5: 303-309. Best Camilla > > > > > > Camilla Floros Coral Reef Group Oceanographic Research Institute Durban, South Africa Tel: 031 3288168 Cell: 082 893 6919 email: cfloros at ori.org.za Marine gallery: www.flickr.com/photos/cfloros Research: http://marinesci.ukzn.ac.za/Biology/content/view/218/225/ From dhanisak at hboi.fau.edu Mon Jan 11 07:32:53 2010 From: dhanisak at hboi.fau.edu (Dennis Hanisak) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:32:53 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Coral Lab Technician Positions at HBOI/FAU In-Reply-To: <2309E53F80BD7841A64800D44F69F71B04E6341D@sailfish.hboi.edu> References: <2309E53F80BD7841A64800D44F69F71B04E6341D@sailfish.hboi.edu> Message-ID: <2309E53F80BD7841A64800D44F69F71B04E63433@sailfish.hboi.edu> Biological Scientist Positions at HBOI/FAU We seek highly motivated candidates to fill two laboratory technician positions in the Robertson Coral Reef Program at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University. (http://www.fau.edu/hboi/OceanHealth/OHrobertsoncoralreef.php ). These positions will be primarily lab based with limited opportunities for field work based on the applicants training and qualifications. The positions are open immediately, with an initial review of applications received through 21 January 2010. Salary range, from $32,000 - $35,000, plus benefits, commensurate with experience, skills, and training. These grant-supported positions are funded through 31 December 2011, with the possibility for extension. Special Instructions to the Applicant: Online application must be completed in order to be considered for each position: https://jobs.fau.edu/, reference position number 980284 (Deep Coral Research and Conservation) and 980285 (Coral Health). Florida Atlantic University is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer and is committed to the diversity of its workforce. Individuals requiring accommodation call 561-297-3058 (1-800-955-8771 TTY). Details: Biological Scientist (Deep Coral Research and Conservation): With minimal supervision and general direction, assists in various projects for coral reef research and conservation. Primary objectives include: annotation, analysis, preservation, and archival of in situ photographs, submersible videotapes, specimens, and field data. Minimum Requirements: B.S. in biology or related field, such as marine science; knowledge of taxonomy of benthic invertebrates, such as a course in invertebrate zoology or prior work experience; proficient keyboarding and computer skills with knowledge of various software (Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access); experience in ArcGIS, Photoshop, video editor programs such as Pinnacle, and point count software such as CPCe, and statistical programs preferred; ability to work weekends and/or evening work in addition to regular work hours Details: Biological Scientist (Coral Health): With minimal supervision and general direction, assists in various projects for coral health assessment. This is a multifaceted position requiring an ability to work on multiple projects. The objectives are processing and molecular analysis of coral tissue, mucus, and disease from samples collected throughout the Caribbean. Minimum Requirements: BS in marine biology, biology, molecular biology, ecology, or similar field; previous experience with molecular lab techniques that may include course work in genetics or work experience in molecular biology; ability to work independently in a lab setting with appropriate care and cleanliness; excellent record keeping and organization skills; proficient and computer skills with knowledge of various software (Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access); may require some weekend and/or evening work in addition to regular work hours. From randy.clark at noaa.gov Mon Jan 11 09:14:27 2010 From: randy.clark at noaa.gov (randy clark) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:14:27 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats Diadema? In-Reply-To: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> References: <1D706796-A03F-425E-8684-B893E5006917@unc.edu> Message-ID: <4B4B3243.9080706@noaa.gov> Cool topic! We did some gut content analysis of fish in La Parguera Puerto Rico and found these fish to have consumed Diadema: Permit saucereye porgy southern stingray white grunt rc John Bruno wrote: > There was an interesting email thread about Diadema predators that went around among a group of 20 or so reef ecologists during the holidays. I just posted some of the highlights from the discussion and also some information on what eats Diadema from the classic Randall et al (1964) study of the biology of Diadema at ClimateShifts: http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=4188 > > (It is sad how many of these discussions take place online, but off of the coral list and are thus not archived and the collective knowledge in them is not widely disseminated) > > Predators of Diadema appear to include: snapper, jacks, porcupinefishes, trunkfishes, grunts including black margate, porgies, triggerfishes, pufferfish, large wrasses, parrotfish, octopuses, lobsters, large gastropods and even small crabs (which eat juvenile Diadema). > > Does anyone have further information or observation on Diadema predators that they'd be willing to share with the coral list or as a comment on Climate Shifts? > > jb > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > -- Randy Clark Marine Biologist CCMA Biogeography Branch 1305 East West Hwy Silver Spring MD 20910 301-713-3028 x157 http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/about/biogeography From pawlikj at uncw.edu Mon Jan 11 12:10:48 2010 From: pawlikj at uncw.edu (Pawlik, Joseph) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:10:48 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] BEM 2010 - ABSTRACT SUBMISSION ENDS FRIDAY! Message-ID: AS ALWAYS, apologies for cross postings..... Faculty, please forward this message to your whole Department and graduate students. ABSTRACT SUBMISSION AND EARLY REGISTRATION FOR BEM2010 ENDS IN 4 DAYS! THERE WILL BE NO EXTENSION OF THE DEADLINE. Don't miss out on the 39th Annual Benthic Ecology Meeting -- BEM 2010 -- 10-13 March 2010 - to be held on the beautiful campus of UNC Wilmington! Here's the website: http://www.benthicecologymeeting2010.org/ Abstract submission and early registration ends 15 January 2010. There will be an extra $25 fee for late registration. REMEMBER that after you register, you can make modifications to your abstract on-line as late as 15 Feb! BEM is one of the premier meetings for marine ecologists in the US, with sessions ranging from the ecology of salt marshes to coral reefs, from benthic-pelagic processes to marine population genetics. It has historically provided an excellent venue for graduate and undergraduate students to present their work and interact with established researchers in all areas of marine biology and ecology. As promised, this year will be the least expensive BEM in many years: - Central location for travel, hotel rates starting at $63/night quad occupancy - Very low registration fee: $75 FOR STUDENTS, $150 REGULAR!!!! - Co-sponsorship by the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society (SEERS) - Awards for the best student presentations and posters - Inaugural "Beneath the Waves Film Festival" - Beautiful venue in the new Burney and Fisher Centers in the heart of UNCW's campus - Excellent food services, with lunches at the Hawk's Nest food court - 10 minute drive to charming and historic downtown Wilmington or beautiful Wrightsville Beach - Closing banquet cruise on the "Henrietta III" with dancing and karaoke See you there!! ************************************************************** Joseph R. Pawlik, Professor UNCW Center for Marine Science 5600 Marvin Moss Lane Wilmington, NC 28409 USA pawlikj at uncw.edu; Office:(910)962-2377; Cell:(910)232-3579 Website: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/index.html PDFs: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/pubs2.html ************************************************************** From eshinn at marine.usf.edu Mon Jan 11 11:30:59 2010 From: eshinn at marine.usf.edu (Eugene Shinn) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:30:59 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats Diadema Message-ID: Maybe I missed it but did not see Hogfish mentioned as a Diadema predator. I have watched them pick off all the spines one by one and ten swallow the test in a single gulp. Back when I got through school spearing Hogfish for restaurants (before the die-offf and when they were called Hogsnapper) all larger hogfish we took had at least a dozen purple spots around the head. After the Diadema die-off hogfish ceased to have those purple puncture spots. Apparently they switched to other prey and are doing well. Hogfish fillets are now common in fish markets in the Florida Keys and one restaurant (Hogfish Grille on Stock Island) is becoming famous for its Hogfish dishes. Since they are rarely taken other than by spearing I have to wonder about the source? (and yes it really is Hogfish) 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- From Liza.Johnson at noaa.gov Mon Jan 11 14:13:52 2010 From: Liza.Johnson at noaa.gov (Liza Johnson) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:13:52 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] February 2010 U.S. Coral Reef Task Force meeting Message-ID: <4B4B7870.20604@noaa.gov> Dear Coral-List subscribers, The 23rd bi-annual meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) will be held on Wednesday, February 24, 8:00am - 5:00pm in the U.S. Department of the Interior Auditorium in Washington, DC. To register for the meeting, please visit www.coralreef.gov. This meeting has time allotted for public comment. To sign-up for public comment, please email Sarah_Bobbe at ios.doi.gov. Advance public comments can be submitted from Friday, January 15 - Friday, January 29, 2010. Following the meeting, please attend the USCRTF reception from 6:30 - 8:30pm at the Cannon House Office Building, Caucus Room. Registration for the meeting is required to attend the reception. If you have any questions regarding the meeting, registration, etc, please contact Sarah Bobbe (202-208-1378; sarah_bobbe at ios.doi.gov). -- Liza Johnson Coral Reef Conservation Program Office of Ocean & Coastal Resource Management National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration N/OCM, SSMC4, Rm. 10405 1305 East-West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 email: liza.johnson at noaa.gov phone: 301-713-3155 x161 From hq at seagrasswatch.org Tue Jan 12 06:20:36 2010 From: hq at seagrasswatch.org (Seagrass-Watch HQ) Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:20:36 +1000 Subject: [Coral-List] Seagrass-Watch Magazine Issue 39 Message-ID: <004101ca9379$44c186e0$ce4494a0$@org> The latest issue of Seagrass-Watch news (the official magazine of the global seagrass and assessment program) is now available online at http://www.seagrasswatch.org/magazine.html Both low and high resolution versions of the magazine are available. Please note that the high resolution version is 12Mb. Seagrasses are often referred to as the coal mine canaries of coastal ecosystems. This is because they show measurable and timely responses to water quality and are effective barometers of marine environmental health. Seagrass-Watch plays a key role in providing sound advice for the management of water quality on the Great Barrier Reef, and in this issue we present the latest findings from the Reef Rescue Marine Monitoring Program. In this issue you can also read about the impacts of seaweed farms in southern Indonesia, the impacts of the Samoan tsunami and threats to seagrass in India. You'll also find articles on recent efforts in Madagascar to map seagrass and establish monitoring, and how the important role of seagrass is inspiring participants to monitor in Broome (Western Australia) and restore degraded meadows in Portugal. Also in this issue are articles on Traditional Owners and Sea Rangers monitoring their Sea Country in Cape York and Torres Strait. You can also read about the pilot MangroveWatch program being developed to address the urgent need to preserve and protect threatened tidal wetland ecosystems. You can even learn about giant clams. Happy Reading Len Len McKenzie Principal Scientist Seagrass-Watch Program Leader Seagrass-Watch HQ Email: hq at seagrasswatch.org Website: www.seagrasswatch.org From info at mappamondogis.com Tue Jan 12 12:40:36 2010 From: info at mappamondogis.com (info at mappamondogis.com) Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:40:36 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean corals study results Message-ID: <000701ca93ae$595118c0$0bf34a40$@com> Dear coral listers, We would like to inform you about the results of the first study made on Scleractinia corals along the Ionian coast of South Italy, Calabria. The study was financed by the Marine Protected Area of Capo Rizzuto and conducted by the company Mappamondo GIS in collaboration with Dr. Douglas Fenner. The aim of the study was to assess the diversity of Scleractinia corals in the area and to observe the health status and competition with invasive algae such as Caulerpa racemosa. Detailed information, data, maps and several pictures of live corals and their skeletons can be found on the following website: http://www.mappamondogis.it/medcoral_webGIS.htm Below a summary of the results. Kind regards Francesca Riolo Abstract In the first study ever made of the corals of Capo Rizzuto Marine Protected Area, 10 species of coral were found, seven that do not host symbiotic zooxanthellae algae, two that do, and one that can either host or not host zooxanthellae. One additional species that lacks zooxanthellae was identified from a photograph, for a total of 11 species. This is a relatively good number of species for a relatively short study, and represents 50% of all shallow-water coral species known from the entire Mediterranean. Two species, Paracyathus pulchellus and Polycyathus muellerae, as well as a species identified from the photograph (Astroides calycularis) were not previously reported from the Ionian Sea. The two zooxanthellate species, Balanophyllia europaea and Cladocora caespitosa were found in areas exposed to light, and the first was most common in patches of a species of coralline algae. Fossils of Cladocora caespitosa were found in rocks near the seashore in the town of Le Castella. The azooxanthellate species were found in heavily shaded areas, on overhanging surfaces on the lower edges of boulders, in holes, and on overhanging surfaces of wrecks and vertical surfaces of deep wrecks. Over 20 species of sponges were photographed, as well as other invertebrates such as nudibranchs and bryozoans. Monitoring transects were set up and recorded for one zooxanthellate coral (Balanophyllia europaea) and other classes of organisms inhabiting the substrate, and sizes of another zooxanthellate coral (Cladocora caespitosa) were measured. Photographs of all coral species were taken and a field identification guide produced, including descriptions of the living coral species and their skeletons. The introduced and highly invasive alga Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea was found at most sites where it was common but not dominant. The quantitative monitoring transects set up will provide a way of monitoring the abundance of this invasive species. Species identified: Balanophyllia europaea, Caryophyllia inornata, Cladocora caespitosa, Cladopsammia rolandi, Hoplangia durotrix, Leptopsammia pruvoti, Madracis pharensis, Paracyathus pulchellus, Phyllangia mouchezii, Polycyathus muellerae, Astroides calycularis. From domenica.ventura at gmail.com Tue Jan 12 12:52:21 2010 From: domenica.ventura at gmail.com (domenica ventura) Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:52:21 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats diadema? Message-ID: <1c1b838e1001120952m2ba1c97rf01772fff735a7bd@mail.gmail.com> Small gastropods eat diadema. Wish video was better quality, will work on that. Thank you and Regards, Domenica Ventura, student marine research volunteer Englewood, FL 34223 USA http://picasaweb.google.com/domenica.ventura/CarrierSeaUrchinEatenBySnails# From rcerroni at TNC.ORG Tue Jan 12 13:00:07 2010 From: rcerroni at TNC.ORG (Rebecca Cerroni) Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:00:07 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Reef Resilience: Uncertainty, Climate Change Science and Reefs - Hot Topic Call at 5pm Today In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Reminder - Hot Topic Call January 12: Hot Topic Call: Uncertainty, Climate Change Science and Reefs Join us for a live webinar on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, to discuss ?Uncertainty, Climate Change Science and Reefs.? Our panelists will answer questions around the general issues of scientific accuracy and ?climate-gate,? how coral reef conservation could be affected by last month?s scientific media storm, how global data sets get distorted, and how marine resource managers can continue to conserve coral reefs in the face of scientific uncertainty. PANELISTS: * Mark Spalding, Senior Marine Scientist, The Nature Conservancy * * Paul Marshall, Director, Climate Change, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority * * Mark Eakin, Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch TIME: ? 12 January, 5:00 pm US EST (GMT -5) ? You can check your local start time against the time listed above using a world clock time zone converter, like this one . REGISTRATION: Register for the webinar for free at https://nethope.webex.com/nethope/k2/j.php?ED=132335452&UID=1105522952&RT=Mi M1&FM=1. QUESTIONS FOR PANELISTS: If you already have questions in mind you would like the panelists to address, please email them ahead of time to resilience at tnc.org . You will also have the opportunity to ask questions during the webinar. RECORDING: If you are unable to participate in the live webinar, a recording will be available for streaming or download at www.reefresilience.org , under the ?Events? tab on the home page, a few days after the event. ------ End of Forwarded Message From domenica.ventura at gmail.com Tue Jan 12 14:04:11 2010 From: domenica.ventura at gmail.com (domenica ventura) Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:04:11 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats diadema? Message-ID: <1c1b838e1001121104v7cbf1c2esc14aefc1dcc17d8b@mail.gmail.com> Small gastropods eat diadema too. Wish video was better quality, will work on that. Thank you and Regards, Domenica Ventura, student marine research volunteer Englewood, FL 34223 USA http://picasaweb.google.com/domenica.ventura/CarrierSeaUrchinEatenBySnails From rom at vims.edu Tue Jan 12 15:05:13 2010 From: rom at vims.edu (Rom Lipcius) Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:05:13 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] What eats diadema? In-Reply-To: <1c1b838e1001120952m2ba1c97rf01772fff735a7bd@mail.gmail.com> References: <1c1b838e1001120952m2ba1c97rf01772fff735a7bd@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <98736B13-6BC6-4717-8FCE-7B3861AE6801@vims.edu> I assume that the snails were scavenging Diadema, as opposed to killing and eating it as a predator? ______________________________________________________ Romuald N. Lipcius 2009 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences Professor of Marine Science Virginia Institute of Marine Science, The College of William & Mary 1208 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA 23062 804-684-7330 (office), rom at vims.edu http://www.vims.edu/fish/faculty/lipcius_rn.html On Jan 12, 2010, at 12:52 PM, domenica ventura wrote: > Small gastropods eat diadema. > > Wish video was better quality, will work on that. > > Thank you and Regards, > > Domenica Ventura, student > marine research volunteer > Englewood, FL 34223 USA > > http://picasaweb.google.com/domenica.ventura/CarrierSeaUrchinEatenBySnails# > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From k.fabricius at aims.gov.au Tue Jan 12 22:57:39 2010 From: k.fabricius at aims.gov.au (Katharina Fabricius) Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:57:39 +1000 Subject: [Coral-List] Free copies of the book ?Soft Corals and Sea Fans? Message-ID: Hi all, The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is giving away the remaining copies of the book ?Soft Corals and Sea Fans: A comprehensive guide to the tropical shallow water genera of the central-west Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea? by Katharina Fabricius & Phil Alderslade, colour throughout, 264 pp. (2001). The book will be free of charge, but postage must be paid before delivery of the books (see instructions below). We still have a few hundred copies left to find a good new home. No second edition is planned, so please pass on this message to people who may be interested. The offer is valid until 30 June 2010. Regards Katharina Fabricius SOFT CORALS AND SEA FANS Fabricius KE & Alderslade P (2001) Soft Corals and Sea Fans: A comprehensive guide to the tropical shallow water genera of the central-west Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. 264 pp. ISBN: 0 642 322104 Free of charge but postage must be paid before delivery of books. Offer valid until 30 June 2010. Postage: Zone 1 AUD$10.50 Australia and New Zealand Zone 2 AUD$13.50 Asia - Pacific Zone 3 AUD$18.00 Rest of the World PLEASE PAY BY DIRECT BANK TRANSFER OR BY EMAILING YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS TO accounts at aims.gov.au FOR SECURITY, SEND YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS IN TWO SEPARATE EMAILS. BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS FOR the AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE Address PMB No 3. Mail Centre TOWNSVILLE QUEENSLAND 4810 AUSTRALIA Name of Bank Commonwealth Bank of Australia Address of Bank Flinders Mall, Flinders Street, Townsville Queensland 4810, AUSTRALIA Account Details BSB No 064-817 Account No. 00070212 Account Name: Australian Institute of Marine Science Swift No. CTBAAU2S Remittance Contact Finance Department Ph (07) 47534350 Fax (07) 47534338 (overseas: +61 7 47534338) accounts at aims.gov.au If remitting monies directly to AIMS bank account, please EMAIL details to accounts at aims.gov.au PLEASE PAY IN Australian Dollars (AUD) PLEASE ADVISE DELIVERY ADDRESS FOR ASSISTANCE, EMAIL reception at aims.gov.au Dr. Katharina Fabricius Principal Research Scientist Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB 3, Townsville MC Queensland 4810 Australia email: k.fabricius at aims.gov.au Tel: (07) 47 534412 Fax: (07) 47 725852 -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The information contained in this communication is for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed, and may contain information which is the subject of legal privilege and/or copyright. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender by return email and delete the transmission, together with any attachments, from your system. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From kblankenhorn at disl.org Wed Jan 13 10:52:48 2010 From: kblankenhorn at disl.org (Katy Blankenhorn) Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:52:48 -0600 Subject: [Coral-List] Dauphin Island Sea Lab NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Message-ID: <4B4DEC50.4000706@disl.org> _*Research Experience for Undergraduates - Marine Science Fellowships (May 17 -- August 6, 2010)*_ Alabama's Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) will offer seven undergraduate fellowships in marine science during the Summer Semester 2010 as part of the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. This program is for undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers or graduate studies in Marine Sciences. Students selected for the program will participate in an intensive 12-week research experience in which they will work within a faculty research group to develop and complete their own independent research project. REU participants will also benefit from a series of workshops on professional skills, and attend lectures by outstanding visiting speakers. DISL will award up to 8 semester hours for this experience with prior approval from the student's home campus. Students in this exciting marine science program will have the opportunity to gain basic field and laboratory research skills, and develop proficiency in data interpretation and presentation. Research areas of DISL faculty include: ecology of early life history of marine and estuarine fishes; plant-animal interactions in seagrass beds; microbial ecology; nutrient biogeochemistry; benthic ecology; trophic interactions and carbon budgets in marine ecosystems; estuarine science; plankton ecology; physical oceanography and others. This program seeks not only to provide participants with specific knowledge of marine science, but also to develop the student's background and confidence to make career and educational choices in the future. Eligibility: Applications are invited from undergraduates in their junior and senior years with interests in biology, chemistry, geology and environmental sciences. Students cannot have graduated at the time of the fellowship. Students who have participated in an NSF OCE-funded REU program are not eligible for a second internship. Participants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. and its possessions. Minorities are encouraged to apply. Stipends of $5,400 will be provided for the 12-week full-time program. In addition, students will be provided on-campus housing and a food allowance. Students from outside the Mobile, AL, area may also apply for limited travel assistance (up to $400.00). Funded By: The National Science Foundation Ocean Sciences Research Experience For Undergraduates Program, and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Apply on-line: http://univ-prog.disl.org/nsf/nsfapplication.cfm. Application Procedures: Besides the on-line application, you need to submit: 1) A completed application; 2) Official college transcripts of all completed work; 3) Two letters of recommendation; and 4) A statement of career goals and research interest. _*These can be emailed to: (sbrennan at disl.org) or faxed (251) 861-7540.*_ _*For more information contact Sally Brennan, University Programs Registrar (251) 861-2256. Incomplete packages will not be considered.*_ _*Application Deadline: February 12, 2010.*_ -- Katy Blankenhorn Head Teaching Assistant Dauphin Island Sea Lab 101 Bienville Blvd Dauphin Island, AL 36528 251-861-2294 kblankenhorn at disl.org From knudby at gmail.com Wed Jan 13 14:14:39 2010 From: knudby at gmail.com (Anders Knudby) Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:14:39 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] what eats diadema? Message-ID: <551b8dba1001131114m249ef20ex14d5ed06efb8d714@mail.gmail.com> A few years ago we made some systematic observations at Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar. Only one species was observed killing and eating Diadema - the orange-striped triggerfish, Balistapus undulatus. Several other fish, mostly wrasses, would scavenge. We did not observe during the night, though, so the presence of nucturnal predators is possible. Interestingly, we also asked locals, fishermen and park rangers, what eats Diadema. In addition to the orange-striped triggerfish, they mentioned Titan triggerfish, a variety of helmet shells, and the Giant Triton. Of these, only the orange-striped triggerfish is present in significant numbers, and only within effectively protected areas (which are few). So one answer to the question "what eats Diadema" would seem to be, in Zanzibar, "not much". -- Anders Knudby, PhD e-mail: knudby at gmail.com skype ID: anders.knudby Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes From pm at coralcay.org Thu Jan 14 11:53:48 2010 From: pm at coralcay.org (Peter Mandara) Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:53:48 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Islands Message-ID: <4B4F4C1C.3020803@coralcay.org> Dear Coral-List Editor, Would you please review the following entry: Re: The UK government's three-month public consultation on extending conservation protections for the Chagos Islands and its surrounding waters.** Now is the time to consider the future of the world's largest coral atoll -- the Chagos Islands as the government has issued a consultation on the issue. This archipelago in the Indian Ocean has been compared to the Galapagos or Great Barrier Reef in terms of its importance as one of the greatest marine environments on the planet. It is one of the most pristine tropical marine environments on Earth; home to 17 species of breeding seabirds, about 1000 species of fish, around 220 species of coral and 2 species of endangered turtles the area needs to be protected. Its protection is supported by the leading UK scientific societies and NGOs. To find out more about this unique and special place and the proposition to declare it as the world's largest marine reserve please visit - www.protectchagos.org Coral Cay Conservation Regards, Peter Mandara MSc PR and Communications Manager Coral Cay Conservation Elizabeth House 39 York Road London SE1 7NQ United Kingdom www.coralcay.org Tel: +44 (0)20 7921 0463 Fax: +44 (0)20 7921 0469 Email: pm at coralcay.org Skype Name: Peter Mandara Company Registration No: 02590980 Registered VAT No: GB574173823 Venture provided by Coral Cay Conservation to British Standard BS8848: Specification for the Provision of Visits, Fieldwork, Expeditions and Adventurous Activities outside the UK (self declared). P please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. *DISCLAIMER*: This message (and any files transmitted with it) is intended only for the person(s) to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential and privileged information which may not be copied, distributed or disclosed to any third party. If received in error, please inform the sender immediately and delete from your mailbox. Any views expressed in this message are not necessarily those of Coral Cay Conservation Ltd and no liability is accepted for loss or damage arising from their use. Coral Cay Conservation Ltd takes all reasonable action to suppress viruses and cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by inadvertent transmission of contagious files. Emails may be open to monitoring and are stored for future reference. Coral Cay Conservation Ltd, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London SE1 7NQ, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0)20 7620 1411 www.coralcay.org From lew.gramer at noaa.gov Thu Jan 14 15:22:29 2010 From: lew.gramer at noaa.gov (Lew Gramer) Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:22:29 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold-water stresses on the Florida reef tract Message-ID: <4B4F7D05.7040502@noaa.gov> Extreme cold temperatures have been observed in near-shore waters of the Florida Keys by reef monitoring stations of the SEAKEYS/C-MAN network. NOAA's Coral Health and Monitoring Program via the Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON: _http://ecoforecast.coral.noaa.gov_) project monitors near real-time data from these stations for conditions conducive to coral bleaching and other ecological impacts. Recent reports have surfaced among scientists, resource managers, and the media of large-scale, multi-species fish kills that have been primarily limited to shallow-water environments in Florida and Biscayne Bay. Coral mortality has been reported from south Florida when water temperatures previously declined to 14 degrees Celsius, or below (Porter et al. 1982). While temperatures on offshore reef environments have been > 17-18 deg C (likely due to oceanic influence from the Florida Current), shallow-water and nearshore environments have fallen well below 14 deg C (e.g., 10-11 deg C near Long Key). It is expected that there will be some cold-water bleaching and potential for mortality in shallow-water corals and other reef organisms. If coral-list readers collect observations of bleaching or other cold-related stresses on reef organisms, please contact us at NOAA AOML in Miami. Sincerely yours, Lew Gramer, Jim Hendee, Derek Manzello NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory Reference Porter JW, Battey JF, Smith GJ (1982) Perturbation and change in coral reef communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:1678-1681 From iocean at cox.net Thu Jan 14 18:12:04 2010 From: iocean at cox.net (Tom Opishinski) Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:12:04 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold-water stresses on the Florida reef tract In-Reply-To: <4B4F7D05.7040502@noaa.gov> Message-ID: Hi Lew, Our station at the Smithsonian Marine Lab in Ft. Pierce recorded a low of ~ 9.25 deg C in the IRL on 1/11. A bit away from the corals but the record nicely shows the cooling trend corresponding to a 10 deg C drop occurring over a 2 week period. Data can be accessed/viewed at http://nmnhmp.riocean.com/fp_raw.php - the plot will default to show water temperature then select "2 weeks" for the time period. Cheers, Tom Opishinski Interactive Oceanographics 81 Shippee Road East Greenwich, RI 02818 401.398.0871 http://www.riocean.com > -----Original Message----- > From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Lew Gramer > Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 3:22 PM > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Subject: [Coral-List] Cold-water stresses on the Florida reef tract > > > Extreme cold temperatures have been observed in near-shore waters of the > Florida Keys by reef monitoring stations of the SEAKEYS/C-MAN > network. NOAA's > Coral Health and Monitoring Program via the Integrated Coral > Observing Network > (ICON: _http://ecoforecast.coral.noaa.gov_) project monitors near > real-time > data from these stations for conditions conducive to coral > bleaching and other > ecological impacts. Recent reports have surfaced among > scientists, resource > managers, and the media of large-scale, multi-species fish kills that have > been primarily limited to shallow-water environments in Florida > and Biscayne Bay. > > Coral mortality has been reported from south Florida when water > temperatures > previously declined to 14 degrees Celsius, or below (Porter et al. 1982). > While temperatures on offshore reef environments have been > 17-18 deg C > (likely due to oceanic influence from the Florida Current), > shallow-water and > nearshore environments have fallen well below 14 deg C (e.g., > 10-11 deg C near > Long Key). It is expected that there will be some cold-water > bleaching and > potential for mortality in shallow-water corals and other reef > organisms. If > coral-list readers collect observations of bleaching or other cold-related > stresses on reef organisms, please contact us at NOAA AOML in Miami. > > Sincerely yours, > > Lew Gramer, Jim Hendee, Derek Manzello > NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory > > > Reference > Porter JW, Battey JF, Smith GJ (1982) Perturbation and change in > coral reef > communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:1678-1681 > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From chentianran2008 at gmail.com Fri Jan 15 23:19:38 2010 From: chentianran2008 at gmail.com (Tianran Chen) Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:19:38 +0800 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold-water stresses on the Florida reef Message-ID: <3fe6d0e61001152019h47a8139et8c46e6b6272cd523@mail.gmail.com> Dear Mr. Gramer Extreme low SST has been regarded as the main limit to relatively high-latitude coral reefs (or no-reefal coral communities). Southern China experienced an extreme cold event during early 2008 (13 January?13 February), the result of which was likely driven by a combination of both La Ni?a climatic shifts, and anomalous atmospheric circulation. The Daya Bay (114?29?42??49?42?E, 22?31?12??50?00?N), northern South China Sea, has also been subjected to occasional extreme cold events during the past 50 years, with the most recent occurring in early 2008 . During the 2008 cold event, the lowest air temperature reaches only 6.6?, and the mean sea surface temperature for February fall to < 14?, including six continuous days at 12.3?. Significantly, the sea surface temperatures fall below the hypothesized critical lower temperature threshold (~13?) that commonly leads to mass mortality in scleractinian coral communities. Surprisingly, our coral community surveys, conducted both before (August 2007) and after (late February 2008) the extreme 2008 cold event, demonstrated that the Daya Bay coral ecosystems are barely impacted upon during the cold period (Chen, 2009). However, we observed many coral taxa such as Turbinaria peltata, Plesiastrea versipora and Acropora pruinosa, that commonly spread their tentacles during the daytime, spread their tentacles only partially, or did not spread their tentacles at all, suggesting they suffered a cold-water stress. Besides the coral death reported from Florida (Porter,1982; Roberts, 1982), the coral mortality events caused by low SST stress were also found in other areas. For example, at Manifa coral reefs (27?40?N), Western Arabian Gulf, mass mortalities of Acropora pharaonis and Platygyra daedalea occurred during a cold phase when mean daily temperature was <13? for 30 days between December 1988 to March 1989, including four consecutive days where SST fell below 11.5?(Coles, 1991). Reference Porter J W, Battey J F, Smith G J. Perturbation and change in coral reef communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1982, 79: 1678?1681. Roberts H H, Rouse L J. Cold-water stress in Florida Bay and northern Bahamas: a product of winter cold-air outbreaks. J Sediment Petrol, 1982, 52: 145?155. Coles S L, Fadlallah Y H. Reef coral survival and mortality at low temperatures in the Arabian Gulf: new species-specific lower tem-perature limits. Coral Reefs, 1991, 9: 231?237. Chen T R, Yu K F, Shi Q, et al. Twenty-five years of change in scleractinian coral communities of Daya Bay (northern South China Sea) and its response to the 2008 AD extreme cold climate event. Chinese Sci Bull, 2009, 54: 2107-2117. Cheers, Dr. Tianran Chen South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Guangzhou, China email: chentianran2008 at gmail.com From dquirolo at gmail.com Fri Jan 15 18:12:35 2010 From: dquirolo at gmail.com (DeeVon Quirolo) Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:12:35 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] New coral reef resource at www.reefrelieffounders.com Message-ID: *Online Coral Reef Resource Now Available at ReefReliefFounders.com* Reef Relief founders Craig and DeeVon Quirolo retired from the grassroots organization last July, only to begin an effort to provide an online resource on coral reefs. Our new website provides all the award-winning educational tools, grassroots strategies, project reports and images of coral reefs assembled during our work over the past 23 years in the Florida Keys and throughout the Caribbean protecting coral reefs. You can find it at www.reefrelieffounders.com. ?We just wanted to insure that others can learn from our experiences and continue the important work of saving endangered coral reefs,? noted DeeVon. ?Craig?s image archive from all the years he monitored coral reefs, especially those revealing new coral diseases, are invaluable to researchers, students, media, divers and the general public to learn about coral reefs. We hope to inspire a new generation of sea fans!? The Quirolos new website features blogs on reef news, science and even offshore oil, along with over 10,000 free images of coral reefs from coral surveys in the Florida Keys, Jamaica, Cuba, Bahamas and elsewhere. Craig Quirolo has produced numerous reef videos on the Youtube site accessible from the webpage. So check it out, make it a favorite and return often to see new posts and add a link from your site to this new resource for saving endangered coral reefs. For more information, email dquirolo at gmail.com or go to www.reefrelieffounders.com. From eshinn at marine.usf.edu Fri Jan 15 11:30:29 2010 From: eshinn at marine.usf.edu (Eugene Shinn) Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:30:29 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold water stress and corals Message-ID: The reports of low coral killing water temperatures in the Florida Keys are very interesting. Unfortunately there are more than 35 un attended thermographs located in strategic places in the Florida reef tract that have dead batteries. That data would have been good to have for management purposes. 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- From eshinn at marine.usf.edu Fri Jan 15 13:18:25 2010 From: eshinn at marine.usf.edu (Eugene Shinn) Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:18:25 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold water and coral mortality Message-ID: For those interested in what may lie ahead here are some "ancient" pre pdf papers describing effects of cold fronts/cold water on common species of corals in the Florida Keys. 1) In this study water temperature below 14 degrees C during a cold event in Feb 1962 killed transplanted A cervicornis in the Fla Keys Keys. Shinn, E. A., 1966, Coral growth-rate, an environmental indicator: Journal of Paleontology, v. 40, no. 2, p. 233-240. 2) In this study transplanted M. annularis was killed by 9.7 degrees C at Snake creek Jan 20, 1977 Hudson, J. H., 1981, Response of Montastrea annularis to environmental change in the Florida Keys, Proceedings, Forth International Coral Reef Symposium 2 Manila. pp. 233-240 More details of that low water temperature event are in: 3) Roberts, H. H., Rouse, L. J.,Jr., Walker, N. D., and Hudson, J. H., 1982, Cold-water stress in Florida Bay, and northern Bahamas--a product of winter cold-air outbreaks. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 52 pp. 0145-0155. 4) The same cold event (Snow in Miami) killed many acres of A. cervicornis at Dry Tortugas as described by: Davis, G. E., 1982, A century of natural change in coral distribution at the Dry Tortugas: a comparison of reef maps from 1881 and 1976. Bulletin of Marine Science, v. 32, pp. 608-623. The Jan 20 1977 event (when snow flurries were seen in Homestead, Florida) literally wiped out A. cervicornis on all shallow bank areas of the Tortugas. This species recovered but was later exterminated by disease between 1983 and 1984. Staghorn coral remains in decline at Tortugas. These studies led coral biologists to believe that low water temperature controls the distribution of of Staghorn and Elkhorn in the Florida Keys thus limiting them to the outer margin of the reef tract. 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- From cac at gate.sinica.edu.tw Fri Jan 15 23:47:34 2010 From: cac at gate.sinica.edu.tw (Allen Chen) Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:47:34 +0800 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold-water stresses on the Florida reef In-Reply-To: <3fe6d0e61001152019h47a8139et8c46e6b6272cd523@mail.gmail.com> References: <3fe6d0e61001152019h47a8139et8c46e6b6272cd523@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Coral-Listers This might be interesting to those who worry about the cold-water stress on the Florida reef. The cold-shock event occurred in the South China Sea in 2008 has been described for mass-mortality of fishes, either reef-associated and pelagic species, in the Penghu Islands, Taiwan. Please refer to the ReefSite we published in Coral Reefs. (H. J. Hsieh, I-L. Shen, M.-S. Jeng, W.-S. Tsai, W.-C. Su, C. A. Chen* (2008) Tropical fish killed by the cold. Coral Reefs. DOI: 10.1007/s00338-008-0378-3). The cold-water invasion to the Penghu subtropical coral community caused local extinction of several coral species, such as Pocillipora damicornis and Galaxea fasicicularis, in several shallow-water sites (<5 m) around islands. However, recovery were observed at some sites in 2009 when we conducted survey of 12 LTER sites around the different islands. We are currently compiling coral and symbiont community shift before (5 years) and after (2 years) the cold shock event. For those who are interested in the impact of cold-shock in Penghu Islands, you may contact Dr. Justin Hsieh (hernyitw at gmail.com) for further information. Allen Chen, PhD Research Fellow Biodiversity Research Centre Academia Sinica, Taipei TAIWAN Tel: 886-2-27899549 Fax:886-2-27858059 E-mail:cac at gate.sinica.edu.tw/acropora.chen at gmail.com ? Jan 16, 2010 12:19 PM ?? Tianran Chen ??? > Dear Mr. Gramer > Extreme low SST has been regarded as the main limit to relatively > high-latitude coral reefs (or no-reefal coral communities). Southern China > experienced an extreme cold event during early 2008 (13 January?13 > February), the result of which was likely driven by a combination of both La > Ni?a climatic shifts, and anomalous atmospheric circulation. > The Daya Bay (114?29?42??49?42?E, 22?31?12??50?00?N), northern South > China Sea, has also been subjected to occasional extreme cold events during > the past 50 years, with the most recent occurring in early 2008 . During the > 2008 cold event, the lowest air temperature reaches only 6.6?, and the mean > sea surface temperature for February fall to < 14?, including six continuous > days at 12.3?. Significantly, the sea surface temperatures fall below the > hypothesized critical lower temperature threshold (~13?) that commonly leads > to mass mortality in scleractinian coral communities. Surprisingly, our > coral community surveys, conducted both before (August 2007) and after (late > February 2008) the extreme 2008 cold event, demonstrated that the Daya Bay > coral ecosystems are barely impacted upon during the cold period (Chen, > 2009). However, we observed many coral taxa such as Turbinaria peltata, > Plesiastrea versipora and Acropora pruinosa, that commonly spread their > tentacles during the daytime, spread their tentacles only partially, or did > not spread their tentacles at all, suggesting they suffered a cold-water > stress. > Besides the coral death reported from Florida (Porter,1982; Roberts, > 1982), the coral mortality events caused by low SST stress were also found > in other areas. For example, at Manifa coral reefs (27?40?N), Western > Arabian Gulf, mass mortalities of Acropora pharaonis and Platygyra daedalea > occurred during a cold phase when mean daily temperature was <13? for 30 > days between December 1988 to March 1989, including four consecutive days > where SST fell below 11.5?(Coles, 1991). > > Reference > Porter J W, Battey J F, Smith G J. Perturbation and change in coral reef > communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1982, 79: 1678?1681. > Roberts H H, Rouse L J. Cold-water stress in Florida Bay and northern > Bahamas: a product of winter cold-air outbreaks. J Sediment Petrol, 1982, > 52: 145?155. > Coles S L, Fadlallah Y H. Reef coral survival and mortality at low > temperatures in the Arabian Gulf: new species-specific lower tem-perature > limits. Coral Reefs, 1991, 9: 231?237. > Chen T R, Yu K F, Shi Q, et al. Twenty-five years of change in scleractinian > coral communities of Daya Bay (northern South China Sea) and its response to > the 2008 AD extreme cold climate event. Chinese Sci Bull, 2009, 54: > 2107-2117. > > Cheers, > Dr. Tianran Chen > South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Guangzhou, China > email: chentianran2008 at gmail.com > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From allison.billiam at gmail.com Sat Jan 16 04:26:57 2010 From: allison.billiam at gmail.com (Bill Allison) Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:26:57 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold-water stresses on the Florida reef In-Reply-To: References: <3fe6d0e61001152019h47a8139et8c46e6b6272cd523@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1eab821b1001160126s7f1143dw3be4145f1ba9d14e@mail.gmail.com> Longer term perspective http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/1540-9295%282004%29002%5B0307:CFARSO%5D2.0.CO%3B2 William F. Precht, Richard B. Aronson (2004) Climate flickers and range shifts of reef corals. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment: Vol. 2, No.. 6, pp. 307-314. doi: 10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0307:CFARSO]2.0.CO;2 Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), are important reef builders in the Caribbean. In the early to middle Holocene (10 000?6000 years ago), when sea temperatures were warmer than today, Acropora-dominated reefs were common along the east coast of Florida as far north as Palm Beach County. The fossil record shows that the northern limits of these two cold-sensitive species subsequently contracted to Biscayne Bay, south of Miami, apparently as a result of climatic cooling. This response of the Acropora species to climate provides a context for interpreting recent shifts in their geographic distribution. Despite recent disease-induced mass mortalities throughout the Caribbean and western Atlantic, the two species are now re-expanding their ranges northward along the Florida Peninsula and into the northern Gulf of Mexico, coincident with increasing sea temperatures. In the face of continued global warming, the northernmost limit of this range expansion will ultimately be determined by a combination of temperature and other physical constraints. + the papers citing this one From jcervino at whoi.edu Sat Jan 16 08:52:11 2010 From: jcervino at whoi.edu (James Cervino PhD.) Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:52:11 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold water and coral mortality In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1263649931.4b51c48bd847e@webmail.whoi.edu> Good day Gene; here is a paper that discusses the Biology and Physiology pertaining to corals as it pertains to cold stress. Steen RG, Muscatine L (1987) Low temperature evokes rapid exocytosis of symbiotic algae by a sea anemone. Biol Bull 172:246? 263 ************************************* Dr. James M. Cervino Visiting Scientist Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Contact Information: NYC Address: 9-22 119st College Point New York, 11356 Cell: 917-620*5287 ************************************ Quoting Eugene Shinn : * For those interested in what may lie ahead here are some "ancient" * pre pdf papers describing effects of cold fronts/cold water on common * species of corals in the Florida Keys. * * 1) In this study water temperature below 14 degrees C during a cold * event in Feb 1962 killed transplanted A cervicornis in the Fla Keys * Keys. * Shinn, E. A., 1966, Coral growth-rate, an environmental indicator: * Journal of Paleontology, v. 40, no. 2, p. 233-240. * * 2) In this study transplanted M. annularis was killed by 9.7 * degrees C at Snake creek Jan 20, 1977 * Hudson, J. H., 1981, Response of Montastrea annularis to * environmental change in the Florida Keys, Proceedings, Forth * International Coral Reef Symposium 2 Manila. pp. 233-240 * More details of that low water temperature event are in: * * 3) Roberts, H. H., Rouse, L. J.,Jr., Walker, N. D., and Hudson, J. * H., 1982, Cold-water stress in Florida Bay, and northern Bahamas--a * product of winter cold-air outbreaks. Journal of Sedimentary * Petrology, v. 52 pp. 0145-0155. * * 4) The same cold event (Snow in Miami) killed many acres of A. * cervicornis at Dry Tortugas as described by: * Davis, G. E., 1982, A century of natural change in coral * distribution at the Dry Tortugas: a comparison of reef maps from 1881 * and 1976. Bulletin of Marine Science, v. 32, pp. 608-623. * * The Jan 20 1977 event (when snow flurries were seen in Homestead, * Florida) literally wiped out A. cervicornis on all shallow bank areas * of the Tortugas. This species recovered but was later exterminated by * disease between 1983 and 1984. Staghorn coral remains in decline at * Tortugas. These studies led coral biologists to believe that low * water temperature controls the distribution of of Staghorn and * Elkhorn in the Florida Keys thus limiting them to the outer margin of * the reef tract. 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 * * Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- * ----------------------------------- * _______________________________________________ * Coral-List mailing list * Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov * http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list * * ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. From atolldino at yahoo.com Sun Jan 17 18:42:03 2010 From: atolldino at yahoo.com (Dean Jacobson) Date: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:42:03 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] massive Porites heterogeneity In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <269124.55552.qm@web31811.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Coral listers: I am seeking info or literature tips on genetic or phenotypic "patchiness"/heterogeneity within individual massive Porites colonies (i.e. P. lobata, P. lutea). Heterogeneity could involve host, symbionts or microbial flora. (A Googlescholar search was unfruitful) I noticed that recent partial, patchy mortality on lagoon Porites, which appeared following bleaching a few months ago in Majuro lagoon (Marshall Islands) was often limited to discrete morphological regions of the colony, suggesting that the colony is composed of a patchwork mosaic of distinct sub-populations of polyps, having differential tolerance to thermal stress. The lesion size ranges from a few cms to tens of cms, and are often rounded in shape (they are not COTS feeding scars, however!). I have before/after images of dozens of colonies. Similarly, bleaching was sometimes limited to the colony sides, with the tops remaining fully pigmented (possibly distinct zoox clades). This is the highest bleaching incidence (around 20-30% of Porites colonies) I have witnessed in 8 years. These ancient boulder corals were previously virtually free of blemishes, but the recent event has scarred many hundreds of colonies (70-80% of those that bleached), with % loss of tissue ranging from 10% to 100%. Based on the previous near-absense of characteristic lesions on these long-lived colonies, it appears this mortality event may be unprecedented. Thanks, Dean Jacobson College of the Marshall Islands From dgriffin at usgs.gov Mon Jan 18 20:12:26 2010 From: dgriffin at usgs.gov (Dale W Griffin) Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:12:26 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Cold water stress and corals Message-ID: Hello Gene.....that is unfortunate, are those USGS units?......on a related topic I think that NOAA may be monitoring temperature at several of S. Florida's east coast inlets.....I wonder what the difference between incoming tide versus outgoing tide water temperatures were in that region.....and how the Acropora growing near the inlets (i.e., Port Everglades) respond to this event versus those located at more distant locations? "Everybody is ignorant, just on different subjects" Will Rogers Dale W. Griffin, Ph.D., MSPH Environmental/Public Health Microbiologist United States Geological Survey 2639 North Monroe Street, Suite A-200 Tallahassee, FL 32303 Office phone # - 850-553-3675 Laboratory phone # - 850-553-3659 USGS Tallahassee main office # - 850-553-3640 Fax # - 850-553-3641 Cell # 850-274-3566 email - dgriffin at usgs.gov [Coral-List] Cold water stress and corals Eugene Shinn to: coral-list 01/15/2010 23:32 Sent by: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov The reports of low coral killing water temperatures in the Florida Keys are very interesting. Unfortunately there are more than 35 un attended thermographs located in strategic places in the Florida reef tract that have dead batteries. That data would have been good to have for management purposes. 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Coral-List mailing list Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From nicolalouise.foster at gmail.com Tue Jan 19 15:24:21 2010 From: nicolalouise.foster at gmail.com (Nicola Foster) Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:24:21 -0600 Subject: [Coral-List] Job Announcement: SEA-Belize, Science Program Director, Belize Message-ID: <2d295111001191224t53fa151ja9bb2313053d14b6@mail.gmail.com> Dear List, SEA-Belize is seeking a Science Program Director to be based in Placencia, Belize. If you are interested, please reply to the email address in the announcement and not directly to me. Many Thanks -- Nicola L. Foster, PhD *JOB VACANCY* * * *SCIENCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR* * * Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified individuals to fill the above mentioned position with assigned duty station in Placencia Village, Stann Creek District, Belize. Post: Science Program Director Reports to: Executive Director Salary Scale: Negotiable Qualifications: Masters degree in Marine Sciences and 3-5 years experience or an equivalent combination of education and job experience. Leadership experience in overseeing a dynamic team and interacting with scientists. Strong oral and written communication skills including the ability to speak in public. A working knowledge of common software applications (e.g. Word, Excel, Access, Web browsers). *Terms of Reference/Responsibilities* Responsible for the coordination of the scientific program which includes: monitoring, research and management activities; oversees science staff; leads science staff in the development of policy and programs for monitoring and research; acts as the primary liaison with visiting researchers, scientific groups and projects; works with other managers to ensure management is based on sound scientific information; is member of the management team. * * *DUTIES* - Supervises and assists with implementation of monitoring plan, including supervision of staff - Works with staff to ensure proper data entry, management and analysis - Collaborates with visiting researchers to establish links between research and management activities - Assists with the development of the research projects for SEA - Responsible for scientific program logistics, budgeting, and staffing - Assists with grant development including grant writing - Responsible for project implementation and oversight - Assists with community outreach through the development of presentations and outreach materials - Coordinate with local, regional and international partners - Responsible for relevant project documentation and report writing * * *Deliverables:* - Develops monitoring and research plans - Develops annual work plans and budgets for the program ? Prepare and submit monthly progress reports. ? Prepare funding concepts for the program. ? Coordinate implementation of program activities *Application Requirements:* Letter of application along with CV and two references (from people familiar with the applicants work) should be sent to the attention of the Executive Director at email: info at seabelize.org or fax (501)523-3395. *DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS 5TH, FEBRUARY 2010.* From hzahir at mrc.gov.mv Wed Jan 20 02:45:07 2010 From: hzahir at mrc.gov.mv (Hussein Zahir) Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:45:07 +0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Marine Science internship in the Maldives Message-ID: <000001ca99a4$7ca49e90$75eddbb0$@gov.mv> Dear Coral List members, Marine Research Centre as a partner operating agency under the World Bank supported Maldives Environmental Management Project (MEMP), aiming to strengthen Maldives' existing national coral reef monitoring program is seeking an intern with background in tropical marine science to roll out a community monitoring program designed to collect climate change related data. As part of MEMP consultancy output Coral reef ecosystem health monitoring concept as an integrated program, with indicators to monitor the links between society, economy, coral reef based ecosystem goods and services and climate change. The indicators also aim to reflect the principles of the ecosystem approach agreed under CBD COP 5 Decision V/6 of 2000. These principles can be found at https://www.cbd.int/ecosystem/principles.shtml and include principle 2 that "Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level". Monitoring is, therefore, proposed at a range of technical levels. For example basic data on whether coral is alive or dead can be collected by school children, people who depend directly on coral resources, trained volunteers and scientists. The report can be obtained from the Marine Research Centre website at http://www.mrc.gov.mv/index.php/download_file/-/view/806/ Interested individuals, for further information please contact: Dr M. Shiham Adam, Director General, Marine Research Centre, msadam at mrc.gov.mv or Mr Hussein Zahir, Senior Reef Ecologist, Marine Research Centre, hzahir at mrc.gov.mv. Hussein Zahir Senior Reef Ecologist Marine Research Centre H. White Waves; Moonlight Higun; Male, 20-06 Republic of Maldives------------ Tel: +(960) 332 0720 Mobile: +(960) 778 2143 email: hzahir at mrc.gov.mv _____________________________________________________________________ Please note that this message may contain confidential information. If you have received this message by mistake, please inform the sender of the mistake, and then delete the message from your system without taking, distributing or retaining any copies of it. From bluewatervolunteers at yahoo.com Tue Jan 19 12:14:29 2010 From: bluewatervolunteers at yahoo.com (Blue Water Volunteers) Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:14:29 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] Coral histology protocol Message-ID: <880279.55700.qm@web30407.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear list, I'm trying to compare the reproductive output of Montastrea faveolata or annularis between 2 treatments. I'm planning to section coral tissue and measure the surface area of the eggs present over the total surface area of the tissue section as my reproductive index. In the literature, I've come across a number of methods to decalcify, fix and stain corals for light microscopy. Is it better to fix in Zenker's solution, or would formalin do? I also recall a procedure to fix corals in potassium dichromate (+ formalin?)?solution, though I don't have a reference for that. Secondly, would the omission of sodium tartrate from the HCl-EDTA solution matter in decalcifying corals? I'll be collecting samples in a rather remote location and would like to minimise the amount of chemicals I bring in or ship, if possible. Of course, if there are any updated protocols, it would be great to know as well. I would also be very appreciative of any full protocols and will be happy to cite you in any publications arising from this work. Please direct any replies to tl7275 at uncw.edu. Thanks very much. Regards, Tse-Lynn Loh PhD student University of North Carolina Wilmington USA From davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com Tue Jan 19 15:06:17 2010 From: davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com (David Evans) Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:06:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] 1. Chagos Islands (Peter Mandara) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <11312.81784.qm@web32107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear All, I write to comment on a recent post about the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. I hope the comment is taken as civil and professional and not just contentious, as the subject can tend to get (and I don't think is helpful for anyone). What I am saying, Jim, is that I don't mean to be stirring any pots. I'll phrase my comment as two points. First, I think it is disingenuous to present the creation of an extensive conservation zone out of a magnificent region of islands and ocean (which is indeed magnificent), without mentioning its background and darker side. The former inhabitants of the archipelago, the Chagossians, were removed in the late 1960's by the UK and US when the US Naval Support Facility at Deigo Garcia was planned and established. Without going into detail, the removal planning and its process did not live up to the human rights tenets of either of our two nations by a wide margin. That much has been stated by the legal system in the UK within the last decade. The Chagos Islanders have been struggling for their right to return to their homes. The Chagos Islanders are in fact in favor of creating a conservation zone in the region. They have, however, no representation in the process. They want to be incorporated into the conservation zone and involved in its management. To summarize my first point, creation of this conservation zone is not a simple matter of: "here's a magnificent marine region, let's conserve it..." My second point I pose as a question. What is the role of scientists and conservationists when the subject of study and conservation comes up against social considerations? I know it's not a new situation and has come up many times in the past and present and, with an increasingly more populated world, will continue to increase in occurrence. In dealing with business and industry, it seems to me that adjusting profits and practices is not too big of a sacrifice to make (such as with logging industries or fisheries). When dealing with health, adjusting also seems the logical thing to do (such as with mining operations). When dealing with traditional ways of life and generational homelands it can be a difficult decision to sacrifice for the sake of the environment and conservation, but in the long run worth it for the sake of preserving ecosystem services and protecting species populations (such as with farming, ranching, and fisheries). But when Human Rights are involved (that is: treating each other badly) what is the role of the scientists and conservationists wanting to capitalize on preserving the habitat involved? My personal view with this situation of the Chagos Islands and the Chagossians that want to return there is that given the circumstances, creating the wholly exclusionary conservation zone is not the best thing to do for the sake of conservation. My opinion is that creating the conservation zone at the Chagos would be an excellent opportunity to create a community that is geared toward living with its environment. And my understanding is that that is what the Chagossians are interested in as well. With growing human populations and lagging solutions to environmental problems (theory as well as action), might not the Chagossians present an excellent example to the world? My concern (besides that for the Chagossians' plight) is that an exclusionary conservation zone set aside as a jewel in a degraded world, with ever increasing human populations, will eventually be overtaken anyway through encroachment of human activities and abandonment of conservation laws by future governments. Whereas, having an established community with a vested interest toward conservation would create a stronger and longer lasting presence in the Chagos islands to ward against encroachment. Treating local communities badly does not serve the cause of conservation around the world now and in the future. I understand that in the past governments have often acted this way, treating peoples poorly for the sake of their own agendas. I personally, don't want the practice to continue into my generation and beyond. I don't want the legacy of a magnificent conservation zone to be tarnished by it history, when positive alternative solutions are available. I ask any that have read and have been interested to consider these points sincerely. I have posted photos and commentary about the atoll of Diego Garcia in the Chagos, both above and below the waves, in the past few years. Please be welcome to view the island and its reefs: (scroll through my lists of posts over several pages to find those for Diego Garcia) My Posts http://www.gather.com/viewPostsByMember.action?memberId=59629 Photo Log: Diego Garcia II - Chagos, Indian Ocean - 'Footprint of a People' Photo Log: Diego Garcia, Chagos, Indian Ocean Photo Log - Marine Life: Diego Garcia, Chagos, Indian Ocean I (let me know if links don't work - you can try www.djem18.gather.com and look for "Posts") Related: Deslarzes, KJP, DJ Evans, and SH Smith. 2005. Marine Biological Suvey at United States Navy Support Facility, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, July/August 2004. Cont. No. N62470-02-D-9997, Task No. 0044. Geo-Marine, Inc., Plano, TX; Naval Facilites Engineering Command, Pearl Harbor, HI; Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program, Proj. No. 03-183 Best Regards, David J. Evans Marine Biologist/Photographer davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com www.djem18.gather.com Message: 1 Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:53:48 +0000 From: Peter Mandara Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Islands To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov Message-ID: <4B4F4C1C.3020803 at coralcay.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Dear Coral-List Editor, Would you please review the following entry: Re: The UK government's three-month public consultation on extending conservation protections for the Chagos Islands and its surrounding waters.** Now is the time to consider the future of the world's largest coral atoll -- the Chagos Islands as the government has issued a consultation on the issue. This archipelago in the Indian Ocean has been compared to the Galapagos or Great Barrier Reef in terms of its importance as one of the greatest marine environments on the planet. It is one of the most pristine tropical marine environments on Earth; home to 17 species of breeding seabirds, about 1000 species of fish, around 220 species of coral and 2 species of endangered turtles the area needs to be protected. Its protection is supported by the leading UK scientific societies and NGOs. To find out more about this unique and special place and the proposition to declare it as the world's largest marine reserve please visit - www.protectchagos.org Coral Cay Conservation Regards, Peter Mandara MSc PR and Communications Manager Coral Cay Conservation Elizabeth House 39 York Road London SE1 7NQ United Kingdom www.coralcay.org Tel: +44 (0)20 7921 0463 Fax: +44 (0)20 7921 0469 Email: pm at coralcay.org Skype Name: Peter Mandara From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Wed Jan 20 08:01:01 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:01:01 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] 1. Chagos Islands (Peter Mandara) In-Reply-To: <11312.81784.qm@web32107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <11312.81784.qm@web32107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4B56FE8D.3080005@noaa.gov> Now it's me who is guilty of drifting a little off-topic (I guess). I recently read a fascinating article about Diego Garcia and the displacement of their inhabitants: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22691 I mention this to provide further context (i.e., "the darker side"). I personally see the consideration of establishing a conservation zone as a good thing, but I can see your point about representation in management. At any rate, I can see this is a fine but important line between politics and a Chagos Island conservation zone. I guess we'll see how this discussion goes. Jim David Evans wrote: > Dear All, > > I write to comment on a recent post about the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. I hope the comment is taken as civil and professional and not just contentious, as the subject can tend to get (and I don't think is helpful for anyone). What I am saying, Jim, is that I don't mean to be stirring any pots. > > I'll phrase my comment as two points. > > First, I think it is disingenuous to present the creation of an extensive conservation zone out of a magnificent region of islands and ocean (which is indeed magnificent), without mentioning its background and darker side. The former inhabitants of the archipelago, the Chagossians, were removed in the late 1960's by the UK and US when the US Naval Support Facility at Deigo Garcia was planned and established. Without going into detail, the removal planning and its process did not live up to the human rights tenets of either of our two nations by a wide margin. That much has been stated by the legal system in the UK within the last decade. The Chagos Islanders have been struggling for their right to return to their homes. The Chagos Islanders are in fact in favor of creating a conservation zone in the region. They have, however, no representation in the process. They want to be incorporated into the conservation zone and involved in its management. To > summarize my first point, creation of this conservation zone is not a simple matter of: "here's a magnificent marine region, let's conserve it..." > > My second point I pose as a question. What is the role of scientists and conservationists when the subject of study and conservation comes up against social considerations? I know it's not a new situation and has come up many times in the past and present and, with an increasingly more populated world, will continue to increase in occurrence. In dealing with business and industry, it seems to me that adjusting profits and practices is not too big of a sacrifice to make (such as with logging industries or fisheries). When dealing with health, adjusting also seems the logical thing to do (such as with mining operations). When dealing with traditional ways of life and generational homelands it can be a difficult decision to sacrifice for the sake of the environment and conservation, but in the long run worth it for the sake of preserving ecosystem services and protecting species populations (such as with farming, ranching, and fisheries). But when Human > Rights are involved (that is: treating each other badly) what is the role of the scientists and conservationists wanting to capitalize on preserving the habitat involved? > > My personal view with this situation of the Chagos Islands and the Chagossians that want to return there is that given the circumstances, creating the wholly exclusionary conservation zone is not the best thing to do for the sake of conservation. My opinion is that creating the conservation zone at the Chagos would be an excellent opportunity to create a community that is geared toward living with its environment. And my understanding is that that is what the Chagossians are interested in as well. With growing human populations and lagging solutions to environmental problems (theory as well as action), might not the Chagossians present an excellent example to the world? My concern (besides that for the Chagossians' plight) is that an exclusionary conservation zone set aside as a jewel in a degraded world, with ever increasing human populations, will eventually be overtaken anyway through encroachment of human activities and abandonment of conservation > laws by future governments. Whereas, having an established community with a vested interest toward conservation would create a stronger and longer lasting presence in the Chagos islands to ward against encroachment. Treating local communities badly does not serve the cause of conservation around the world now and in the future. > > I understand that in the past governments have often acted this way, treating peoples poorly for the sake of their own agendas. I personally, don't want the practice to continue into my generation and beyond. I don't want the legacy of a magnificent conservation zone to be tarnished by it history, when positive alternative solutions are available. > > I ask any that have read and have been interested to consider these points sincerely. > > I have posted photos and commentary about the atoll of Diego Garcia in the Chagos, both above and below the waves, in the past few years. Please be welcome to view the island and its reefs: > (scroll through my lists of posts over several pages to find those for Diego Garcia) > My Posts > http://www.gather.com/viewPostsByMember.action?memberId=59629 > > Photo Log: Diego Garcia II - Chagos, Indian Ocean - 'Footprint of a People' > > Photo Log: Diego Garcia, Chagos, Indian Ocean > > Photo Log - Marine Life: Diego Garcia, Chagos, Indian Ocean I > > (let me know if links don't work - you can try www.djem18.gather.com and look for "Posts") > > Related: > Deslarzes, KJP, DJ Evans, and SH Smith. 2005. Marine Biological Suvey at United States Navy Support Facility, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, July/August 2004. Cont. No. N62470-02-D-9997, Task No. 0044. Geo-Marine, Inc., Plano, TX; Naval Facilites Engineering Command, Pearl Harbor, HI; Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program, Proj. No. 03-183 > > > Best Regards, > > David J. Evans > Marine Biologist/Photographer > > davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com > www.djem18.gather.com > > > > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:53:48 +0000 > From: Peter Mandara > Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Islands > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Message-ID: <4B4F4C1C.3020803 at coralcay.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Dear Coral-List Editor, > > Would you please review the following entry: > > Re: The UK government's three-month public consultation on extending > conservation protections for the Chagos Islands and its surrounding > waters.** > > Now is the time to consider the future of the world's largest coral > atoll -- the Chagos Islands as the government has issued a consultation > on the issue. > > This archipelago in the Indian Ocean has been compared to the Galapagos > or Great Barrier Reef in terms of its importance as one of the greatest > marine environments on the planet. It is one of the most pristine > tropical marine environments on Earth; home to 17 species of breeding > seabirds, about 1000 species of fish, around 220 species of coral and 2 > species of endangered turtles the area needs to be protected. Its > protection is supported by the leading UK scientific societies and NGOs. > > To find out more about this unique and special place and the proposition > to declare it as the world's largest marine reserve please visit - > www.protectchagos.org > > Coral Cay Conservation > > > Regards, > > Peter Mandara MSc > > PR and Communications Manager > > > > Coral Cay Conservation > > Elizabeth House > > 39 York Road > > London > > SE1 7NQ > > United Kingdom > > www.coralcay.org > > > > Tel: +44 (0)20 7921 0463 > > Fax: +44 (0)20 7921 0469 > > Email: pm at coralcay.org > > Skype Name: Peter Mandara > > > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From Lad at reef.org Wed Jan 20 08:22:07 2010 From: Lad at reef.org (Lad Akins) Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:22:07 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] REEF position opening Message-ID: <001a01ca99d3$91257220$b3705660$@org> HI all, Please see this new position opening at REEF. Instructions for application are at the bottom of the posting. Thanks! Lad REEF Outreach and Field Operations Position Background The Reef Educational Environmental Foundation, REEF, is a marine conservation organization that uses trained volunteer scuba divers and snorkelers to survey and track fish and some marine invertebrate populations, similar to successful birdwatching programs. REEF also leads special projects related to invasive marine species, spawning aggregations, and artificial reefs.. For more information, please visit our website at www.REEF.org. REEF currently has a full and part-time staff of six, an active five-member Board of Trustees, and thousands of volunteers throughout the US, Caribbean, and beyond. REEF is headquartered in Key Largo, FL, with a Pacific Office in Seattle, WA. Applicants for this position will be based in the upper Florida Keys. Duties of the position include, but are not limited to the following: Assisting the Director of Special Projects to: a. Continue coordination and development of exotic species program with such duties as training and leading volunteer groups, organizing and conducting workshops, managing sightings database, assisting with data entry and project summaries, maintaining communications, initiating and seeking funding for new program initiatives. b. Continue coordination and execution of artificial reef projects with duties including organizing scheduling and conducting artificial reef assessments, presenting project results, follow-up communications with funders and participants, initiating and developing new partnership projects c. Continuing coordination and leadership of REEF Field Survey Projects with duties including organization and leadership of volunteer survey projects, preparation and follow up with participants and host operations, production of summary reports and communications. Working with staff and Directors to maintain and develop dive industry relations and programs including: a. Promoting REEF membership and other partnerships through dive industry and consumer trade venues b. Maintaining communications with current and prospective partners c. Conducting workshops and seminars for interested partners d. Development and maintenance of partner programs and materials. e. Help organize and promote the Great Annual Fish Count, a promotional, month of July event to involve dive retailers and individual divers in REEF's Fish Survey Project Communicating with the diving public, industry and REEF membership by: a. Writing articles and press releases for print and web dive publications and promoting REEF news and articles on a regular basis. b. Supervising the building and maintaining a "Fish Watchers" web site designed to excite and involve divers in Fishwatching and REEF. Promote to potential advertisers the site and secure profitable advertising. Key Attributes and Skills to be Considered Position Requisites a. Bachelor's degree in Marine Science or related field. b. Familiarity and experience with the diving industry (Although active scuba diving is not a part of the job description, knowledge and participation in the sport is important as volunteer data gathering relies on this activity, consequently having an open water dive certification will be an important consideration.) c. Strong writing and verbal communication skills. d. Excellent computer skills and experience in Excel, Word, PowerPoint and web development and maintenance. e. Knowledge of and commitment to environmental protection and/or marine conservation and the mission of REEF. f. Strong customer service, stewardship, and relationship building orientation. g. Creative, diplomatic, well-organized and attentive to detail. h. Self-starter who takes initiative and is able to problem solve. Compensation for the position includes a salary commensurate with experience and in the range of non-profit pay scales (35k-40k), along with standard employee and health benefits. This position will require some travel, evening and weekend work. Interested applicants should send a resume, cover letter, and 2-3 writing samples to: jobs at reef.org. The successful applicant will be expected to reside in the upper Florida Keys and work out of the John Lockwood REEF Headquarters. Equal Employment Opportunity Employer It is the policy of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) to administer advertising, selection, employment, compensation, promotion, training, layoff, recall, and benefits at all levels without regard to race, gender, color, creed, national origin, age, political affiliation, marital status, sexual orientation, physical, mental or sensory disability, or any other basis prohibited by law. REEF strictly prohibits any sexual, racial or other forms of discrimination prohibited by law. ************************ Lad Akins Director of Special Projects REEF P O Box 246 Key Largo FL 33037 www.REEF.org (305) 852-0030 work (305) 942-7333 cell Lad at REEF.org From P.M.Visser at uva.nl Wed Jan 20 10:21:21 2010 From: P.M.Visser at uva.nl (Visser, P.M.) Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:21:21 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] PhD position Phytoplankton Ecology References: <37382E8DCB905042969BA78541F65706CEB4B4@kwek.ic.uva.nl> <37382E8DCB905042969BA78541F65706CEB4C8@kwek.ic.uva.nl> Message-ID: <37382E8DCB905042969BA78541F65706CEB4FC@kwek.ic.uva.nl> Within the EU-funded project FORCE (Future Of Reefs in a Changing Environment), the research group Aquatic Microbiology of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of the University of Amsterdam has a vacancy for a: PhD student in Phytoplankton Ecology 1.0 FTE (38hrs per week), 4 years vacancy number 10-1000 The FORCE project aims to understand the ultimate and proximate causes of change in Caribbean coral reef ecosystems. Eutrophication through runoff of terrestrial nutrients into coastal waters may cause a shift from coral dominance to macroalgae. However, the role of phytoplankton in absorbing nutrients has largely been under-appreciated. Phytoplankton often responds rapidly to changes in nutrient availability and may utilise much of the terrestrial nutrients, rendering them unavailable to corals and macroalgae. To date, nutrient thresholds indicating problematic levels of eutrophication of coral reefs have been proposed, but their relevance is questionable. Our study will investigate how the nutrient influx is allocated over phytoplankton, macroalgae and corals to obtain a better understanding of the impacts of eutrophication on coral reefs. Fieldwork will consist of water sampling, chemical and biological analyses, underwater surveys, and aquarium experiments. The fieldwork (18-24 months) will be primarily conducted at the Carmabi Institute on Cura?ao, Netherlands Antilles, and at some other Caribbean locations. Preparation for field work, laboratory and statistical analyses, and writing of manuscripts will be done at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Requirements The successful candidate has: an MSc in marine biology, aquatic ecology, or related biological field; experience with fieldwork; experience in (scientific) teamwork; proven writing ability in English; preference will be given to applicants who have experience with the ecology of phytoplankton, or macroalgae, or coral reefs; a valid driver's license and open water SCUBA certificate. Further information More information can be obtained from: Dr. Petra Visser, +31 20 525 7073, P.M.Visser at uva.nl, Aquatic Microbiology, UvA. http://www.science.uva.nl/vacancies/vacancies.cfm Applications should include a detailed CV including a list of publications, a motivation letter, and the names and contact addresses of two references from which information can be obtained. Applications should be e-mailed to application-science at uva.nl before February 15, 2010. Please quote the vacancy number in the subject field. Interviews will be held on March 8, 2010. Dr. Petra M. Visser Aquatic Microbiology/IBED University of Amsterdam Nieuwe Achtergracht 127 1018 WS Amsterdam Tel. 00 31 20 5257073 From carib at marine.usf.edu Wed Jan 20 14:19:10 2010 From: carib at marine.usf.edu (Frank Muller-Karger) Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:19:10 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Specialized Positions Available in Oceanography and Marine Biology - Coral Reefs Message-ID: <4B57572E.4030205@marine.usf.edu> Global Science & Technology, Inc. (GST) is currently accepting applications for three specialized full-time positions in Oceanography/Marine Biology focusing on Coral Reefs. GST is a Maryland-based company that employs a highly specialized workforce including experts in key domains of science, engineering, enterprise data systems, and information technology. Customers include: NOAA, NASA???s Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the U.S. Air Force. Location: Maryland, USA Interested candidates: Please send your resume to [1]careers at gst.com 1) Chief Programmer ??? Senior Scientist/Oceanographer/Programmer with background in physical and biological oceanography, coral reef ecosystem processes and knowledge of theory and applications of infrared and multi-spectral remote sensing is necessary. Requirements: * Mandatory experience with use and interpretation of satellite infrared and visible data and in development of remote sensing products and/or applications in a research-to-operations setting is mandatory. * Working knowledge of IDL and/or PV-Wave, FORTRAN and/or C, ARC/INFO, ARCView, Perl, databases, HTML, JavaScript, Photoshop, and web-based tools in UNIX and Windows environments. 2) Product Developer ??? Scientist/ Marine Biologist/Analyst with background in marine science, physical and biological oceanography, and/or coral reef ecosystem processes desirable. Requirements: ?? Mandatory experience with UNIX and MS Windows computing environment. Working knowledge of IDL and/or PV-Wave, FORTRAN and/or C, HTML, Perl, and JavaScript. ?? Experience in the use of map servers, a mainstream GIS system such as ARC/INFO, and web based tools highly desirable. * Experience with use and interpretation of satellite infrared and visible data aid in development of remote sensing products or applications, advantageous but not required. * Experience with databases and graphics programs such as Photoshop advantageous * Strong oral and written communication skills necessary. 3) Operations Manager ??? Scientist/Marine Biologist/Analyst with background in marine science, physical and biological oceanography, and/or coral reef ecosystem processes. Requirements: ?? Experience with use and interpretation of satellite infrared and visible data and in development of remote sensing products and/or applications is required. * Working knowledge of one or more of: IDL and/or MATLAB, FORTRAN and/or C/C++, an appropriate statistical and numerical package such as Origin 6.1, and HTML. * Strong oral and written communication skills and administrative experience are also necessary. GST offers competitive salaries and generous benefits including health and life insurance, vacation, sick and holiday leave, and a 401K/Profit sharing plan. GST is an equal opportunity employer. [2]www.gst.com References 1. mailto:careers at gst.com 2. http://www.gst.com/ From davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com Wed Jan 20 15:27:03 2010 From: davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com (David Evans) Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:27:03 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Islands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <228943.62573.qm@web32103.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear List - There is a petition to show support for concerns of the Chagossians (please visit the link included below). I received this today from the UK Chagos Support Association. They do not have the financial resources that some conservation groups have including PEW and Coral Cay but they are trying to get the word out. I think a conservation zone is a good thing too (I was part of a team surveying Diego Garcia in 2004). But after being treated the way they were in their removal and being swept under the rug for so long after that, I can't see disregarding them again as acceptable to either the UK or the US. Best Regards, David J. Evans Marine Biologist/Photographer davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com www.djem18.gather.com >From the UK Chagos Support Association: Sent: Wed, January 20, 2010 4:12:37 AM Subject: UK Chagos Support Association: Update Special Dear Supporter, The Chagos Environment Network lobby campaign is circulating a petition to encourage the Secretary of State to create a Marine Protected Area covering the Chagos Archipelago. A wonderful environmental initiative BUT it disregards the rights of the illegally exiled islanders. Conservation and human rights MUST go hand in hand. The Chagossians do not have the influence and resources available to the CEN but the Marine Education Trust have designed a petition which recognises that the Chagossians have a vital part to play in the future marine conservation and environmental protection of their homeland. Please sign this and encourage all your friends and contacts to sign as well. http://www.marineeducationtrust.org/petition/protect-chagos More information in this article for the Mauritius Times by Dr. Sean Carey. http://mauritiustimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93:sean-carey-&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=5 =Message: 4 =Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:06:17 -0800 (PST) =From: David Evans =Subject: Re: [Coral-List] 1. Chagos Islands (Peter Mandara) =To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov =Message-ID: <11312.81784.qm at web32107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> =Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii = =Dear All, = =I write to comment on a recent post about the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. I hope the comment is =taken as civil and professional and not just contentious, as the subject can tend to get (and I don't think is =helpful for anyone). What I am saying, Jim, is that I don't mean to be stirring any pots. =I'll phrase my comment as two points. =First, I think it is disingenuous to present the creation of an extensive conservation zone out of a magnificent =region of islands and ocean (which is indeed magnificent), without mentioning its background and darker side. =The former inhabitants of the archipelago, the Chagossians, were removed in the late 1960's by the UK and US =when the US Naval Support Facility at Deigo Garcia was planned and established. Without going into detail, =the removal planning and its process did not live up to the human rights tenets of either of our two nations by a =wide margin. That much has been stated by the legal system in the UK within the last decade. The Chagos =Islanders have been struggling for their right to return to their homes. The Chagos Islanders are in fact in favor =of creating a conservation zone in the region. They have, however, no representation in the process. They want =to be incorporated into the conservation zone and involved in its management. To =summarize my first point, creation of this conservation zone is not a simple matter of: "here's a magnificent =marine region, let's conserve it..." =My second point I pose as a question. What is the role of scientists and conservationists when the subject of =study and conservation comes up against social considerations? I know it's not a new situation and has come =up many times in the past and present and, with an increasingly more populated world, will continue to =increase in occurrence. In dealing with business and industry, it seems to me that adjusting profits and =practices is not too big of a sacrifice to make (such as with logging industries or fisheries). When dealing with =health, adjusting also seems the logical thing to do (such as with mining operations). When dealing with =traditional ways of life and generational homelands it can be a difficult decision to sacrifice for the sake of the =environment and conservation, but in the long run worth it for the sake of preserving ecosystem services and =protecting species populations (such as with farming, ranching, and fisheries). But when Human =Rights are involved (that is: treating each other badly) what is the role of the scientists and conservationists =wanting to capitalize on preserving the habitat involved? =My personal view with this situation of the Chagos Islands and the Chagossians that want to return there is =that given the circumstances, creating the wholly exclusionary conservation zone is not the best thing to do for =the sake of conservation. My opinion is that creating the conservation zone at the Chagos would be an =excellent opportunity to create a community that is geared toward living with its environment. And my =understanding is that that is what the Chagossians are interested in as well. With growing human populations =and lagging solutions to environmental problems (theory as well as action), might not the Chagossians present =an excellent example to the world? My concern (besides that for the Chagossians' plight) is that an =exclusionary conservation zone set aside as a jewel in a degraded world, with ever increasing human =populations, will eventually be overtaken anyway through encroachment of human activities and abandonment =of conservation =laws by future governments. Whereas, having an established community with a vested interest toward =conservation would create a stronger and longer lasting presence in the Chagos islands to ward against =encroachment. Treating local communities badly does not serve the cause of conservation around the world =now and in the future. =I understand that in the past governments have often acted this way, treating peoples poorly for the sake of =their own agendas. I personally, don't want the practice to continue into my generation and beyond. I don't =want the legacy of a magnificent conservation zone to be tarnished by it history, when positive alternative =solutions are available. =I ask any that have read and have been interested to consider these points sincerely. =I have posted photos and commentary about the atoll of Diego Garcia in the Chagos, both above and below the =waves, in the past few years. Please be welcome to view the island and its reefs: =(scroll through my lists of posts over several pages to find those for Diego Garcia) =My Posts http://www.gather.com/viewPostsByMember.action?memberId=59629 =Photo Log: Diego Garcia II - Chagos, Indian Ocean - 'Footprint of a People' =Photo Log: Diego Garcia, Chagos, Indian Ocean =Photo Log - Marine Life: Diego Garcia, Chagos, Indian Ocean I =(let me know if links don't work - you can try www.djem18.gather.com and look for "Posts") =Related: =Deslarzes, KJP, DJ Evans, and SH Smith. 2005. Marine Biological Suvey at United States Navy Support =Facility, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, July/August 2004. Cont. No. N62470-02-D-9997, Task =No. 0044. Geo-Marine, Inc., Plano, TX; Naval Facilites Engineering Command, Pearl Harbor, HI; Department of =Defense Legacy Resource Management Program, Proj. No. 03-183 =Best Regards, =David J. Evans =Marine Biologist/Photographer davidjevans1818 at yahoo.com =www.djem18.gather.com =Message: 1 =Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:53:48 +0000 =From: Peter Mandara =Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Islands =To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov =Message-ID: <4B4F4C1C.3020803 at coralcay.org> =Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" =Dear Coral-List Editor, =Would you please review the following entry: =Re: The UK government's three-month public consultation on extending =conservation protections for the Chagos Islands and its surrounding =waters.** =Now is the time to consider the future of the world's largest coral =atoll -- the Chagos Islands as the government has issued a consultation =on the issue. =This archipelago in the Indian Ocean has been compared to the Galapagos =or Great Barrier Reef in terms of its importance as one of the greatest =marine environments on the planet. It is one of the most pristine =tropical marine environments on Earth; home to 17 species of breeding =seabirds, about 1000 species of fish, around 220 species of coral and 2 =species of endangered turtles the area needs to be protected. Its =protection is supported by the leading UK scientific societies and NGOs. =To find out more about this unique and special place and the proposition =to declare it as the world's largest marine reserve please visit - =www.protectchagos.org =Coral Cay Conservation =Regards, =Peter Mandara MSc =PR and Communications Manager =Coral Cay Conservation =Elizabeth House =39 York Road =London =SE1 7NQ =United Kingdom =www.coralcay.org =Tel: +44 (0)20 7921 0463 =Fax: +44 (0)20 7921 0469 =Email: pm at coralcay.org =Skype Name: Peter Mandara =------------------------------ =Message: 5 =Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:01:01 -0500 =From: Jim Hendee =Subject: Re: [Coral-List] 1. Chagos Islands (Peter Mandara) =To: David Evans =Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov =Message-ID: <4B56FE8D.3080005 at noaa.gov> =Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 =Now it's me who is guilty of drifting a little off-topic (I guess). I =recently read a fascinating article about Diego Garcia and the =displacement of their inhabitants: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22691 =I mention this to provide further context (i.e., "the darker side"). I =personally see the consideration of establishing a conservation zone as =a good thing, but I can see your point about representation in management. =At any rate, I can see this is a fine but important line between =politics and a Chagos Island conservation zone. I guess we'll see how =this discussion goes. = Jim From mark at mdspalding.co.uk Thu Jan 21 05:27:45 2010 From: mark at mdspalding.co.uk (Mark Spalding) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:27:45 -0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos - whoever said conservation was simple In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000601ca9a84$5efc3cf0$0200a8c0@Englanmspalding> This is a fascinating challenge for how best to do conservation. Its a big enough area of coral reefs (>1% of the world's reefs - more than Belize, more than double Florida!) that most readers should be interested. The Chagos Archipelago is a vast area of healthy reefs in the Indian Ocean. The UK government's consultation is a fantastic opportunity to encourage comprehensive and sensible conservation. The fight for the human rights of those exiled from Chagos continues, however. A large number of UK Members of Parliament are now supporting their cause, and the case has been taken to the European Court. The UK government is consulting on 3 main options plus an "any other suggestions" option. The first three are 1 - complete no-take over the entire EEZ (making the largest no-take in the world by some margin); 2 - complete EEZ MPA, zoned and with no-take in shallow waters but continued pelagic fishery; or 3 - no-take over the reefs and shallow waters only (2 and 3 are effectively the same). Powerful conservation and science groups are arguing strongly for 1, but the exiled Chagossians as well as Mauritius (who claim the islands) were largely excluded from initial discussions and are very upset. All have made clear calls that they too want conservation, but not total no-take everywhere. Some fear it may be a ruse to continue their exile. Given the parlous state of the world's coral reefs it may indeed be the case that protection of this vast reef tract should be a leading priority. ...and of course it has been argued that the protection and management could be re-negotiated should the situation change on the ground. You can support option 1 by signing the following petition www.protectchagos.org Others are worried that an MPA on such a foundation will be undermined should the Chagossians win their court case or the Mauritians be handed sovereignty (the UK government has promised this once the military base is no longer needed (yeah, right!), but there is also a small possibility that the northern atolls may be handed over sooner). They worry that under these scenarios the MPA might be repealed and further that these groups, whose trust in the conservation and science community has been seriously undermined, would not then be willing to listen to any further advice from the same groups. This body of opinion would suggest that the best way forwards, both for stable, long-term conservation AND for human rights issues, is in dialogue. Ideally to develop an MPA with very large no-take elements, but with provision for continued conservation under future scenarios of Chagossian return or even perhaps Mauritian sovereignty. There is enough reef, and a small enough land area that the no-take proportion could be very large indeed. This is an "option 4" route, and there's a petition for that too http://www.marineeducationtrust.org/petition/protect-chagos. Of course further consultation would likely delay any decisions. Or just send your own comments to the UK government on links via eg. http://ukinmauritius.fco.gov.uk/en/working-with-mauritius/MPA (ironic url considering Mauritius is furious over this whole thing!) ....but of course the UK government could decide its all too difficult and do nothing! Best wishes Mark Spalding, PhD mark"at"mdspalding.co.uk Conservation Science Lab, Dept Zoology University of Cambridge, UK From karim.benmustrapha at instm.rnrt.tn Thu Jan 21 02:40:28 2010 From: karim.benmustrapha at instm.rnrt.tn (Kerim Ben Mustapha) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:40:28 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral Message-ID: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> Dear all One question: Should mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) be listed in annex 2 of the CITES or not? Yur answer will be very helpfull, Im in favor of its listing and seek some strong arguments from the con group. Thank you karim.benmustapha at instm.rnrt.tn kbmtok at yahoo.com.au Marine ecologist and biologist Expert in sponges and seagrass mapping From miki1805 at gmail.com Thu Jan 21 06:14:45 2010 From: miki1805 at gmail.com (Michela Giusti) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:14:45 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] looking for an article Message-ID: <50bb5bd71001210314j3ca24197w7b9571a5b83b1bc3@mail.gmail.com> Dear Listers, I am looking for the following article. If any one has a PDF copy I would be very grateful if you could send it to me. Greene, H.G., M.M. Yoklavich, R.M. Starr, V.M. O'Connell, W.W. Wakefield, D.E. Sullivan, J.E. McRea Jr., and G.M. Cailliet. (1999). "A classification scheme for deep seafloor habitats". Oceanologica Acta. Vol 22: 6. pp. 663-678. Thank you very much! bye, Michela From miki1805 at gmail.com Thu Jan 21 06:16:25 2010 From: miki1805 at gmail.com (Michela Giusti) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:16:25 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] looking for an article 2 Message-ID: <50bb5bd71001210316j17f172e6rcd13bb6283972b5d@mail.gmail.com> Hello again, I am also looking for that one: Ocana O., Brito A. (2004). "A review of Gerardiidae (Anthozoa: Zoantharia) from Macronesian Islands and the Mediterranean Sea with the description of a new species". Rev Acad Canar Cienc 15: 159-189 Thank you very much, bye, Michela From A.R.Harborne at exeter.ac.uk Thu Jan 21 06:43:56 2010 From: A.R.Harborne at exeter.ac.uk (Harborne, Alastair) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:43:56 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] PhD in reef fish ecology and physiology Message-ID: <0EEB6CFC74A3EC48877CC655C7F656254153560E3A@EXCHMBS05.isad.isadroot.ex.ac.uk> Dear coral-listers, I wanted to highlight the current advert for a PhD in reef fish ecology and physiology at the University of Exeter, UK: http://admin.exeter.ac.uk/academic/scholarships/search/scholarship.php?id=385 Please note that there are eligibility and funding restrictions for non-UK candidates (see http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/postgrad/eligibility.asp). Candidates should also be aware that there will be a two-stage selection process: (1) to be selected as the leading candidate for this particular project then (2) to be selected as one of the leading candidates from the group of candidates representing each of the PhD studentships currently being advertised by the School of Biosciences. I am happy to answer queries, but please note from the website that applications should be sent to the Postgraduate Secretary. Regards, Alastair __ Dr Alastair Harborne NERC Research Fellow Marine Spatial Ecology Lab School of Biosciences Hatherly Laboratory University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK Phone: 01392-263784 Fax: 01392-263700 Skype name: al_harborne Group website: http://www.ex.ac.uk/msel Personal website: http://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=alastair_harborne From P.J.Mumby at exeter.ac.uk Thu Jan 21 08:58:48 2010 From: P.J.Mumby at exeter.ac.uk (Mumby, Peter) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:58:48 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] PhD in climate change on reefs - any nationality eligible Message-ID: <0EA3DAA8DB70A041A4AFF40B1BED5013147D9661D6@EXCHMBS04.isad.isadroot.ex.ac.uk> Dear Coral-list The University of Exeter has advertised a fully-funded PhD scholarship studying the impacts of climate change on coral reefs. The post will be based at Exeter though will likely include time at the University of Queensland. The project will focus on the application of global climate models to coral reefs and will involve collaboration with climate scientists at the UK Hadley Data Centre, which generate several of the models used by the IPCC. There may also be scope to study the impact of climate change on ecosystem services. The PhD will be supervised by Profs Peter Mumby and Peter Cox. Candidates from any nationality can apply and further details can be found at: http://admin.exeter.ac.uk/academic/scholarships/search/scholarship.php?id=382 Application deadline is the 12th of March. Feel free to get in touch if you have further questions. Best wishes Peter Professor Peter J Mumby Marine Spatial Ecology Lab School of BioSciences Hatherly Laboratory Prince of Wales Road University of Exeter Exeter Devon, EX4 4PS UK tel: + 44 (0)1392 263798 fax: + 44 (0)1392 263700 e-mail: p.j.mumby at exeter.ac.uk Research: http://www.ex.ac.uk/msel Free video clips of coral reefs: http://www.reefvid.org NOTE: From 1st of April 2010 I will have moved to: School of Biological Sciences University of Queensland St Lucia Campus Brisbane Qld 4072 Australia From gallardo at ait.ac.th Thu Jan 21 08:24:02 2010 From: gallardo at ait.ac.th (Wenresti G. Gallardo) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:24:02 +0700 Subject: [Coral-List] Postgraduate and short-term training courses on Aquaculture, Aquatic Resources Management, and Integrated Costal Management Message-ID: <8738A83133BE42118190FF142B56FF7C@aarm> Kindly post this announcement. Thanks. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management (AARM) Field of Study of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) offers MSc and PhD programs on: (1) Aquaculture Technology (2) Aquatic Resources Management (3) Integrated Coastal Management (interdisciplinary program) The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), established in 1959 in Bangkok, Thailand, is an autonomous, international postgraduate institution serving over 2,000 students from many countries across Asia and beyond. Teaching faculty, researchers, staff and students from more than 40 countries form a unique international community on the Institute's 400 acres, beautifully landscaped residential campus, situated 42 km north of Bangkok, Thailand. Scholarships are available for highly qualified applicants. Deadline for applications for admission for August 2010 semester is March 2010. Details of admission process, application forms, costs and expenses, financial assistance, and academic calendar can be found in the following web site: http://www.ait.ac.th/AIT/admissions/ Short-term and customized training courses aquaculture, aquatic resources management, and integrated coastal management are also available. Professional masters (1 year) and regular masters (2 years) program on Aquaculture Business Management are currently being developed and targeted for offering in August 2010 semester. For more information, please visit http://www.ait.asia; http://www.aqua.ait.asia, or email us at aarm at ait.asia. From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Thu Jan 21 11:17:02 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:17:02 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Lionfish: A New CoRIS Professional Exchange Message-ID: <4B587DFE.7040706@noaa.gov> The Professional Exchanges produced from Coral-List discussions are extremely well done. Please see below... -------- Original Message -------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:59:51 -0500 From: Jacqueline Shapo Dr. Anthony Picciolo of NOAA's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) has developed a professional exchange about the IndoPacific lionfish invasion of the U.S. south Atlantic sea coast and Caribbean Sea. The exchange is accessible at: _http://coris.noaa.gov/exchanges/lionfish/_ and focuses on the dynamic discussions about lionfishes that took place on the Coral-List server between December 2008 and October 2009. Participants in /the //discussion thread were concerned with the sources of introduction of lionfishes into the Atlantic Ocean, the increased number of sightings of at least two species of lionfishes in various locations, the nature of threats posed by these fishes to Atlantic coral reefs, and what protective or control measures could be applied to reduce these threats./ To submit questions or comments about this or other professional exchanges, please contact CoRIS at: coris at noaa.gov. Jacquie ************************************* Jacqueline (Shapo) Rauenzahn Operations Manager Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) NOAA/NESDIS/NODC SSMC 3, 4th Floor, E/OC1, Room 4624 1315 East West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-713-3272, ext. 205 Fax: 301-713-3301 Email: Jacqueline.Shapo at noaa.gov From jlang at riposi.net Fri Jan 22 11:53:57 2010 From: jlang at riposi.net (Judith Lang) Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:53:57 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Thanks from the Our Reefs traveling exhibit team Message-ID: <72FD88F6-8867-47E6-BAA8-62D498479099@riposi.net> With apologies for cross-postings, the Our Reefs: Caribbean Connections team of Judy Lang, Janie Wulff, Keith Roberson and Carol Fretwell wishes to acknowledge all those who helped us travel the reef conservation exhibit to new venues this past year. 2009: Thanks to support from local sponsors, Tropical Shipping, and the Raymond Foundation In 2009 the Our Reefs: Caribbean Connections exhibit traveled to Key West, Florida (1 venue), The Bahamas (5 venues on 3 islands), plus Tobago and Belize (4 venues each). For their efforts, at times Herculean, to create public awareness and promote marine conservation we are particularly grateful to: In Florida? Mark Lopez and Miriam Mateo, Tropical Shipping (www.tropical.com) Mary Tagliareni and Craig Wanous, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/) Richard Dodge, Peggy Oellrich, Nora Quinlan and Wendy Wood, Nova Southeastern University (www.nova.edu) David and Linda Makepeace, Synergy Education Associates, Inc. (www.seainc.org ) Wendy Fretwell, Events from the Heart, Inc. In The Bahamas? Casuarina McKinney Lambert and Charlene Carey, Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (www.breef.org) Kristin Williams, Friends of the Environment (www.friendsofthenvironment.org ) Dwight Pinder, Transportation Eleuthera Ros Seyfert and Althea Willie, Haynes Library (www.hayneslibrary.org) Chandra Sands, South Eleuthera Mission (www.southeleutheramission.com) Terry Sands, Ministry of Tourism and Aviation (www.bahamas.com) In Tobago? Jahson Alemu I and Hyacinth Armstrong, Buccoo Reef Trust (www.buccooreef.org ) In Belize? Melanie McField and Armeid Thompson, Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative (http://healthyreefs.org) Nellie Catzim, Jocelyn Finch and Justino Mendez, Southern Environmental Association (www.seabelize.org) Nicola Foster, Celia Mahung, Stephene Supaul and Joe Villafranco, Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (www.tidebelize.org) Leandra Cho-Ricketts and Cecy Castillo, University of Belize (www.ub.edu.bz ) From Bob.Glazer at MyFWC.com Thu Jan 21 11:34:21 2010 From: Bob.Glazer at MyFWC.com (Glazer, Bob) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:34:21 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Lionfish: A New CoRIS Professional Exchange In-Reply-To: <4B587DFE.7040706@noaa.gov> References: <4B587DFE.7040706@noaa.gov> Message-ID: <4F5FF9AB3D1CC94DBB300D025C8C4A3B074027DB@FWC-TLEX10.fwc.state.fl.us> As a follow-up to Jim's email, the lionfish discussion was/is quite active on the gcfinet distribution list. To access the archival messages from the list, go to http://listserv.gcfi.org/scripts/wa-GCFI.exe?A0=GCFINET and search on lionfish. Together, these two list provide a substantial amount of information related to the spread of lionfish in the Caribbean. Robert Glazer Associate Research Scientist Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute 2796 Overseas Hwy., Ste. 119 Marathon, FL 33050 305-289-2330; 305-289-2334 (fax) bob.glazer at myfwc.com research.myfwc.com -----Original Message----- From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Jim Hendee Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:17 AM To: Coral-List Subscribers Subject: [Coral-List] Lionfish: A New CoRIS Professional Exchange The Professional Exchanges produced from Coral-List discussions are extremely well done. Please see below... -------- Original Message -------- Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:59:51 -0500 From: Jacqueline Shapo Dr. Anthony Picciolo of NOAA's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) has developed a professional exchange about the IndoPacific lionfish invasion of the U.S. south Atlantic sea coast and Caribbean Sea. The exchange is accessible at: _http://coris.noaa.gov/exchanges/lionfish/_ and focuses on the dynamic discussions about lionfishes that took place on the Coral-List server between December 2008 and October 2009. Participants in /the //discussion thread were concerned with the sources of introduction of lionfishes into the Atlantic Ocean, the increased number of sightings of at least two species of lionfishes in various locations, the nature of threats posed by these fishes to Atlantic coral reefs, and what protective or control measures could be applied to reduce these threats./ To submit questions or comments about this or other professional exchanges, please contact CoRIS at: coris at noaa.gov. Jacquie ************************************* Jacqueline (Shapo) Rauenzahn Operations Manager Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) NOAA/NESDIS/NODC SSMC 3, 4th Floor, E/OC1, Room 4624 1315 East West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-713-3272, ext. 205 Fax: 301-713-3301 Email: Jacqueline.Shapo at noaa.gov _______________________________________________ Coral-List mailing list Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From britt.parker at noaa.gov Thu Jan 21 11:36:03 2010 From: britt.parker at noaa.gov (Britt Parker) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:36:03 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Publication Available: Determining Thermal Capacitance for PAN Design in Palau Message-ID: <4B588273.6020900@noaa.gov> Coral-List: I am very happy to announce the electronic publication of the Coral Reef Conservation Program Technical Memo #12: "Determining Thermal Capacitance for Protected Area Network Design in Palau". The Tech Memo can be found at http://coris.noaa.gov/activities/thermal_tech/. Information on the Tech Memo follows. Thank you Britt Skirving, W.J., S.F. Heron, C.R. Steinberg, C. McLean, B.A.A. Parker, C.M. Eakin, M.L. Heron, A.E. Strong, and L.F. Arzayus. 2010. /Determining Thermal Capacitance for Protected Area Network Design in Palau/. Silver Spring, MD: NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program. NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP 12. 317 pp. During the latter half of 1998, Palau experienced unprecedented bleaching that resulted in significant mortality and the loss of significant proportions of one of the few remaining pristine coral reefs in the world. Prior to 1998 and since 1998, little to no ecologically significant coral bleaching has been observed. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Palau Government joined forces to design and implement a protected areas network (PAN) for Palau's coral reef ecosystem. A PAN is best described as a series of marine protected areas (MPAs). They recognized bleaching as being potentially one of the major future threats to the Palau coral reef ecosystem. However, with only one poorly documented bleaching event on record, it is difficult to gain enough experience to be able to build resilience to these events into the PAN. In parallel with this effort to design a PAN for Palau, NOAA and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) were collaborating on the use of hydrodynamic models to predict heat stress during a bleaching event. In 2003, it was decided to combine these efforts and for NOAA and AIMS to produce a heat stress model for Palau for use in the PAN planning as an attempt to identify factors that might confer resilience to climate change. The work described in the main body of this Technical Report represents an important new tool for Marine Protected Area (MPA) design. Prior to this project, the design of MPAs was based on species diversity alone and some socioeconomic considerations. Prior to this work, there had not been a serious attempt to include physical variables to build resilience against climate change, and in particular coral bleaching, into MPA design. This project demonstrated that a simplistic physical model can be used to improve MPA planning to incorporate resilience against future coral bleaching events. Appendix 1 presents a comprehensive overview of the data collected and allows a brief view of some of the time series collected. These time series are of sufficient length to undertake a tidal current analysis for hind-casting or prediction. Appendices 2 and 3 are publications that came out of the modeling effort in Palau. **Contact: William.Skirving at noaa.gov -- Britt Parker Program Specialist, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program IMSG at NOAA/NESDIS Coral Reef Watch E/RA31, SSMC1, Room 5307, 1335 East West Hwy Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 Phone: (301) 713-2857 x132 Fax: (301) 713-3136 Email: Britt.Parker at noaa.gov Web: www.coralreef.noaa.gov From easy501 at zianet.com Thu Jan 21 11:36:07 2010 From: easy501 at zianet.com (Ted Morris) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:36:07 -0700 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Islands Message-ID: <000901ca9ab7$fef3e590$fcdbb0b0$@com> The process of protecting the marine environment of the Chagos Archipelago is at a critical point, and signing the petition at http://protectchagos.org is the very minimum anyone concerned with the reefs of the Chagos should do. Politicizing the process by insisting on the inclusion of Chagossian claims, all of which have been dismissed by UK and US courts, would be unwise.? That said, there are certainly many people who wonder just what really did happen to the islanders back in the early 70s, and would like to ensure that a suitable political solution is arrived at on their behalf.? To fully participate in that discussion, one should reflect on the economic and geo-political context of the times, and not solely on emotional appeals.? There is also a huge amount of data concerning the demographics and population that is germane to the discussion, but is not included in the arguments posted to date. I've been a student of the islands, it's history and current uses for many years, and about 18 months ago I wrote a short paper summarizing the various British Court cases, the Chagossian lawsuit in the US, and the available published literature at the time.? That information might be of interest to readers as they attempt to determine what role the Chagossian community should play in the future of the islands.? The paper is on line at http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/chagossians.pdf. Meanwhile, the goal is to fully protect the near-pristine coral reef and other marine environments of the central Indian Ocean, and anything that would delay or derail that effort should be avoided.? Conservation now would be to the advantage of any future resident population, should things change in that respect, and to no one's disadvantage, least of all to other residents of the Indian Ocean. Ted A. Morris, Jr. http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/stc.html easy501 at zianet.com skype: ted.morris.501 From gsantangelo at biologia.unipi.it Thu Jan 21 12:59:28 2010 From: gsantangelo at biologia.unipi.it (santangelo) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:59:28 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral In-Reply-To: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> References: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> Message-ID: <4B589600.9060405@biologia.unipi.it> Dear Karim, the real question is: it is possible to set out a rational, serlective exploitation of the Mediterranean red coral, based on sound demographic data? Our answer, based on our researches is: yes, it is possible. Morover, according with the FAO official panel on precious corals held recently (November 2009) in Rome there are not any data (a 90% reduction of the resource) which can justify the inclusion. Annex II, in my and our opinion is only a way to cross over the real managing problems which are: to control that fishing will be really selective towards older/larger colonies, to protect several populations in MPAs and in "shalow-waters" (the populations living between 20 and 60 meters have a limited economic value and must be protected), and, first of all, that a real enforcement towards poacing will be be applied. Sincerely, yours Giovanni Santangelo Prof. Giovanni Santangelo Zoology and Animal Ecology Department of Biology, University of Pisa Via Volta 6 56126 Pisa, Italia Tel: +39 050 2211382 Email: gsantangelo at biologia.unipi.it Website: www.red-coral.eu > Dear all > One question: Should mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) be listed in annex 2 of > the CITES or not? Yur answer will be very helpfull, Im in favor of its listing and seek some > strong arguments from the con group. > Thank you > > > karim.benmustapha at instm.rnrt.tn > kbmtok at yahoo.com.au > Marine ecologist and biologist > Expert in sponges and seagrass mapping > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > -- From bdg.impactmer at orange.fr Thu Jan 21 11:42:39 2010 From: bdg.impactmer at orange.fr (Beatrice de Gaulejac) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:42:39 -0400 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral In-Reply-To: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> References: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> Message-ID: bonjour, pour information, le statut de C. rubrum avait ete debattue en 1989 lors de la rencontre : "Les especes marines ? proteger en Mediterranee, Carry-le-Rouet, 18-19 novembre 1989" " Marine species in need of protection in the Mediterranean" La monographie est disponible en suivant ce lien : http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=88509 Bonne journee Beatrice de GAULEJAC Chef de projet IMPACT-MER Villa Mazarin - 90 rue du Professeur Garcin Route de Didier 97200 Fort-de-France Tel : 06 96 03 05 45 email : bdg.impactmer at orange.fr Le 21 janv. 10 ? 03:40, Kerim Ben Mustapha a ?crit : > > Dear all > One question: Should mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) be > listed in annex 2 of > the CITES or not? Yur answer will be very helpfull, Im in favor of > its listing and seek some > strong arguments from the con group. > Thank you > > > karim.benmustapha at instm.rnrt.tn > kbmtok at yahoo.com.au > Marine ecologist and biologist > Expert in sponges and seagrass mapping > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From Charles.Sheppard at warwick.ac.uk Thu Jan 21 15:21:14 2010 From: Charles.Sheppard at warwick.ac.uk (Sheppard, Charles) Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:21:14 -0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Protected Area Message-ID: As earlier writers note, the British government has issued a Consultation seeking views on whether the Chagos Archipelago should be designated a very large protected area, and the degree of protection it should have. The primary reason is its reefs. The proposal is that this be made an enormous protected area. Supporting this is the Chagos Environment Network (CEN), a collaboration of several leading conservation and scientific organisations including the Linnean Society of London, Marine Conservation Society, Pew Environment Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Royal Society, RSPB, Zoological Society of London, etc. The CEN campaign website, www.protectchagos.org and the website of the Chagos Conservation Trust www.chagos-trust.org contain many downloadable pdfs with much information. The science: These websites include the report from a workshop at the UK's NOC last year, whose participating organisations included more than just the above. Its output "Marine Conservation in the British Indian Ocean Territory: Science issues and opportunities", concluded that there is sufficient scientific information to make a very convincing case for designating all the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Chagos Archipelago as a Marine Protected Area. Chagos contains 49% of the 'Least Threatened' reefs in the Indian Ocean, all within one jurisdiction. If protection of such a significant area can happen anywhere, it is here. It is as much the poor state of so much of the rest of the region as it is the good state of reefs in Chagos that creates the need for a reference site, a refuge, and more. I hope you will visit these sites, read some of the large amount of information, and petition for Option 1: a no-take protected area. Protecting this area would be an enormous contribution to the conservation of the world's marine environment. The UK Government has no other marine area under its jurisdiction that is as rich biologically, which could be protected as cheaply, or which would be so universally beneficial. Chagossian removal in the 1970s was the issue mainly focussed on by earlier writers. For a well-documented account of events, demographics, and compensation details see http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/chagossians.pdf , The days of viable, remote copra plantations were ending in the 1970s (when people were removed), but in fact the first two Chagos atolls were evacuated many years before the last ones, for reasons of failed economics. CEN takes a strictly environmental, non-political view, which is that whatever the eventual legal outcome turns out to be, any conservation of the archipelago and its resources now will be beneficial to all, under ALL possible future scenarios. That is why many of us are urging that the Chagos Islands and their surrounding waters be designated as a no-take marine reserve, "without prejudice" to the outcome of the legal process. I cannot see any circumstances in which it would be disadvantageous to anyone (other than ocean fishing fleets) to have this large reef system protected in their entirety now, given that in the event of a change in sovereignty or settlement, conservation arrangements could be modified. Designating these reefs, islands and surrounding waters now as fully protected would safeguard them for the future, whatever that may be. Tuna fishery objections are one of the key objections to a no-take MPA. One doc available for download (or soon will be) is a thorough scientific report commissioned by the CEN on this whole issue, and its results contrast with some tuna interests' view. We have the strongest support from tuna fisheries experts. While protecting or improving tuna stocks is not the goal of the proposal, it is likely to have that effect and enhance stocks elsewhere in the Indian Ocean. Regarding demersal reef fishing, we generally believe that at least this one large area should be maintained in undamaged condition. The Indian Ocean needs it. The bycatch from the offshore fishery is striking - our estimate (see the shortly to be uploaded document I refer to) is that almost 60,000 sharks were caught in a five year period by longliners in BIOT waters, with additional very heavy bycatch of other species. The IOTC Performance Review Panel has reported very high levels of uncertainty and very limited quantitative data for many of the stocks under the IOTC Agreement, and low levels of compliance with IOTC measures and obligations. (Report of the IOTC Performance Review Panel: January 2009. Indian Ocean Tuna Commission). None of which is any good for conservation. It has been suggested that protecting this fishery may be losing an important stream of funding for current efforts to prevent illegal fishing methods in the waters around Chagos. The total value of the licences is about ?1 million a year and it costs about that amount to patrol the fishery. But might it not be worth closing the fishery and protecting these fish? We know that open ocean fishing is the recent 'tragedy of the commons'. Other downloadable docs from the websites mentioned, include general scientific docs, an economics assessment and several others. These will allow people to make informed views and to balance them with the sometimes erroneous information which is available. I hope many of you will read some of them, and will then support the move for very strong protection, by emailing the government site suggested, and by the petition on the protectchagos.org site. Those wishing to petition and express concern for the Chagossians can of course do so. But delaying or oppose the conservation of this last very large 'Least Threatened' reef system in the Indian Ocean because of this could be very damaging. Best wishes Charles -------------- Professor Charles Sheppard Dept Biological Sciences University of Warwick Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK charles.sheppard at warwick.ac.uk tel (44) (0) 2476 524975 From RichardPDunne at aol.com Fri Jan 22 07:53:38 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:53:38 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos - whoever said conservation was simple In-Reply-To: <000601ca9a84$5efc3cf0$0200a8c0@Englanmspalding> References: <000601ca9a84$5efc3cf0$0200a8c0@Englanmspalding> Message-ID: <4B599FD2.30209@aol.com> Dear Listers ( In view of the nature of Coral List I have deliberately avoided political opinion or bias in this e-mail which simply sets out the facts as they exist I trust the Jim Hendee will let it through) Mark Spalding (and others before) have drawn the issue of the possible Chagos MPA to our attention. The UK Government have set a deadline for 12 Feb 2010 for public consultation. We, as coral reef scientists and other interested parties, are being canvassed for our support by a number of bodies, inter alia: 1. The "Protect Chagos Org" encourages us to sign a petition that supports "a full no-take marine reserve for the whole territorial waters and EPPZ/FCMZ". 2. The "Marine Education Trust" encourages us to sign a petition that does not support any of the 3 options proposed in the consultation document because none would permit the Chagos islanders to use their marine resources, and it goes on to encourage the UK Government to work with the islanders and the Government of Mauritius to devise an appropriate MPA solution. alternatively you could: 3. Individually write to the UK Government with your views. The UK Government Consultation document asks the question "Do you believe we should create a marine protected area in the British Indian Ocean Territory?". If the answer is Yes, then it goes on to propose 3 protection options. The most extreme of which is that proposed by the "Protect Chagos Org" (1 above). So what should you do? The answer will depend as much on what you believe to be morally correct as it does on any notion of protecting coral reefs. Why? Because of the recent history of the BIOT and Diego Garcia in particular. My own experience. In 1979 I visited Diego Garcia as a young Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. One of my roles was as the Ship's Diving Officer and I took my team diving around the atoll. We also landed on the now deserted part of the atoll where the islanders had lived. It was a surreal experience - the deserted houses which had scrawled messages in French on their walls - heartfelt pleas from the islanders as they had been forced off into exile - overhead US heavy transport planes thundered into the US Air Base, in the lagoon were the rusting hulks of the 19thC coaling ships and on the beach was a decaying WW2 flying boat. Even as UK military personnel we were not allowed near the US Air Base. Ten years later I found myself as the Legal Adviser to the Commander in Chief Fleet during the first Gulf War. We were the de-facto commander of Diego Garcia with a small UK contingent alongside the US Air Base. I was aware of the huge military importance of the base to the US even at that time. What happened to the Chagos islanders? In 1971 the UK Government used an immigration ordinance to remove the islanders so that Diego Garcia could be used as a US base. In 1998 the islanders began legal proceedings and the Divisional Court ruled their eviction illegal. The Foreign Secretary then agreed that they should be allowed to return to all islands except Diego Garcia. After 9/11 that position was swiftly reversed following the US and UK stance that the base had become a vital facility in the war against terror in the Middle East. As a result the UK issued an Order in Council preventing the islanders return. Orders in Council are not debated in the UK Parliament - they are laws passed directly by the Government. In 2006 the High Court ruled again in favour of the Chagossians. The UK Government appealed the decision and lost in the Court of Appeal. Finally, the highest UK court - the House of Lords ruled that the UK Government 2004 Order in Council was legal in a 3-2 majority judgement (2 judges strongly dissenting). That judgment was clearly based on security interests of the UK and the US. After the case, the Foreign Secretary declared "We do not seek to excuse the conduct of an earlier generation. Our appeal to the House of Lords was not about what happened in the 1960s and 1970s. It was about decisions taken in the international context of 2004. This required us to take into account issues of defence [and] security of the archipelago and the fact that an independent study had come down heavily against the feasibility of lasting resettlement of the outer islands of BIOT." If you want to read the judgment of the House of Lords - see - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd081022/banc-1.htm The case has now been taken to the European Court of Human Rights. If the UK Government loses, the Chagos islanders should be entitled to return to at least some of their islands. Nothwithstanding this position, the UK Government maintains that the Chagos islanders have no right of abode and ignores their right to be consulted on the MPA proposals. In the light of this I ask 'What is the haste to proceed with the designation of an MPA?' From a conservation point of view the region is remote and the reefs have remained in remarkable health for the last 40 years. The area is also already extensively protected by conservation legislation. What extra immediate protection will this designation achieve - particularly given the lack of real resources to enforce it? Are we fearful of imminent development on any of the BIOT islands - hardly, when the security of the Diego Garcia base is uppermost in both US and UK Government minds, and this is the prime reason for preventing even the islanders from returning to the area. Are there concerns of pollution or desecration of the marine resources? Declaring a MPA would make the UK Government look good on the international stage. It could also be used by them as a further nail in the coffin of the Chagos islanders case. Having removed the islanders from Diego Garcia where they had been for generations, the UK Government now declares that the area cannot support re-population. It would be convenient if it was also a marine no take reserve so that the islanders could not even fish for their own food. Morally what should we do? The answer is very simple we should await the outcome of the Chagos islanders ECHR court case. The UK Government should not be encouraged to declare an MPA in these circumstances - it should bide its time. I have signed the Marine Education Trust petition and I encourage you to do the same or to write to the UK Government stating that there should be no MPA in the British Indian Ocean Territory pending the outcome of the Chagos islanders case in the ECHR. Richard P Dunne Lt Cdr (RN) rtd Barrister at Law sometime coral reef researcher On 21/01/2010 10:27, Mark Spalding wrote: > This is a fascinating challenge for how best to do conservation. Its a big > enough area of coral reefs (>1% of the world's reefs - more than Belize, > more than double Florida!) that most readers should be interested. > > The Chagos Archipelago is a vast area of healthy reefs in the Indian Ocean. > The UK government's consultation is a fantastic opportunity to encourage > comprehensive and sensible conservation. The fight for the human rights of > those exiled from Chagos continues, however. A large number of UK Members of > Parliament are now supporting their cause, and the case has been taken to > the European Court. > > The UK government is consulting on 3 main options plus an "any other > suggestions" option. The first three are 1 - complete no-take over the > entire EEZ (making the largest no-take in the world by some margin); 2 - > complete EEZ MPA, zoned and with no-take in shallow waters but continued > pelagic fishery; or 3 - no-take over the reefs and shallow waters only (2 > and 3 are effectively the same). > > Powerful conservation and science groups are arguing strongly for 1, but the > exiled Chagossians as well as Mauritius (who claim the islands) were largely > excluded from initial discussions and are very upset. All have made clear > calls that they too want conservation, but not total no-take everywhere. > Some fear it may be a ruse to continue their exile. Given the parlous state > of the world's coral reefs it may indeed be the case that protection of this > vast reef tract should be a leading priority. ...and of course it has been > argued that the protection and management could be re-negotiated should the > situation change on the ground. You can support option 1 by signing the > following petitionwww.protectchagos.org > > Others are worried that an MPA on such a foundation will be undermined > should the Chagossians win their court case or the Mauritians be handed > sovereignty (the UK government has promised this once the military base is > no longer needed (yeah, right!), but there is also a small possibility that > the northern atolls may be handed over sooner). They worry that under these > scenarios the MPA might be repealed and further that these groups, whose > trust in the conservation and science community has been seriously > undermined, would not then be willing to listen to any further advice from > the same groups. This body of opinion would suggest that the best way > forwards, both for stable, long-term conservation AND for human rights > issues, is in dialogue. Ideally to develop an MPA with very large no-take > elements, but with provision for continued conservation under future > scenarios of Chagossian return or even perhaps Mauritian sovereignty. There > is enough reef, and a small enough land area that the no-take proportion > could be very large indeed. This is an "option 4" route, and there's a > petition for that too > http://www.marineeducationtrust.org/petition/protect-chagos. Of course > further consultation would likely delay any decisions. > > Or just send your own comments to the UK government on links via eg. > http://ukinmauritius.fco.gov.uk/en/working-with-mauritius/MPA > (ironic url considering Mauritius is furious over this whole thing!) > > ....but of course the UK government could decide its all too difficult and do > nothing! > > Best wishes > > Mark Spalding, PhD > mark"at"mdspalding.co.uk > Conservation Science Lab, Dept Zoology > University of Cambridge, UK > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From frida_lanshammar at hotmail.com Sun Jan 24 00:45:45 2010 From: frida_lanshammar at hotmail.com (Frida Lanshammar) Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:45:45 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] A new web-based platform related to marine and coastal issues in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean - DLIST ASCLME In-Reply-To: <4B599FD2.30209@aol.com> References: , <000601ca9a84$5efc3cf0$0200a8c0@Englanmspalding>, <4B599FD2.30209@aol.com> Message-ID: Dear all, Please be informed that a new web-based plattform for the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem region has been launched. To sign up as a member and use the libraries available or to take part in the online discussions, please check www.dlist-asclme.org and look at the attached document. Kind regards, Frida ................................................ Frida Lanshammar EcoAfrica Tanzania P.O. Box 3186, Zanzibar, Tanzania Tel: +255-773-52 09 72 ............................................... _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online. http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/windows/windowslive/see-it-in-action/social-network-basics.aspx?ocid=PID23461::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-xm:SI_SB_1:092010 From RichardPDunne at aol.com Mon Jan 25 06:31:56 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:31:56 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Protected Area In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4B5D812C.9000603@aol.com> Dear Listers Charles Sheppard (a proponent of the BIOT MPA) writes below in response to my earlier post: "But delaying or oppose the conservation of this last very large 'Least Threatened' reef system in the Indian Ocean because of this could be very damaging." but does not give any justification for why a 'delay' in the implementation of the MPA pending the European Court of Human Rights case by the Chagossians would be "very damaging". As I have already pointed out : "From a conservation point of view the region is remote and the reefs have remained in remarkable health for the last 40 years. The area is also already extensively protected by conservation legislation. What extra immediate protection will this designation achieve - particularly given the lack of real resources to enforce it? Are we fearful of imminent development on any of the BIOT islands - hardly, when the security of the Diego Garcia base is uppermost in both US and UK Government minds, and this is the prime reason for preventing even the islanders from returning to the area. Are there concerns of pollution or desecration of the marine resources? If we are to be persuaded to overrule any moral right that the Chagossians have in favour of scientific or conservation issues then I feel that we should be provided with the justification and rationale. Richard P Dunne On 21/01/2010 20:21, Sheppard, Charles wrote: > As earlier writers note, the British government has issued a Consultation seeking views on whether the Chagos Archipelago should be designated a very large protected area, and the degree of protection it should have. The primary reason is its reefs. The proposal is that this be made an enormous protected area. Supporting this is the Chagos Environment Network (CEN), a collaboration of several leading conservation and scientific organisations including the Linnean Society of London, Marine Conservation Society, Pew Environment Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Royal Society, RSPB, Zoological Society of London, etc. > > > > The CEN campaign website, www.protectchagos.org and the website of the Chagos Conservation Trust www.chagos-trust.org contain many downloadable pdfs with much information. > > > > The science: These websites include the report from a workshop at the UK's NOC last year, whose participating organisations included more than just the above. Its output "Marine Conservation in the British Indian Ocean Territory: Science issues and opportunities", concluded that there is sufficient scientific information to make a very convincing case for designating all the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Chagos Archipelago as a Marine Protected Area. > > > > Chagos contains 49% of the 'Least Threatened' reefs in the Indian Ocean, all within one jurisdiction. If protection of such a significant area can happen anywhere, it is here. It is as much the poor state of so much of the rest of the region as it is the good state of reefs in Chagos that creates the need for a reference site, a refuge, and more. I hope you will visit these sites, read some of the large amount of information, and petition for Option 1: a no-take protected area. > > > > Protecting this area would be an enormous contribution to the conservation of the world's marine environment. The UK Government has no other marine area under its jurisdiction that is as rich biologically, which could be protected as cheaply, or which would be so universally beneficial. > > > > Chagossian removal in the 1970s was the issue mainly focussed on by earlier writers. For a well-documented account of events, demographics, and compensation details see http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/chagossians.pdf , The days of viable, remote copra plantations were ending in the 1970s (when people were removed), but in fact the first two Chagos atolls were evacuated many years before the last ones, for reasons of failed economics. CEN takes a strictly environmental, non-political view, which is that whatever the eventual legal outcome turns out to be, any conservation of the archipelago and its resources now will be beneficial to all, under ALL possible future scenarios. That is why many of us are urging that the Chagos Islands and their surrounding waters be designated as a no-take marine reserve, "without prejudice" to the outcome of the legal process. > > > > I cannot see any circumstances in which it would be disadvantageous to anyone (other than ocean fishing fleets) to have this large reef system protected in their entirety now, given that in the event of a change in sovereignty or settlement, conservation arrangements could be modified. Designating these reefs, islands and surrounding waters now as fully protected would safeguard them for the future, whatever that may be. > > > > Tuna fishery objections are one of the key objections to a no-take MPA. One doc available for download (or soon will be) is a thorough scientific report commissioned by the CEN on this whole issue, and its results contrast with some tuna interests' view. We have the strongest support from tuna fisheries experts. While protecting or improving tuna stocks is not the goal of the proposal, it is likely to have that effect and enhance stocks elsewhere in the Indian Ocean. Regarding demersal reef fishing, we generally believe that at least this one large area should be maintained in undamaged condition. The Indian Ocean needs it. The bycatch from the offshore fishery is striking - our estimate (see the shortly to be uploaded document I refer to) is that almost 60,000 sharks were caught in a five year period by longliners in BIOT waters, with additional very heavy bycatch of other species. The IOTC Performance Review Panel has reported very high levels of uncertainty and very limited quantitative data for many of the stocks under the IOTC Agreement, and low levels of compliance with IOTC measures and obligations. (Report of the IOTC Performance Review Panel: January 2009. Indian Ocean Tuna Commission). None of which is any good for conservation. > > > > It has been suggested that protecting this fishery may be losing an important stream of funding for current efforts to prevent illegal fishing methods in the waters around Chagos. The total value of the licences is about ?1 million a year and it costs about that amount to patrol the fishery.. But might it not be worth closing the fishery and protecting these fish? We know that open ocean fishing is the recent 'tragedy of the commons'. > > > > Other downloadable docs from the websites mentioned, include general scientific docs, an economics assessment and several others. These will allow people to make informed views and to balance them with the sometimes erroneous information which is available. I hope many of you will read some of them, and will then support the move for very strong protection, by emailing the government site suggested, and by the petition on the protectchagos.org site. Those wishing to petition and express concern for the Chagossians can of course do so. But delaying or oppose the conservation of this last very large 'Least Threatened' reef system in the Indian Ocean because of this could be very damaging. > > > > Best wishes > Charles > > -------------- > Professor Charles Sheppard > Dept Biological Sciences > University of Warwick > Coventry, CV4 7AL, > UK > charles.sheppard at warwick.ac.uk > tel (44) (0) 2476 524975 > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > From kteleki at seaweb.org Mon Jan 25 08:57:58 2010 From: kteleki at seaweb.org (Kristian Teleki) Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:57:58 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral Message-ID: Dear Coral-List, Karim?s recent question and Professor Santangelo?s response raise some very interesting issues. ?Should Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) be listed in Annex 2 of the CITES or not?? Yes is the short answer. Red and pink coral do indeed meet the criteria for an Appendix II listing under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which is noted in Andy Bruckner' s (2009) recent paper ?Rate and extent of decline in Corallium (pink and red coral) populations: existing data meet the requirements for a CITES Appendix II listing? (Marine Ecology Progress Series Vol. 397, 319-332). The volume of international trade in Coralliidae (30-50 metric tonnes annually), plus their life-history characteristics (long-lived, relatively slow growing, sessile colonial organisms) means they are particularly vulnerable to overexploitation and, as increasingly noted, poaching- CITES is one instrument which can avoid a level of utilization that is incompatible with their survival. It is very important to note that a CITES Appendix II listing for red and pink coral is not a ban on trade but would help regulate this trade openly and transparently, in order to extinguish illegal and unregulated operations. If properly implemented CITES listing will likely have benefits to legitimate and sustainable harvesting of this resource. However, any CITES listing is only as effective as the local management measures. Although more needs to be done, for example through effective management and enforcement of the fishery (e.g. additional no-take areas and closing shallower waters to coral fishing), CITES and meaningful local management measures and strategies are not mutually exclusive. These mechanisms can complement efforts to ensure red and pink corals are effectively conserved and managed. Best wishes, Kristian Kristian A. Teleki Vice President of Science Initiatives SeaWeb ....leading voices for a healthy ocean London Office 32-26 Loman Street | London| SE1 0EH | UK www.seaweb.org From caroline_rogers at usgs.gov Mon Jan 25 10:57:07 2010 From: caroline_rogers at usgs.gov (Caroline S Rogers) Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:57:07 -0400 Subject: [Coral-List] Job opening for biologist in St. John, US Virgin Islands Message-ID: The US Geological Survey has announced a biologist position (GS 7/9, term) for up to 3 years based on St. John, US Virgin Islands. The incumbent will be supervised by Dr. Caroline Rogers and will work closely with biologists from the National Park Service and USGS to conduct monitoring/research on coral reefs in St. John and St. Croix (including Acropora palmata zones and deeper reefs). The focus will be on effects of bleaching and coral diseases. If interested, please go to www.usajobs.gov and search on the Announcement Number ER-2010-0125. Applications must be received by 02/18/10. Scuba certification is required. For more information, please contact Crystal M Johnson (703) 648 7470, cmjohnson at usgs.gov. *************************** Caroline S. Rogers, PhD USGS Caribbean Field Station 1300 Cruz Bay Creek St. John, USVI 00830 T (340) 693 8950 ext 221 caroline_rogers at usgs.gov From Georgios at icm.csic.es Mon Jan 25 11:15:35 2010 From: Georgios at icm.csic.es (Georgios Tsounis) Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:15:35 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral In-Reply-To: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> References: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> Message-ID: Dear all, thanks for raising this question. Excellent replies have already been posted, and I especially agree with Prof. Santangelo who indicated that the ultimate question we should be asking is: what is necessary to effectively manage Corallium rubrum? As FAO consultation reports and recent literature demonstrate, current management of almost all Mediterranean coral fisheries cannot be described as adequate. In 2009 there were two more Corallium workshops that accumulated a wealth of recent information, and a FAO panel as well as an IUCN/TRAFFIC expert group provided recommendations to the CITES conference of Parties (see links below). For those of you who are interested in recent information that was gathered at these events, please have a look at the respective documents: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/38195/icode/ http://coris.noaa.gov/activities/1st_intl_wkshop/ http://dsa.uniparthenope.it/rcsmt09/ http://intranet.iucn.org/webfiles/doc/SSC/CoP14/AnalysesEN/cites_prop_21.pdf When discussing whether Corallidae meet the criteria, we should keep in mind that FAO and IUCN/TRAFFIC provide advice to CITES CoP, and both came to the conclusion that the present data do not meet the criteria (see the links provided), -and the panels have been well aware of the information cited in the mentioned MEPS paper. As Kristian pointed out, local management is the basis for effective conservation, but CITES can complement it. Therefore, being familiar with the lack of proper coral fishery management in the Mediterranean, I doubt that a Corallidae listing on CITES App. II by itself would result in a significant conservation benefit for C. rubrum. There has been consensus during the Corallium workshops (see links above) that we need improved local management. In my opinion, this needs to be pursued directly, rather than hoping that a CITES listing might indirectly lead to this. One of the conclusions of the second international Corallium workshop was that the FAO General Fisheries Commission (GFCM) of the Mediterranean (see the links) could be ideally suited to implement an updated C. rubrum fishery management. Yet no coordinated effort to move such a proposal forward has been made so far. The Corallidae proposal has been resubmitted by the US and EU to CITES CoP 15, and the parties will decide this june. No matter what the outcome will be, there is agreement among everyone involved that the conservation status depends on a paradigm change in local management. My hope is that after 20 years of stagnation of C. rubrum fishery management, we can now focus our energy on an update of the local management, based on recent data, as Prof. Santangelo pointed out. At this point, every aspect concerning CITES has been discussed, while we are still in the dark about how to implement the suggested local management improvements. The Mediterranean countries that harvest red coral do not seem to have the resources to implement this change. So my short answer is: A CITES listing might be useful, but it is not the key element. Instead, improved local management, possibly implemented through the GFCM, is a necessary basis that is being neglected. All the best, Georgios Dr. Georgios Tsounis Institut de Ci?ncies del Mar, CMIMA (CSIC) Passeig Mar?tim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona, Spain Phone: 34 932 309 611 Fax: 34 93 2 309 555 E-mail: georgios at icm.csic.es http://www.icm.csic.es On Jan 21, 2010, at 8:40 AM, Kerim Ben Mustapha wrote: > Dear all > One question: Should mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) be > listed in annex 2 of > the CITES or not? Yur answer will be very helpfull, Im in favor of > its listing and seek some > strong arguments from the con group. > Thank you > > > karim.benmustapha at instm.rnrt.tn > kbmtok at yahoo.com.au > Marine ecologist and biologist > Expert in sponges and seagrass mapping From RichardPDunne at aol.com Mon Jan 25 13:28:19 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:28:19 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] The Story of the Chagos Islanders Message-ID: <4B5DE2C3.5050005@aol.com> Dear Listers Jim Hendee has asked me to post some accessible information concerning the Chagos islands and the fate of the Chagossians in the light of the current debate on the new proposed Marine Protected Area in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). There is an excellent website hosted by the UK Chagos Support Association at http://domain1164221.sites.fasthosts.com/index.htm I recommend that you visit it. This Association is directly supported by a serving and one ex Member of the UK Parliament. Its opening page features an aerial picture of the US Air Base on Diego Garcia in which I could count thirty-one B52 bombers and other large military jets. I also invite you to visit the Marine Education Trust Petition at http://www.marineeducationtrust.org/petition/protect-chagos where you can see all the signatories to date from those who support the rights of the Chagossians. Inter alia it includes a former Deputy Commissioner of the BIOT and British High Commissioner to Mauritius, David Snoxall. I re-iterate my personal stance here lest it has been misunderstood, namely "that there should be no MPA in the British Indian Ocean Territory pending the outcome of the Chagos islanders case at the European Court of Human Rights". I fully support the MPA concept from a purely scientific and conservation standpoint. I include some additional very recent material below which re-iterates the rights that should be accorded to the Chagossians in the MPA deliberations and which they have currently been denied by the UK Government. Letter to the Sunday Times Newspaper 17 January 2010 by the former High Commissioner to Mauritius, David Snoxell // Mr Snoxell was responding to a letter by the current Mauritian High Commissioner, printed last week, which had asserted the Mauritian government's right to be involved in deciding the future of Chagos. Both letters relate to Charles Clover's article several weeks ago about how a marine protected area around the Chagos islands could help boost Gordon Brown's personal "legacy." The text of Mr Snoxell's printed letter is reproduced here: /*In his letter (last week) commenting on Charles Clover?s article ?Brown can build his legacy on coral reefs?, the Mauritius High Commissioner raises two issues, sovereignty and resettlement, which need to be addressed if the proposed Chagos marine protected area is to be legitimate and workable. It was a Labour government in the 1960s that expelled the islanders. What better legacy for a Labour Prime Minister than to resolve one of the most shameful episodes in recent colonial history, while also agreeing a timetable for transfer of sovereignty to Mauritius and creating the largest marine reserve in the world? David Snoxell Former High Commissioner to Mauritius and Co-ordinator of the Chagos Islands All Party Parliamentary Group */ Mr Snoxell's attempt to link the MPA issue to the wider context is especially pertinent given the Chagos Environment Network's current campaign to impose a no-take fishing ban throughout the Chagos islands. The CEN are presenting their proposal as a benign measure to ensure the protection of the Chagos archipelago and its wildlife, but in actual fact it would be disastrous to the Chagossians' cause: banning the indigenous people of Chagos from fishing their own waters is patently the wrong thing to do. It would also create a further bone of contention between the UK and Mauritian governments. As Mr Snoxell points out, the CEN are actually doing the conservation cause a great disservice by attempting to ignore the issues of sovereignty and resettlement: for an environmental protection regime to be successful, it must be part of a holistic solution. On 7 January 2010 a Workshop was convened at the University of London. The following statement was issued: Following the launch last March of the proposal by the Chagos Environment Network to create a Marine Protected Area (MPA) for the Chagos Archipelago, experts gathered at Royal Holloway, University of London on 7 January 2010 to consider the socio-economic issues surrounding this proposal. This workshop was chaired by Professor David Simon, Head of Geography at Royal Holloway, and its findings will contribute to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office?s consultation on the Chagos? MPA. While the 55 islands of the Chagos Archipelago have a combined land area of just 16 sq km, their total Exclusive Economic Zone for jurisdiction of marine resources, based on 200 nautical mile limits, is 635,000 sq km2 ? nearly three times greater than the UK land area. This marine space includes abyssal habitats of the open ocean as well as coral reefs and banks, and has exceptional biodiversity value due to its species richness and the low level of human impacts. The near-pristine Chagos Archipelago area provides both a source region and refuge for marine life in the wider Indian Ocean. A workshop held at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton in August discussed the science issues and opportunities related to the potential creation of a substantial MPA in the Chagos Archipelago. The principal aim of the workshop at Royal Holloway was to bring together participants from Marine Centres, Universities, and NGOs who have practical experience of MPA development and management, as well as Chagossian, Government and marine industry stakeholders, to discuss socio-economic obstacles and opportunities in the context of a possible MPA in the Chagos Archipelago. The meeting provided the opportunity for input from stakeholder groups, particularly representatives from the Chagossian community, the Indian Ocean fishing industry, and the Government of Mauritius. Dr David Bellamy, the world-renowned conservationist, sent a message of support: "I am delighted that this workshop took place, and commend the organisers for having taken this initiative. It has long been my contention that the preservation of this unique Archipelago requires everyone to work together - Chagossians, the British and Mauritian Governments, scientists, environmentalists and conservationists across a wide spectrum of disciplines.? He adds, ?The issues are complex and challenging but with good will and cooperation on all sides we can help to bring about a secure future for the Chagos Islands that protects the environment and bio-diversity as well as the interests of the Chagossian people. Carefully managed, a limited resettlement should be compatible with conservation, and indeed could enhance the overall protection of the Islands. The challenge to us all is to make this possible." Professor David Simon adds, ?This specially convened workshop formed a vital step in the contentious process of negotiation over the future status of the renowned Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It brought together many interested parties and stakeholders who debated how to secure the environmental integrity of the islands and their marine resources in a manner compatible with the interests of the Chagossian people who were evicted some 40 years ago and who may yet have their right of return restored by the European Court of Human Rights. Viable proposals must also take account of the possible future change of sovereignty from Britain to Mauritius. It was a great honour to have been asked to host and chair this important event at Royal Holloway.? The workshop contributed in important ways to the ongoing debate. For many participants, it was their first exposure to the firmly held views of the Chagossian representatives. These perspectives, echoed by some other participants, informed debate and the strong feeling that the FCO consultation required a fourth option that includes resettlement as a fundamental component and which would be acceptable to whichever government exercised future sovereignty over the archipelago. Unfortunately, the Mauritian High Commission withdrew shortly before the event due to dissatisfaction with the FCO?s handling of the MPA consultation prior to resolving the sovereignty dispute between the two countries. -- Richard P Dunne From prtaylor at nsf.gov Mon Jan 25 15:05:58 2010 From: prtaylor at nsf.gov (Taylor, Phillip R.) Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:05:58 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Research Program Announcement - NSF - Ocean Acidification Message-ID: The U.S. National Science Foundation announces opportunities for research and community building in the theme of OCEAN ACIDIFICATION. Please see the full announcement at the following website. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10530/nsf10530.htm Letters of Intent due: 29 March 2010 Full proposals due: 26 April 2010 Synopsis of Program: Since the publication of The Royal Society's report Ocean Acidification Due to Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (June 2005, www.royalsoc.ac.uk), there has been growing concern for the potential adverse impacts of a slowly acidifying sea upon marine ecosystems. In recognition of the need for basic research concerning the nature, extent and impact of ocean acidification on oceanic environments in the past, present and future, this announcement has the following broad goals: To understand the chemistry and physical chemistry of ocean acidification and, in particular, its interplay with fundamental biochemical and physiological processes of organisms; To understand how ocean acidification interacts with processes at the organismal level, and how such interactions impact the structure and function of ecosystems, e.g. through life histories, food webs, biogeochemical cycling, and other interactions; To understand how the earth system history informs our understanding of the effects of ocean acidification on the present day and future ocean. New research frontiers require the development of interdisciplinary partnerships and capacity building within the scientific community. Accordingly, full research proposals, exploratory proposals, and community development efforts such as workshops and symposia all are encouraged. Proposals must clearly demonstrate links between the research outcome and the emphasis areas described within the solicitation. Preference will be given to proposals that create new partnerships across traditional disciplines (including molecular and cellular biology, physiology, marine chemistry and physics, ecological sciences, paleoecology, and earth system history) and use diverse approaches (observational systems, experimental studies, theory and modeling) to examine cutting edge research questions related to ocean acidification. Phil Taylor *********************************** Phillip R. Taylor Head, Ocean Section (Biological, Chemical and Physical Oceanography) Division of Ocean Sciences National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite 725 Arlington, Virginia, USA 22230 703-292-8580, fax: 703-292-9085 prtaylor at nsf.gov From bbaldwin at stlawu.edu Mon Jan 25 17:21:20 2010 From: bbaldwin at stlawu.edu (Brad Baldwin) Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:21:20 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] coral skeletons and climate change In-Reply-To: References: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> Message-ID: <4B5E1960.7020605@stlawu.edu> Hi folks- Could those of you familiar with sampling and analyzing coral skeletons get back to me? I have a student that is interested in whether skeletal structure in the Bahamas has changed along with changes in climate and acidification. I'm hoping you might point me to papers and techniques. Thanks, Brad <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< Brad Baldwin Associate Professor Department of Biology/Johnson Hall 123 St. Lawrence University Canton, NY 13617 315-229-5240 (7429 fax) bbaldwin at stlawu.edu From karim.benmustrapha at instm.rnrt.tn Tue Jan 26 03:25:12 2010 From: karim.benmustrapha at instm.rnrt.tn (Kerim Ben Mustapha) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:25:12 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral In-Reply-To: References: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn>, Message-ID: <4B5EB4F8.24370.4C345AA@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> Dear all Thank you for keeping this issue on the agenda. As many of you pointed out, there is a lack of local management, and this "mis managment" could not be met only by national countries..We already know the result of such "initiatives" for the last decades; it's a regional issue, and neither FAO or GFCM are able to manage the issue. We certainly lack reliable statistical figures re. red coralll populatioon collapse, for that reasons some experts (even the fao panel of experts) do not agree on its listing in annexe 2 of the CITES, but what kind of improvment in national management of such fisheries can be done? Why it was not done before? do we really can rely on such improvment? why we do not succeed till today? How do you think a management model could be set up when its related to such living resources (exploitation de gisement)? So If the statitical figures are lacking and the scientific knowledge did not provide sufficient argumentation on the needed management procedure why we do not apply the precautionnary approach? Since the meeting in Torre del Greco in the late 80's we were spooking about a better management for Corallium rubrum population in the mediterranean; we are in 2010, and I do not see such improvment neither a clear national will. >From a regional point of view even when the regional and international fishing structure's decisison are binding the states do not fullfill their obligation (see the BFTuna/ICCAT issue, or the BFT/ and the UN (UN agreement on straddling and highly migratory stocks , or the whaling issue etc....) so what about non binding decisions? The situation is what it is, and the prices are raising up each year....Im confident in a CITES listing (annexe2) , after all, it's a matter of improved control system by the scientific body as well as the management body of the involved countries; such listing will increase their control and will be a strong signal for the natioanl scientific and management bodies to act. We from the southern med did not lack resources, it's only a matter of will. By the way, we are going to start a mapping program of the coralligenous habitat (including C.rubrum gisement) this summer, with our new hightech SSS "C3D benthos" in the northern tunisian coasts. I think that it's really important to knew the geographical distribution, the density of the red coral population (may be the available bio mass... but did our knowledge will be sufficient to calculate such data knowing that differentiated biologica/ecological strategies ocurs in deep and cosatal population, as well as in exploited and non exploited ones) and one objectif of this programm is to study the ecological pathway of the colonies in their habitats. Kerim Ben Mustapha INSTM Salammb? Tunisia -------------------------------------------------- On 25 Jan 2010 at 17:15, Georgios Tsounis wrote: Dear all, thanks for raising this question. Excellent replies have already been posted, and I especially agree with Prof. Santangelo who indicated that the ultimate question we should be asking is: what is necessary to effectively manage Corallium rubrum? As FAO consultation reports and recent literature demonstrate, current management of almost all Mediterranean coral fisheries cannot be described as adequate. In 2009 there were two more Corallium workshops that accumulated a wealth of recent information, and a FAO panel as well as an IUCN/TRAFFIC expert group provided recommendations to the CITES conference of Parties (see links below). For those of you who are interested in recent information that was gathered at these events, please have a look at the respective documents: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/38195/icode/ http://coris.noaa.gov/activities/1st_intl_wkshop/ http://dsa.uniparthenope.it/rcsmt09/ http://intranet.iucn.org/webfiles/doc/SSC/CoP14/AnalysesEN/cites_prop_21 ..pdf When discussing whether Corallidae meet the criteria, we should keep in mind that FAO and IUCN/TRAFFIC provide advice to CITES CoP, and both came to the conclusion that the present data do not meet the criteria (see the links provided), -and the panels have been well aware of the information cited in the mentioned MEPS paper. As Kristian pointed out, local management is the basis for effective conservation, but CITES can complement it. Therefo karim.benmustapha at instm.rnrt.tn kbmtok at yahoo.com.au Marine ecologist and biologist Expert in sponges and seagrass mapping From Charles.Sheppard at warwick.ac.uk Tue Jan 26 06:24:42 2010 From: Charles.Sheppard at warwick.ac.uk (Sheppard, Charles) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:24:42 -0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos conservation Message-ID: Richard Dunne again asks ?why protect Chagos? and ?why hurry??, and urges people to ?vote? no to the government?s enquiry about whether to establish greater, clearer and easier conservation. My posting last week said the answers are in the several documents available on www.chagos-trust.org and www.protectchagos.org. But Mr Dunne conflates issues and asks what is the urgency given that, he says, a year or two more waiting can?t hurt? The urgency is partly the state of so much of the Indian Ocean: in a break-out session in one of the workshops on this last year, people came up with several biological reasons why more protection is merited now, but these really shouldn?t need explaining here. Partly because of the continued damage from (legal) fishing to numerous species, particularly threatened sharks, but partly because we have the opportunity now caused by government interest in doing something, which may not re-occur if we put this opportunity off. Partly too because the consultation deadline itself is February 12th, if you want your views to be recorded. Mr Dunne?s desire for delaying conservation appears to be based on the bad treatment of people removed in the 1970s and because a no-fishing declaration would prohibit the only means of livelihood of anyone returning. But as whole paragraphs say in several docs, the whole proposal is ?without prejudice? to the court case, and explains that if Chagossians do return then revisions would be made (I imagine changes would be needed to several other laws too). Any implication that urging stronger conservation on the UK government now is somehow being ?against? Chagossians would be false. The two issues run in parallel and are not exclusive (as several docs also explain). There was only one group identified who would be directly disadvantaged now: blue water fishing interests. Last week?s London Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6997414.ece) ran an article on the present fisheries interests. It shouldn?t need noting on a scientific list like this, but the tuna fishery, with its only partly quantified but huge by-catch, is quite distinct from demersal reef fishing by some local inhabitants. Voting against a protected area now will do nothing for the Chagossians and nothing for conservation of these islands or reefs and nothing for threatened species. On the other hand a full no take protected area out to the 200 mile limit would do much to ensure these islands, reefs and threatened species were preserved - something much needed for the marine environment and Indian Ocean. Should the Chagossians return, then it would be to their advantage too. Best wishes Charles -------------- Professor Charles Sheppard Dept Biological Sciences University of Warwick Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK charles.sheppard at warwick.ac.uk tel (44) (0) 2476 524975 From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Tue Jan 26 09:10:05 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:10:05 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Coral-List: another milestone Message-ID: <4B5EF7BD.2090500@noaa.gov> Greetings, Every thousand new subscribers, I post something like this. All you subscribers now come to over 6,000 (actually, 6,019, as of this morning). You are a great community of minds that have helped shaped the future of coral reef research, conservation, outreach, and diving. Yea, Team! Keep up the great work! If you have other colleagues who are interested in joining, here again is the proper source: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list Sincerely yours, the Coral-List team... Jim Hendee Lew Gramer Mike Jankulak From billy.causey at noaa.gov Tue Jan 26 09:42:47 2010 From: billy.causey at noaa.gov (Billy Causey) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:42:47 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Coral-List: another milestone In-Reply-To: <4B5EF7BD.2090500@noaa.gov> References: <4B5EF7BD.2090500@noaa.gov> Message-ID: <4B5EFF67.5040809@noaa.gov> Jim, Lew and Mike .... I know you did not post this milestone to solicit compliments ....but you all provide a tremendous service to coral reef scientists, managers, advocates and admires around the world. You are the ones doing the "great work" ... and it often goes unnoticed or under- appreciated. Thank you all for what you do for corals around the world. Cheers, Billy Jim Hendee wrote: > Greetings, > > Every thousand new subscribers, I post something like this. All you > subscribers now come to over 6,000 (actually, 6,019, as of this > morning). You are a great community of minds that have helped shaped > the future of coral reef research, conservation, outreach, and diving. > Yea, Team! Keep up the great work! > > If you have other colleagues who are interested in joining, here > again is the proper source: > > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > Sincerely yours, the Coral-List team... > > Jim Hendee > Lew Gramer > Mike Jankulak > > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > -- Billy D. Causey, Ph.D., Regional Director Southeast Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Region National Marine Sanctuary Program 33 East Quay Road Key West, Florida 33040 305.809.4670 (ex 234) 305.395.0150 (cell) 305.293.5011 (fax) Billy.Causey at noaa.gov From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Tue Jan 26 11:57:45 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:57:45 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Coral-List: another milestone In-Reply-To: <4B5EFF67.5040809@noaa.gov> References: <4B5EF7BD.2090500@noaa.gov> <4B5EFF67.5040809@noaa.gov> Message-ID: <4B5F1F09.40009@noaa.gov> Jeez, now I feel like it DID look like I posted it to solicit compliments! ARgh, anyway, one of the reasons I post this is so that people know just how many people are listening so that they are careful in what they say. A really good post could make big ripples (as in the current Chagos thread), just as a bad one could (at least one career has been ruined, years ago). Thanks, Billy. Billy Causey wrote: > Jim, Lew and Mike .... I know you did not post this milestone to > solicit compliments ....but you all provide a tremendous service to > coral reef scientists, managers, advocates and admires around the > world. You are the ones doing the "great work" ... and it often goes > unnoticed or under- appreciated. Thank you all for what you do for > corals around the world. Cheers, Billy > > Jim Hendee wrote: >> Greetings, >> >> Every thousand new subscribers, I post something like this. All you >> subscribers now come to over 6,000 (actually, 6,019, as of this >> morning). You are a great community of minds that have helped shaped >> the future of coral reef research, conservation, outreach, and >> diving. Yea, Team! Keep up the great work! >> >> If you have other colleagues who are interested in joining, here >> again is the proper source: >> >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list >> >> Sincerely yours, the Coral-List team... >> >> Jim Hendee >> Lew Gramer >> Mike Jankulak >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Coral-List mailing list >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list >> > From RichardPDunne at aol.com Tue Jan 26 10:56:23 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:56:23 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos conservation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4B5F10A7.5000407@aol.com> Dear Listers Charles Sheppard (the BIOT Scientific Advisor to the FCO) replies to my questions of "Why the haste?" _His Reply_: /"Partly because of the continued damage from (legal) fishing to numerous species, particularly threatened sharks"/ _My Comment:_ The present position is that under Fishery Limits Ordinance there is a 200-mile Fishery Management Conservation Zone which was established on 1 October 1991 and a fisheries regime covering all BIOT fishing waters was established on the same day by the Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance 1991. Commercial fishing within this zone is only allowed under licence. Tuna fishing is prohibited within 12 nautical miles of land. Inshore fishing for demersal species is only permitted from 1 April to 31 October, by hook and line, and not within lagoons. Effort controls are further implemented in both fisheries by limited licensing, based on the best scientific information and adopting the precautionary approach. Hunting of green turtle /Chelonia mydas/ has been completely banned since 1968. _Response:_ Why is the current legislation ineffective? Surely it is a matter of management and the BIOT Commissioner already has the powers to reduce the legal fishing if there is evidence of damage as alleged. Likewise to sharks? _His Reply:_ /"Partly because we have the opportunity now caused by government interest in doing something, which may not re-occur if we put this opportunity off." /_Response:_ The framework for any further conservation measures is already in place by virtue of the work done by the Chagos Environmental Network and other persons. The consultation will indicate whether the scientific and conservation aims have support. _All that is required is final legislation which does not require input from the UK Parliament since it can be enacted under the powers of the BIOT Commissioner_ (as the FCO consultation makes clear to all). Indeed as the FCO points out, because of the peculair nature of BIOT there is actually NO LEGAL REQUIREMENT for any consultation at all. In all these circumstances it is something that is not driven by any one political party nor by the incumbent government other than on issues of administrative cost to the UK Treasury. Neither of Charles' replies are therefore sustainable without further justification. Furthermore I am accused of conflating (blending together or mixing up) the issues. Not so, I say that on science and conservation grounds alone the idea of an MPA should go ahead. The issue of the rights of the Chagossians is separate and remains unresolved. If the scientific and conservation grounds for proceeding to enact further legislation were overwhelming then I acknowledge that the rights of the Chagossians may well have to be subjugated (temporarily or permanently). Has the CEN or Dr Sheppard made this case? I think not. Delaying the implementation of the MPA pending the European Court of Human Rights case is both the morally correct path to follow and the logically correct one. Logically it allows the legislation to be correctly drafted from the outset with full consultation with those with a right of abode so that it is workable. Indeed the Chagossians themselves could be entrusted, employed and paid to enforce it - what better solution than this to the difficulties of management and the sustainability of their island life? ************************************************************************ Here are the essential and additional facts that you may all wish to have before reaching your decision which proposal you should support: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office consultation question is: /DO YOU BELIEVE WE SHOULD CREATE A MARINE PROTECTED AREA IN THE BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY?/ /If yes - 3 broad options for a possible framework: (i) Declare a full no-take marine reserve for the whole of the territorial waters and Environmental Preservation and Protection Zone (EPPZ)/Fisheries Conservation and Management Zone (FCMZ); or (ii) Declare a no-take marine reserve for the whole of the territorial waters and EPPZ/FCMZ with exceptions for certain forms of pelagic fishery (e.g., tuna) in certain zones at certain times of the year. (iii)Declare a no-take marine reserve for the vulnerable reef systems only./ Considerations: 1. The formal UK Government position is that "there is no right of abode in the Territory", it follows that there can be no de- facto consultation with the Chagossians and can be no provisions for them within the legislation. To consult or legislate would mean an acknowledgement of rights. 2. The UK Government recognises that there is an ongoing legal dispute concerning the right of abode by the Chagossians in the BIOT and on Diego Garcia in particular and that should the Chagossians succeed with their case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) then "all the options for a marine protected area may need to be reconsidered". 3. Additionally, neither the UK Government nor the US would want the creation of a marine protected area to have any impact on the operational capability of the military base on Diego Garcia. For this reason, it may be necessary to consider the exclusion of Diego Garcia and its 3 mile territorial waters from any marine protected area. 4. BIOT has already been declared an Environmental (Preservation and Protection) Zone with legislation in place to protect the natural resources which include strict controls over fishing, pollution (air, land and water), damage to the environment, and the killing, harming or collecting of animals. Some of the most important land and sea areas have already been set aside for additional protection. Most of the lagoon areas and a large part of the land area of Diego Garcia are protected as Restricted Areas, four Special Conservation Areas and a Nature Reserve. Strict Nature Reserves cover the land and surrounding reefs and waters of the islands of the Great Chagos Bank and a large part of Peros Banhos Atoll. The Territory is also subject to further levels of internationally binding legal protection. This includes the designation of part of Diego Garcia as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention; the Whaling Convention (including an Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary); the Law of the Sea Convention (with provisions to protect fish stocks); the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission; CITES (regulating trade in wildlife, including corals); and the Bonn Convention (with provisions to protect marine turtles and cetaceans). **************************************************************** The position of a growing number of influential figures, coral reef scientists and others (399 as I write) is to _"fully support the UK Government?s efforts to protect the Chagos archipelago through the declaration of a Marine Protected Area within the territorial waters and Environmental Preservation and Protection Zone/Fisheries Conservation and Management Zone."_ BUT _"We do not support any of the three broad options proposed in the consultation documents, however, because full no-take protection of reef areas would provide no means for resettled islanders to utilise their marine resources for subsistence or income generation. Communities and Marine Protected Areas coexist across the world, and there is no reason why the islanders could not be successful stewards of their coral reef environment."_ AND _"We urge you to work with the Chagos islanders and the Government of Mauritius to devise an MPA solution that makes provision for resettlement and that protects Mauritius? legitimate interests. This could be achieved through, for example, zonation that permits the sustainable use of marine resources in specific reef, lagoon and open ocean areas."_ You can find this petition at the Marine Education Trust website at http://www.marineeducationtrust.org/petition/protect-chagos amongst the signatories are: David Snoxall - a former Deputy Commissioner of BIOT and the former British High Commissioner to Mauritius John Howell - former Director, Overseas Development Institute Graham Watson - Member of the European Parliament for South West England Marius Wanders - Secretary General of Caritas in Europe SCIENTISTS: Prof David Simon, Dr Judith Lang, Dr Bill Burnett, Dr Mark Spalding, Dr Sidney Holt, Dr Deborah Potts, Dr Tom Spencer, Dr Anthony Lemon, Dr Tracy Harvey, Prof Barbara Brown, Dr Tom Goreau, Dr Ben-Tzvi, Dr Martin Little, Prof Chris Perry, Dr Elizabeth Gladfelter, Prof John Ogden, Dr Elizabeth Andrew, Dr Martina Burtscher, ATTORNEYS/ LAWYERS: Durkje Gilfillan, Richard Dunne, Hans A. De Savornin Lohman, Maite Mompo, James McGowan In a letter to the Times (London) Newspaper, today 26 January 2010 signed by eminent UK Parliamentarians: Don?t forget the role of Chagos Islanders - *The Chagos Islanders want to be involved with the conservation and environmental protection of the islands* Sir, Your report (Jan 22) on the proposed Chagos Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) stated that 2,000 Chagos Islanders were ?relocated? to Britain and Mauritius to make room for a US base on Diego Garcia. In fact, about 1,500 Chagossians, of whom some 700 survive, were moved against their will to Mauritius and Seychelles in the early 1970s. How many would wish to return, and the nature of a resettlement on two atolls, 150 miles north of the US base, is impossible to determine at this stage. The Chagos Islanders want to be involved with the conservation and environmental protection of the islands. Careful management and planning can, at modest cost, avoid degradation of the environment. The All Party Parliamentary Group has urged the FCO to commission a rapid independent study of the numbers who would wish to resettle and the practicalities of resettlement. Many Chagossians will not want to live permanently in the islands but they all want the right to visit their homeland at will. The way forward is to make provision in the proposed marine protected area for Chagossian interests (such as local fishing) and those of Mauritius. Conservation and human rights must go hand in hand. We urge the Government, before the election, to lift the ban imposed in 2004 on the return of the Chagos Islanders and so end this tragedy that has dogged the UK?s reputation for respect for human rights and its international obligations. Jeremy Corbyn, MP, Chair, Chagos Islands APPG Baroness Whitaker Lord Luce Lord Ramsbotham Lord Steel of Aikwood Lord Wallace of Saltaire Andrew Rosindell, MP The solution that I propose is to delay consideration of the Chagos MPA pending the outcome of the ECtHR case. This pragmatic approach recognises that until the issue of right of abode is resolved the UK Government cannot liaise with the Chagossians concerning the MPA legislation, furthermore any legislation that may have been enacted without such consultation and without the right of abode having been finally determined may well be deemed illegal, and at the very least may need to be repealed or amended as the FCO itself recognises. Consider also this question: If the right of abode had been recognised by the House of Lords judgment and the UK Government was instituting the ECtHR case to overturn this decision, then would they be pursuing MPA legislation which would have to recognise the Chagossian's rights? I think not - they would stay the matter. Why then should we rush to implement in the present circumstances? It is morally unjust, nor is it required. Richard P Dunne On 26/01/2010 11:24, Sheppard, Charles wrote: > Richard Dunne again asks ?why protect Chagos? and ?why hurry??, and urges people to ?vote? no to the government?s enquiry about whether to establish greater, clearer and easier conservation. My posting last week said the answers are in the several documents available on www.chagos-trust.org and www.protectchagos.org. > > But Mr Dunne conflates issues and asks what is the urgency given that, he says, a year or two more waiting can?t hurt? The urgency is partly the state of so much of the Indian Ocean: in a break-out session in one of the workshops on this last year, people came up with several biological reasons why more protection is merited now, but these really shouldn?t need explaining here. Partly because of the continued damage from (legal) fishing to numerous species, particularly threatened sharks, but partly because we have the opportunity now caused by government interest in doing something, which may not re-occur if we put this opportunity off. Partly too because the consultation deadline itself is February 12th, if you want your views to be recorded. > > Mr Dunne?s desire for delaying conservation appears to be based on the bad treatment of people removed in the 1970s and because a no-fishing declaration would prohibit the only means of livelihood of anyone returning. But as whole paragraphs say in several docs, the whole proposal is ?without prejudice? to the court case, and explains that if Chagossians do return then revisions would be made (I imagine changes would be needed to several other laws too). > > Any implication that urging stronger conservation on the UK government now is somehow being ?against? Chagossians would be false. The two issues run in parallel and are not exclusive (as several docs also explain). There was only one group identified who would be directly disadvantaged now: blue water fishing interests. Last week?s London Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6997414.ece) ran an article on the present fisheries interests. It shouldn?t need noting on a scientific list like this, but the tuna fishery, with its only partly quantified but huge by-catch, is quite distinct from demersal reef fishing by some local inhabitants. > > Voting against a protected area now will do nothing for the Chagossians and nothing for conservation of these islands or reefs and nothing for threatened species. On the other hand a full no take protected area out to the 200 mile limit would do much to ensure these islands, reefs and threatened species were preserved - something much needed for the marine environment and Indian Ocean. Should the Chagossians return, then it would be to their advantage too. > > Best wishes > Charles > > -------------- > Professor Charles Sheppard > Dept Biological Sciences > University of Warwick > Coventry, CV4 7AL, > UK > charles.sheppard at warwick.ac.uk > tel (44) (0) 2476 524975 > > _______________________________________________ > > > From RichardPDunne at aol.com Tue Jan 26 12:00:53 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:00:53 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] The US Base on Diego Garcia and environmental protection Message-ID: <4B5F1FC5.10705@aol.com> Dear Listers An earlier post on the issue of the Chagos MPA posted by Ted Morris Jr almost escaped my attention until I revisited it and followed his links to his website. Mr Morris encourages us to protect the marine environment of the Chagos by signing up to the proposed MPA. He also thinks that in protecting human rights we are politicising the process. I would love to endorse his viewpoint if it could be considered to be serious in the light of his website which whilst containing some interesting 'facts' about Diego Garcia has some fairly alarming facts and statements, for example: _On the construction of the runway on DG by US SeaBees: _(photos cannot be reproduced here) And then came Tom Grenier and his buddies. They dredged the coral used to build the runway. Here's a little photo essay on how they did it. First, you set your charges and blow a big hole in the coral.... Then you bulldoze out the rock.... Then, Harry and Joe haul all the "little rocks" to the crusher... Then you have a party.... .....and another..... .....and another .... Or, you could go fishing and looking around the reef for whatever you could find... You might also like to visit the page on blowing a hole in the reef for a ship canal. and I am sure that there is something there about dredging the lagoon for the Navy ships and submarines._ Elsewhere Mr Morris says_ "Finally Those of you who have read my website, or know me personally, know that my first and foremost concern is for the defense of the United States and our democratic republic. Diego Garcia is essential to that defense, and therefore anything that would limit our use of Diego Garcia would not receive my support." All I can say is that clearly the environmental 'protection' afforded by the presence of the US base has been fairly alarming and that Mr Morris is very lucky to live in a democracy which has not yet illegally evicted him to another country as the UK Government did to the rightful inhabitants of the Chagos, as it seems in the interests of UK and US defence. I hope that the debate on conservation in the Chagos can proceed from a more serious and open-minded angle. Richard Dunne ********************************************************* Ted Morris Jr's post The process of protecting the marine environment of the Chagos Archipelago is at a critical point, and signing the petition at http://protectchagos.org is the very minimum anyone concerned with the reefs of the Chagos should do. Politicizing the process by insisting on the inclusion of Chagossian claims, all of which have been dismissed by UK and US courts, would be unwise. That said, there are certainly many people who wonder just what really did happen to the islanders back in the early 70s, and would like to ensure that a suitable political solution is arrived at on their behalf. To fully participate in that discussion, one should reflect on the economic and geo-political context of the times, and not solely on emotional appeals. There is also a huge amount of data concerning the demographics and population that is germane to the discussion, but is not included in the arguments posted to date. I've been a student of the islands, it's history and current uses for many years, and about 18 months ago I wrote a short paper summarizing the various British Court cases, the Chagossian lawsuit in the US, and the available published literature at the time. That information might be of interest to readers as they attempt to determine what role the Chagossian community should play in the future of the islands. The paper is on line at http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/chagossians.pdf. Meanwhile, the goal is to fully protect the near-pristine coral reef and other marine environments of the central Indian Ocean, and anything that would delay or derail that effort should be avoided. Conservation now would be to the advantage of any future resident population, should things change in that respect, and to no one's disadvantage, least of all to other residents of the Indian Ocean. Ted A. Morris, Jr. http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/stc.html easy501 at zianet.com skype: ted.morris.501 From easy501 at zianet.com Tue Jan 26 14:16:56 2010 From: easy501 at zianet.com (Ted Morris) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:16:56 -0700 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation In-Reply-To: <4B5F1FC5.10705@aol.com> References: <4B5F1FC5.10705@aol.com> Message-ID: <004601ca9ebc$2e5bd150$8b1373f0$@com> Dear Listers, Mr. Dunne's response to my posting involves what I attempted to point out - that criticism of the current effort to protect the Chagos by tying it to actions taken at the height of the Cold War four decades ago is inappropriate. The construction activities and the treatment of the islanders was not unusual given the circumstances of the time, and I do not defend them. However, I do not condemn them either. It simply was the way things were done. If you have read the resettlement proposals of the UK CSA, you can see that their plan to resettle thousands of islanders will be as disruptive to the Chagos as that of the SEABEEs in the 1970s. The appropriateness of the islanders' compensation is really Mr. Dunne's concern, is it not? Isn't the subject still in play in the ECHR? Won't it be a subject of legislation in the democracies involved as time goes by, regardless of the ECHR outcome? Of course. Therefore, I think where Mr. Dunne and I differ is that I believe that those are the forums in which resettlement should be discussed. Mr. Dunne's effort appears to be to halt the conservation of the Chagos by using the emotional and politicized question of the islanders' compensation. This will help no one and is potentially damaging to the marine environment of the islands for the reasons given by Dr. Sheppard in other posts in this thread. Regards, Ted Morris -----Original Message----- From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Richard Dunne Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 10:01 AM To: Coral List Subject: [Coral-List] The US Base on Diego Garcia and environmental protection Dear Listers An earlier post on the issue of the Chagos MPA posted by Ted Morris Jr almost escaped my attention until I revisited it and followed his links to his website. Mr Morris encourages us to protect the marine environment of the Chagos by signing up to the proposed MPA. He also thinks that in protecting human rights we are politicising the process. I would love to endorse his viewpoint if it could be considered to be serious in the light of his website which whilst containing some interesting 'facts' about Diego Garcia has some fairly alarming facts and statements, for example: _On the construction of the runway on DG by US SeaBees: _(photos cannot be reproduced here) And then came Tom Grenier and his buddies. They dredged the coral used to build the runway. Here's a little photo essay on how they did it. First, you set your charges and blow a big hole in the coral.... Then you bulldoze out the rock.... Then, Harry and Joe haul all the "little rocks" to the crusher... Then you have a party.... ......and another..... ......and another .... Or, you could go fishing and looking around the reef for whatever you could find... You might also like to visit the page on blowing a hole in the reef for a ship canal. and I am sure that there is something there about dredging the lagoon for the Navy ships and submarines._ Elsewhere Mr Morris says_ "Finally Those of you who have read my website, or know me personally, know that my first and foremost concern is for the defense of the United States and our democratic republic. Diego Garcia is essential to that defense, and therefore anything that would limit our use of Diego Garcia would not receive my support." All I can say is that clearly the environmental 'protection' afforded by the presence of the US base has been fairly alarming and that Mr Morris is very lucky to live in a democracy which has not yet illegally evicted him to another country as the UK Government did to the rightful inhabitants of the Chagos, as it seems in the interests of UK and US defence. I hope that the debate on conservation in the Chagos can proceed from a more serious and open-minded angle. Richard Dunne ********************************************************* Ted Morris Jr's post The process of protecting the marine environment of the Chagos Archipelago is at a critical point, and signing the petition at http://protectchagos.org is the very minimum anyone concerned with the reefs of the Chagos should do. Politicizing the process by insisting on the inclusion of Chagossian claims, all of which have been dismissed by UK and US courts, would be unwise. That said, there are certainly many people who wonder just what really did happen to the islanders back in the early 70s, and would like to ensure that a suitable political solution is arrived at on their behalf. To fully participate in that discussion, one should reflect on the economic and geo-political context of the times, and not solely on emotional appeals. There is also a huge amount of data concerning the demographics and population that is germane to the discussion, but is not included in the arguments posted to date. I've been a student of the islands, it's history and current uses for many years, and about 18 months ago I wrote a short paper summarizing the various British Court cases, the Chagossian lawsuit in the US, and the available published literature at the time. That information might be of interest to readers as they attempt to determine what role the Chagossian community should play in the future of the islands. The paper is on line at http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/chagossians.pdf. Meanwhile, the goal is to fully protect the near-pristine coral reef and other marine environments of the central Indian Ocean, and anything that would delay or derail that effort should be avoided. Conservation now would be to the advantage of any future resident population, should things change in that respect, and to no one's disadvantage, least of all to other residents of the Indian Ocean. Ted A. Morris, Jr. http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/stc.html easy501 at zianet.com skype: ted.morris.501 _______________________________________________ Coral-List mailing list Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From Georgios at icm.csic.es Tue Jan 26 17:16:05 2010 From: Georgios at icm.csic.es (Georgios Tsounis) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:16:05 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral In-Reply-To: <4B5EB4F8.24370.4C345AA@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> References: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn>, <4B5EB4F8.24370.4C345AA@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> Message-ID: <775ED003-C652-412B-A168-3F45C55A8D3F@icm.csic.es> Dear Kerim, thanks for "putting the finger on the wound" by asking about the lack of progress in management after 1983 and 1988 FAO expert consultation meetings. Let me focus on just one specific example to illustrate where part of the problem lies, at least according to my experience. When the C. rubrum catches declined in the late 70s / early 80s, the FAO hosted consultation meetings. The wealth of information accumulated back then, as well as the recommendations given, are actually quite impressive, as the experts did in fact come up with preventive solutions. One of the participants was Richard Grigg who in 1976 published a management program (Seagrant Tech Rep 77-03) for the black coral Antipathes dichotoma (now re-described as Antipathes griggi). It is now said to be Hawaii's best managed species. He applied the Beverton- Holt maximum sustainable yield model to population data of black coral, and derived the minimum size at which black coral may be harvested. By the time the FAO hosted the second meeting in 1988, two spanish scientists (Mariano Garcia-Rodriguez & Carlos Masso 1986, Bol Inst Esp Oceanogr) applied the same model to the red coral populations north of Barcelona (Spain). They calculated that maximum sustainable yield (MSY) would be obtained if C. rubrum was harvested at an age of at least 80 years. In reality corals are harvested at a much younger age of about 11 years or less. The reason is that this corresponds to the basal diameter to 7 mm, which was the smallest diameter the industry was interested in. They proposed to increase the minimum size to at least 8.6 mm. It has never happened. We applied the Beverton-Holt model to the same populations in 2003, using more precise growth rate estimates, and found that coral reach MSY at 98 years, pretty much confirming that the 1986 study was valid. Our study was commissioned by the local fishery authorities, and we made it very clear in our report that the minimum size should be increased to at least what Garcia-Rodriguez & Masso proposed. This was not implemented though, and red coral is harvested pretty much the same way it was more than 20 years ago. It can still be legally harvested in nearly all of the Mediterranean at 7 mm diameter because this has been traditionally so, in contrast to scientific studies. The thing is that only a few of the active 16 divers dive to the depths where larger coral can still be found (talking about Spain). In contrast, the authorities in Sardinia (Italy) took the correct measures and banned coral fishing in traditional SCUBA depths of down to 80 m. They also increased the minimum size limit to 10 mm. This can be done everywhere by gradually phasing out shallow water fishing as senior divers retire. New participants can be required to use mixed gas. But it is not easy to get the actual managers to do this, even though these are not radical measures at all. The shallow water stocks are so devastated by overfishing, that a Mediterranean wide application of the Sardinian example should be considered. This will meet resistance in some countries... The key lies in convincing all decision-makers, and I feel this is what we have to start discussing, as CITES unfortunately does not fulfil this function. CITES relies on the evaluation of these decision makers to allow specimens to be exported. So if Corallidae was listed in CITES, any managed fishery would issue the non-detriment finding required for export, and we would continue to harvest coral as thin/young as 7 mm, just as it was done for the last 30 years... Unless of course you change local management regulations, but there has not been much talk about how to achieve this. Unfortunately, the managers were not even present at the workshops last year (except one). Again: these managers will provide an NDF finding for the coral harvested by their fisheries, which will lead to CITES export papers. By mentioning a lack of resources I did not refer to the means to perform the studies, but to a strong management system that is able to implement the recommendations from such studies. We have conducted the type of studies you are planning to do at your coast, but even our official government reports are not being implemented. The managers have to represent a variety of interests and know they have a huge problem on their hands. If however the GFCM provided binding or non- binding guidelines, the decision-makers would be off the hook as they would be obliged to implement these changes. In the end, it comes down to the persons sitting there. In Hawaii there are dedicated scientists and managers in contact with industry and fishermen, all with the will to make it work. I am glad to hear about your plans, as your studies are certainly necessary. By the way, the reason that FAO and IUCN concluded that the species do not meet the decline criteria is not just to a lack of data. In fact it is documented that shallow water populations contained a large number of old/large colonies in the 1950s. These are all gone. If you compare historical information with recent studies and anecdotal observation, we can already speak of a collapse / catastrophic decline of shallow water populations. This is the reason that the protection of shallow water populations was agreed upon unisono at the workshop in Naples, including industry representatives (but will any decision- maker ever read our report ?). However, populations at depths deeper than ca. 130 m are practically protected since 1994 (when dredging was prohibited in the EU), so coral fishing does not affect the whole population. This is actually an important factor when looking at the criteria. But we will see what the parties decide in June. In the meantime, I am grateful for this conversation, and hope we can identify ways to implement the management changes that the scientific community recommends. We now have the knowledge to better manage these species, it is a matter of implementation. Without such an implementation, CITES will make no difference. I am not criticizing CITES itself by the way, just pointing out what component is missing to make it work effectively in the mentioned case, as I am afraid that after a listing we might forget about this issue, thinking the problem has been solved. The minimum size is just the most illustrative example, but there are others, e.g., the fact that poaching is severe, and that no one records the size of coral landed. Please excuse me for talking just about management here, but the scientific data are already published. Please let me know if anyone needs me to point towards the publications containing all the information I mentioned. All the best, Georgios Dr. Georgios Tsounis Institut de Ci?ncies del Mar, CMIMA (CSIC) Passeig Mar?tim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona, Spain Phone: 34 932 309 611 Fax: 34 93 2 309 555 E-mail: georgios at icm.csic.es http://www.icm.csic.es On Jan 26, 2010, at 9:25 AM, Kerim Ben Mustapha wrote: > Dear all > Thank you for keeping this issue on the agenda. > > As many of you pointed out, there is a lack of local management, and > this "mis managment" could not be met only by national countries..We > already know the result of such "initiatives" for the last decades; > it's a regional issue, and neither FAO or GFCM are able to manage > the issue. > We certainly lack reliable statistical figures re. red coralll > populatioon collapse, for that reasons some experts (even the fao > panel of experts) do not agree on its listing in annexe 2 of the > CITES, but what kind of improvment in national management of such > fisheries can be done? Why it was not done before? do we really can > rely on such improvment? why we do not succeed till today? How do > you think a management model could be set up when its related to > such living resources (exploitation de gisement)? So If the > statitical figures are lacking and the scientific knowledge did not > provide sufficient argumentation on the needed management procedure > why we do not apply the precautionnary approach? Since the meeting > in Torre del Greco in the late 80's we were spooking about a better > management for Corallium rubrum population in the mediterranean; we > are in 2010, and I do not see such improvment neither a clear > national will. > From a regional point of view even when the regional and > international fishing structure's decisison are binding the states > do not fullfill their obligation (see the BFTuna/ICCAT issue, or the > BFT/ and the UN (UN agreement on straddling and highly migratory > stocks , or the whaling issue etc....) so what about non binding > decisions? > > The situation is what it is, and the prices are raising up each > year....Im confident in a CITES listing (annexe2) , after all, it's > a matter of improved control system by the scientific body as well > as the management body of the involved countries; such listing will > increase their control and will be a strong signal for the natioanl > scientific and management bodies to act. We from the southern med > did not lack resources, it's only a matter of will. > By the way, we are going to start a mapping program of the > coralligenous habitat (including C.rubrum gisement) this summer, > with our new hightech SSS "C3D benthos" in the northern tunisian > coasts. I think that it's really important to knew the geographical > distribution, the density of the red coral population (may be the > available bio mass... but did our knowledge will be sufficient to > calculate such data knowing that differentiated biologica/ > ecological strategies ocurs in deep and cosatal population, as well > as in exploited and non exploited ones) and one objectif of this > programm is to study the ecological pathway of the colonies in their > habitats. > > Kerim Ben Mustapha > INSTM > Salammb? > Tunisia > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > On 25 Jan 2010 at 17:15, Georgios Tsounis wrote: > > Dear all, > thanks for raising this question. Excellent replies have already > been posted, and I especially agree with Prof. Santangelo who > indicated that the ultimate question we should be asking is: what is > necessary to effectively manage Corallium rubrum? > As FAO consultation reports and recent literature demonstrate, > current management of almost all Mediterranean coral fisheries > cannot be described as adequate. In 2009 there were two more > Corallium workshops that accumulated a wealth of recent information, > and a FAO panel as well as an IUCN/TRAFFIC expert group provided > recommendations to the CITES conference of Parties (see links below). > For those of you who are interested in recent information that was > gathered at these events, please have a look at the respective > documents: > http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/38195/icode/ > http://coris.noaa.gov/activities/1st_intl_wkshop/ > http://dsa.uniparthenope.it/rcsmt09/ > http://intranet.iucn.org/webfiles/doc/SSC/CoP14/AnalysesEN/cites_prop_21.pdf > When discussing whether Corallidae meet the criteria, we should keep > in mind that FAO and IUCN/TRAFFIC provide advice to CITES CoP, and > both came to the conclusion that the present data do not meet the > criteria (see the links provided), -and the panels have been well > aware of the information cited in the mentioned MEPS paper. > As Kristian pointed out, local management is the basis for effective > conservation, but CITES can complement it. Therefo > karim.benmustapha at instm.rnrt.tn > kbmtok at yahoo.com.au > Marine ecologist and biologist > Expert in sponges and seagrass mapping From crrf at palaunet.com Wed Jan 27 00:20:08 2010 From: crrf at palaunet.com (Coral Reef Research Foundation) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:20:08 +0900 Subject: [Coral-List] Marine Environments of Palau- new book Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20100127113312.02693288@mail.palaunet.com> ANNOUNCEMENT: Marine Environments of Palau- new book The Coral Reef Research Foundation (CRRF) is pleased to announce the publication of "Marine Environments of Palau" by Patrick L. Colin. This 414 page full color book has over 1200 color photos, detailing Palau's marine environments from beneath the water, from the air and from space. The distillation of 15 years of research by CRRF scientists, as well as a review of what is known from the literature about Palau, this volume provides an unparalleled perspective on the western Pacific marine environments of Palau. New information is provided on the oceanography, physical environment, community structure and biodiversity of this island group's impressive scope of marine habitats. See further details on the book below. This book is available from Mutual Publishing for $45.95 plus shipping and handling: http://www.mutualpublishing.com/bookinfo.aspx?bookID=483 and is also listed on Amazon.com. CRRF is not selling books outside of Palau so please contact Mutual Publishing or Amazon.com directly. All profits from commercial sales go to support additional publications in preparation by CRRF and its associate scientists. Table of Contents - Marine Environments of Palau Chapter 1 - Introductory Materials Chapter 2 - Barrier Reefs and Outer Fringing Reefs Chapter 3 - Reef Passages and Channels on the Outer Reefs Chapter 4 - Atolls, Banks and Oceanic Islands of Palau Chapter 5 - Offshore Environments Chapter 6 - Shallow Lagoon Fringing Flats and Nearshore Patch Reefs Chapter 7 - Lagoon Patch Reefs Chapter 8 - Seagrass Areas Chapter 9 ? The Rock Islands Chapter 10 - Marine Lakes Chapter 11 ? Lagoon Sediment Bottoms Chapter 12 - Deep Lagoon Bottoms Chapter 13 - The Lagoon Pelagic Environment Chapter 14 - Basalt Islands: Shores, Mangroves and Estuaries Chapter 15 - Disturbed and Human Mediated Environments of Palau Chapter 16 - Dangers to the Marine Environments of Palau Chapter 17 - Marine Protected Areas and Conservation Chapter 18 ? Taxonomic and Biogeographic Considerations for Conservation Chapter 19 - Status and Change in Marine Environments After an introductory chapter which covers the geography, meteorology and oceanography of Palau and its region, 13 chapters cover the marine habitats from the outer reefs moving inward. Examination of the effects of human presence and disturbance are covered in two chapters, while the knowledge about the species diversity of Palau is updated in one chapter. Marine protected areas, conservation and the status and change in marine environments are considered in the final two chapters. The book brims with never before published information and a perspective on diversity and change that is unequalled. Coral reef scientists will welcome new information on the 1998 coral beaching event and recovery, subsequent minor bleaching events, the relationship of communities to physical conditions, a detailed look at the thermal regimes and water column dynamics in Palau's reef waters and a host of other unusual events and habitats. Marine Environments of Palau Patrick L. Colin ISBN-10: 0-615-27484-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-615-27484-3 First printing, November 2009 Publisher: Indo-Pacific Press, San Diego Production and Sales by: Mutual Publishing, Honolulu From RichardPDunne at aol.com Wed Jan 27 01:36:33 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:36:33 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation In-Reply-To: <004601ca9ebc$2e5bd150$8b1373f0$@com> References: <4B5F1FC5.10705@aol.com> <004601ca9ebc$2e5bd150$8b1373f0$@com> Message-ID: <4B5FDEF1.20703@aol.com> Ted On your rationale it is of course possible to excuse any of man's actions on the natural environment or against his fellow humans, and neither condemn nor defend past transgressions. "It was simply the way things were done". As human society evolves and matures it develops practices to protect nature and other human beings. So we have evolved national and international laws on environmental protection, Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention, the Laws of War, the Law of the Sea, and bodies such as the United Nations. Underlying all this is basic morality - a sense of what is right and wrong. Without these rules or in the absence of morality there would be anarchism. The subject of human rights is not an "emotional" one. Furthermore, where does one one draw the line in the sand? The eviction of the Chagossians by the British Government? The Burmese junta? Apartheid? Saddam Hussein's persecution of the Kurds? The Nazis and the jews? The Slave Trade? Some of these issues are in the past and have been followed by legal process: e.g. the Nuremberg trials; or the recent trial and execution of 'Chemical Ali'. Others remain in the present and are still to be determined as is the case of the Chagossians. The House of Lords judgment in 2008 was solely concerned with the validity of section 9 of the British Indian Ocean Territory Order in Council which stated: "Whereas the territory was constituted and is set aside to be available for the defence purposes of the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the United States of America, no person has a right of abode in the Territory." Earlier courts (the Divisional Court and the Appeal Court) had held this section to be invalid. It was not about compensation. Nor is my concern about compensation. Nor will the ECtHR case be about compensation. Nor do I seek "to halt the conservation of the Chagos" on these or any other grounds. True I argue that it should be stayed until the ECtHR (the final court of jurisdiction on this matter) has ruled. This will then determine whether the Chagossians must be consulted and involved in any future legislation concerning the Chagos. This is entirely reasonable and logical as I argue in earlier posts. Neither has Charles Sheppard justified why such a delay would be potentially damaging as Ted Morris alleges here. There is already extensive Fishery and Conservation legislation in force - it only a matter of enforcing it appropriately. The question of the resettlement of the islanders is a side issue. The House of Lords noted that there were less than 1,000 inhabitants on three islands in 1962. Presumably the numbers wishing to return now are smaller. The British Government commissioned its own report in 2002 into the feasibility of the resettlement of only Peros Banhos and Salomon (Diego Garcia, the most inhabitable island was not considered). It concluded that agroforestal production would be unsuitable for commercial ventures, that fisheries and mariculture offerred opportunities although they would require investment, tourism could be encouraged, although there was nowhere that aircraft could land. It might therefore be feasible in the short term to resettle the islands. But introduced into that report was the effect of global warming which was raising the sea level and already eroding the corals of the low lying atolls. In the long term, it was concluded that the need for sea defences and the like would make the cost of inhabitation prohibitive. Of course on this premise, the conservation of the coral reefs and islands of the Chagos and indeed the future of the US Base on Diego Garcia are also called into question. None are tenable. Perhaps nature's course will determine all these issues. The largest and most inhabitable of the BIOT islands is Diego Garcia. Charles Shepherd has said in an earlier post " ... a full no take protected area out to the 200 mile limit would do much to ensure these islands, reefs and threatened species were preserved - something much needed for the marine environment and Indian Ocean. Should the Chagossians return, then it would be to their advantage too." But we also know that it is the British Government intention that "Additionally, neither the UK Government nor the US would want the creation of a marine protected area to have any impact on the operational capability of the military base on Diego Garcia. For this reason, it may be necessary to consider the exclusion of Diego Garcia and its 3 mile territorial waters from any marine protected area." Indeed this is the most likely outcome. Diego Garcia would not therefore be protected under any new MPA, either for the good of the marine environment or for the possible future benefit of the Chagossians. The north western segment is already extensively covered in concrete, and a deepwater port and anchorage constructed. Presumably there may be continued construction, certainly continued dredging of the anchorage, discharge of sewage out to sea, etc. Diego Garcia is to be afforded no future protection under these proposals. The argument that an MPA of the type envisaged can protect the Chagos for the Chagossians is therefore flawed. There are not two forums, one for conservation and one for the Chagossians rights. These issue are inextricably linked. I am no expert on social aspects of MPA creation but I would have thought that in all cases a holistic approach is required. That is why (and for the reasons above) the decision should be stayed. Richard P Dunne On 26/01/2010 19:16, Ted Morris wrote: > Dear Listers, > > Mr. Dunne's response to my posting involves what I attempted to point out - > that criticism of the current effort to protect the Chagos by tying it to > actions taken at the height of the Cold War four decades ago is > inappropriate. > > The construction activities and the treatment of the islanders was not > unusual given the circumstances of the time, and I do not defend them. > However, I do not condemn them either. It simply was the way things were > done. If you have read the resettlement proposals of the UK CSA, you can > see that their plan to resettle thousands of islanders will be as disruptive > to the Chagos as that of the SEABEEs in the 1970s. > > The appropriateness of the islanders' compensation is really Mr. Dunne's > concern, is it not? Isn't the subject still in play in the ECHR? Won't it > be a subject of legislation in the democracies involved as time goes by, > regardless of the ECHR outcome? Of course. Therefore, I think where Mr. > Dunne and I differ is that I believe that those are the forums in which > resettlement should be discussed. Mr. Dunne's effort appears to be to halt > the conservation of the Chagos by using the emotional and politicized > question of the islanders' compensation. This will help no one and is > potentially damaging to the marine environment of the islands for the > reasons given by Dr. Sheppard in other posts in this thread. > > Regards, > Ted Morris > > -----Original Message----- > From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Richard Dunne > Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 10:01 AM > To: Coral List > Subject: [Coral-List] The US Base on Diego Garcia and environmental > protection > > Dear Listers > > An earlier post on the issue of the Chagos MPA posted by Ted Morris Jr > almost escaped my attention until I revisited it and followed his links > to his website. > > Mr Morris encourages us to protect the marine environment of the Chagos > by signing up to the proposed MPA. He also thinks that in protecting > human rights we are politicising the process. I would love to endorse > his viewpoint if it could be considered to be serious in the light of > his website which whilst containing some interesting 'facts' about Diego > Garcia has some fairly alarming facts and statements, for example: > > _On the construction of the runway on DG by US SeaBees: _(photos cannot > be reproduced here) > And then came Tom Grenier and his buddies. > They dredged the coral used to build the runway. Here's a little photo > essay on how they did it. > First, you set your charges and blow a big hole in the coral.... > Then you bulldoze out the rock.... > Then, Harry and Joe haul all the "little rocks" to the crusher... > Then you have a party.... > .....and another..... > .....and another .... > Or, you could go fishing and looking around the reef for whatever you > could find... > > You might also like to visit the page on blowing a hole in the reef for > a ship canal. and I am sure that there is something there about dredging > the lagoon for the Navy ships and submarines._ > > Elsewhere Mr Morris says_ > "Finally Those of you who have read my website, or know me personally, > know that my first and foremost concern is for the defense of the United > States and our democratic republic. Diego Garcia is essential to that > defense, and therefore anything that would limit our use of Diego Garcia > would not receive my support." > > All I can say is that clearly the environmental 'protection' afforded by > the presence of the US base has been fairly alarming and that Mr Morris > is very lucky to live in a democracy which has not yet illegally evicted > him to another country as the UK Government did to the rightful > inhabitants of the Chagos, as it seems in the interests of UK and US > defence. > > I hope that the debate on conservation in the Chagos can proceed from a > more serious and open-minded angle. > > > Richard Dunne > > > > ********************************************************* > Ted Morris Jr's post > > The process of protecting the marine environment of the Chagos Archipelago > is at a critical point, and signing the petition at http://protectchagos.org > is the very minimum anyone concerned with the reefs of the Chagos should do. > > Politicizing the process by insisting on the inclusion of Chagossian claims, > all of which have been dismissed by UK and US courts, would be unwise. That > said, there are certainly many people who wonder just what really did happen > to the islanders back in the early 70s, and would like to ensure that a > suitable political solution is arrived at on their behalf. To fully > participate in that discussion, one should reflect on the economic and > geo-political context of the times, and not solely on emotional appeals. > There is also a huge amount of data concerning the demographics and > population that is germane to the discussion, but is not included in the > arguments posted to date. > > I've been a student of the islands, it's history and current uses for many > years, and about 18 months ago I wrote a short paper summarizing the various > British Court cases, the Chagossian lawsuit in the US, and the available > published literature at the time. That information might be of interest to > readers as they attempt to determine what role the Chagossian community > should play in the future of the islands. The paper is on line at > http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/chagossians.pdf. > > Meanwhile, the goal is to fully protect the near-pristine coral reef and > other marine environments of the central Indian Ocean, and anything that > would delay or derail that effort should be avoided. Conservation now would > be to the advantage of any future resident population, should things change > in that respect, and to no one's disadvantage, least of all to other > residents of the Indian Ocean. > > Ted A. Morris, Jr. > http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/stc.html > easy501 at zianet.com > skype: ted.morris.501 > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > > From mark at mdspalding.co.uk Tue Jan 26 14:47:12 2010 From: mark at mdspalding.co.uk (Mark Spalding) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:47:12 -0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos, now or never? or better later? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <001c01ca9ec0$5aae9220$0200a8c0@Englanmspalding> It is reassuring to hear Charles Sheppard's message. 1 - Neither the Chagossians nor the Mauritians have heard this clearly. If I can (I think) paraphrase, it might go like this. "Look guys, we've got the UK government offering us something we could all benefit from, but we've got 2 weeks left and they might never come up with an offer like this again. Of course we'll change things and accomodate your needs should the poltical situation change". Of course it may be true that the MPA would be easily altered as the poltical situation changes, but by not involving these key groups in the discussion from the start they have developed a deep distrust of the whole agenda and there is a very real risk that the MPA would be totally dismantled if the situation changes (which could be within 6 months). The world's largest and the world's shortest lived no-take zone. 2 - There are ominous other hints of "get out clauses": - MRAG Ltd who currently manage the fisheries and patrol the waters, want to keep the pelagic fishery going...and they happen to be owned by the UK government's chief scientific advisor (to be fair they have suggested they will go with whatever is decided, but there will be some strong influence here); - it appears that the waters around the military base will be excluded from protection; - there are arguments that the only commercial licensed reef fishery currently permitted, run from Mauritius could be excluded from the MPA; - I have also already been told that the visiting yachts who currently spend time in Chagos would be allowed to carry on fishing (and lets be honest it would be impossible to stop them). - and its not exactly a get out clause, but there is no mention of funding for this new MPA. So a no-take MPA that allows ALL of the current fishing? Hmmmm ....and one that is legally highly dubious because of the Mauritius claim to Chagos, and that may even be dismantled under any of several likely future scenarios. Hindsight is easy, but I have to say that many people have been calling for collaboration with Chagos and Mauritius on this for a long time (not "informing", or "telling", or even "discussing", out and out partnership), They should have been at the table from the start, and had they been we might be in a very different position now. Just last week France and Mauritius agreed a joint management agreement over Tromelin, a much smaller Indian Ocean island which they both claim but which France adminsters. So I would say even from a purely, selfishly, fish-centric view-point the debate is still open. One strategy states "go for a strict MPA because it might be the only chance we get...and because the UK might never let Chagossians return or Mauritius re-take sovereignty, so from the fishes point of view its a great opportunity". The other says "there are too many risks, that legislating in haste will leave too many loop-holes and too much bad-taste among the stakeholders. Look how many protected areas failed because they didn't engage the vested interests". Is a compromise not possible? Couldn't those calling for immediate total closure now raise their concerns about the loop-holes AND clearly state their open-ness to changes in management as and when there are changes to politics and sovereignty. Surely that would be pretty close to stating the need for another option - an MPA without loop-holes, that makes space for future change. Unanimity would strengthen our hand, and it might be enough to persuade the UK government to proceed, but buy more time for ironing out concerns AND, belatedly, bringing in the stakeholders. All best Mark Message: 7 Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:24:42 -0000 From: "Sheppard, Charles" Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos conservation To: Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Richard Dunne again asks ?why protect Chagos? and ?why hurry??, and urges people to ?vote? no to the government?s enquiry about whether to establish greater, clearer and easier conservation. My posting last week said the answers are in the several documents available on www.chagos-trust.org and www.protectchagos.org. But Mr Dunne conflates issues and asks what is the urgency given that, he says, a year or two more waiting can?t hurt? The urgency is partly the state of so much of the Indian Ocean: in a break-out session in one of the workshops on this last year, people came up with several biological reasons why more protection is merited now, but these really shouldn?t need explaining here. Partly because of the continued damage from (legal) fishing to numerous species, particularly threatened sharks, but partly because we have the opportunity now caused by government interest in doing something, which may not re-occur if we put this opportunity off. Partly too because the consultation deadline itself is February 12th, if you want your views to be recorded. Mr Dunne?s desire for delaying conservation appears to be based on the bad treatment of people removed in the 1970s and because a no-fishing declaration would prohibit the only means of livelihood of anyone returning. But as whole paragraphs say in several docs, the whole proposal is ?without prejudice? to the court case, and explains that if Chagossians do return then revisions would be made (I imagine changes would be needed to several other laws too). Any implication that urging stronger conservation on the UK government now is somehow being ?against? Chagossians would be false. The two issues run in parallel and are not exclusive (as several docs also explain). There was only one group identified who would be directly disadvantaged now: blue water fishing interests. Last week?s London Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6997414.ece) ran an article on the present fisheries interests. It shouldn?t need noting on a scientific list like this, but the tuna fishery, with its only partly quantified but huge by-catch, is quite distinct from demersal reef fishing by some local inhabitants. Voting against a protected area now will do nothing for the Chagossians and nothing for conservation of these islands or reefs and nothing for threatened species. On the other hand a full no take protected area out to the 200 mile limit would do much to ensure these islands, reefs and threatened species were preserved - something much needed for the marine environment and Indian Ocean. Should the Chagossians return, then it would be to their advantage too. Best wishes Charles -------------- Professor Charles Sheppard Dept Biological Sciences University of Warwick Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK charles.sheppard at warwick.ac.uk tel (44) (0) 2476 524975 From eshinn at marine.usf.edu Tue Jan 26 14:24:11 2010 From: eshinn at marine.usf.edu (Eugene Shinn) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:24:11 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Congratulations Message-ID: Jim, You should be proud. 6000 subscribers..wow! And you put up with my stuff all these years! You done did good!!! 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- From dfenner at blueskynet.as Tue Jan 26 18:14:30 2010 From: dfenner at blueskynet.as (dfenner at blueskynet.as) Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:14:30 -1100 Subject: [Coral-List] position at American Samoa Community College Message-ID: <1264547670.4b5f775695159@mx1.blueskynet.as> American Samoa Community College Department of Academic Affairs EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Position Title: Marine Science Coordinator Employment Status: Full Time/12 Months (Two Years Contract) General Description: The Marine Science Coordinator is responsible for teaching and planning, or organizing and administering the Associate of Arts Degree in Marine Science Program. The incumbent in this 12-month academic administrative position reports directly to the Science Department Chairperson. Job Duties and Responsibilities: .. Provide leadership in administering the Marine Science Department .. Concentrate on increasing student enrollment in the Marine Science Program .. Oversee the scheduling, grading, and instruction of courses and assessment of Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) .. Teach a minimum of two marine science courses per semester .. Serve as an advisor and mentor for Marine Science majors .. Participate in department and academic committee meetings .. Conduct outreach in the community to build capacity and aid in community development .. Develop opportunities for student internships locally and abroad .. Seek extramural funding to support and expand program .. Perform other duties as assigned. Minimum Qualifications: Master?s degree from an accredited college or university in marine biology, oceanography, or a related discipline; proven ability to develop and lead programs; demonstrated ability to teach marine science effectively at the community college or university level; ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing; strong record of university and community service; successful record of locating, obtaining and managing external funding. Salary: Salary will be commensurate with degree and experience. Application Deadline: Open until filled Applications are available from American Samoa Community College, Human Resources Office at 699-9155 Ext. 403/335/436 or email s.saofaigaalii at amsamoa.edu; j.toilolo at amsamoa.edu. ? An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer ? And A Drug-Free Workplace? ------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent from Blue Sky Communications, American Samoa Blue Sky, Always there From jim.hendee at noaa.gov Wed Jan 27 08:13:19 2010 From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:13:19 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation In-Reply-To: <4B5FDEF1.20703@aol.com> References: <4B5F1FC5.10705@aol.com> <004601ca9ebc$2e5bd150$8b1373f0$@com> <4B5FDEF1.20703@aol.com> Message-ID: <4B603BEF.4090200@noaa.gov> Greetings, I have a new sparkler to throw into the Chagos fireworks. The U.S. Department of Defense (through the Secretary of Defense) is charged by Executive Order #13089 to be participating member of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. To wit, see Sec.4.: ~~~~~~~~~~ Sec. 4. Coral Reef Task Force. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall co-chair a U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (``Task Force''), whose members shall include, but not be limited to, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Task Force shall oversee implementation of the policy and Federal agency responsibilities set forth in this order, and shall guide and support activities under the U.S. Coral Reef Initiative (``CRI''). All Federal agencies whose actions may affect U.S. coral reef ecosystems shall review their participation in the CRI and the strategies developed under it, including strategies and plans of State, territorial, common-wealth, and local governments, and, to the extent feasible, shall enhance Federal participation and support of such strategies and plans. The Task Force shall work in cooperation with State, territorial, commonwealth, and local government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific community, and commercial interests. ~~~~~~~~~~ Although this EO was designed with U.S. territories in mind, clearly coral reef areas know know no international boundaries; and in fact NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (www.coralreef.noaa.gov) provides for international programs and partnerships. The DoD was also charged with helping coral reefs in the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. I'm almost clueless on DoD coral reef activities, yet I see here... http://www.stormingmedia.us/39/3977/A397794.html that they have made progress. Perhaps now is a great chance for them to both help their quiet image on the coral reef conservation front, and also to help come to a solution regarding the Chagos conservation area. If Diego Garcia is a "hands-off" area, but which is of concern in being included into a proposed new conservation area, then might I propose that DoD offers to the international research community a plan for conservation that is reviewed by peers, and which would allow periodic site review by those who would likely not be shot as spies? I think it is worth considering that this subject be put before the next U.S. Coral Reef Task Force meeting to be held February 23-24, Washington, DC. Here's more on the USCRTF, http://coralreef.gov/ . Note this statemtent on that site: "The advance public comment period for the February 2010 CRTF Meeting is open through Friday, January 29. Advance public comments may be submitted to Sarah Bobbe via email at Sarah_Bobbe at ios.doi.gov or via mail at 1305 East-West Highway, NOS/OCRM/CCD 10th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910." In other words, by this Friday, two days from now. I know this suggestion in itself does nothing, or little, with regard to the Chagosians themselves. However, maybe this is a great opportunity for the U.S. (to include the Department of State) to look like one of the good guys. Cheers, Jim ---------------------------------------------------- James C. Hendee, Ph.D. Coral Health and Monitoring Program Ocean Chemistry Division Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL 33149-1026 Voice: (305) 361-4396 Fax: (305) 361-4447 Email: jim.hendee at noaa.gov Web: http://www.coral.noaa.gov From chumbe at zitec.org Thu Jan 28 03:41:31 2010 From: chumbe at zitec.org (Conservation Chumbe) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:41:31 +0300 Subject: [Coral-List] Voluntary work during Ramadan 2010 on Chumbe Island Coral Park, Tanzania Message-ID: <003d01ca9ff5$d45b2f30$6e00a8c0@use06d3ffaebea> Dear Coral List members, Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar (Tanzania) is offering two volunteer positions to work as Ramadan Rangers for the 2010 Ramadan season. The Ramadan Rangers would be expected to arrive on the 8th of August and stay until the 12th of September 2010. During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan our Zanzibari Rangers are not able to swim/snorkel in the sea during the daytime, but they are performing the rest of their daily duties (such as guiding forest walks, intertidal walks, lighthouse tour and viewing of the coconut crabs). Chumbe Island Coral Park, Ltd (CHICOP) seeks two volunteers to serve as snorkel guides in our healthy coral reef. The position involves guest relations while guiding the guests at Chumbe?s eco-lodge while snorkelling inside the marine park, requiring several hours of in-water each day. The Ramadan Rangers deliver a professional snorkel briefing with safety information and assist guests with finding appropriate snorkel equipment for their reef excursion. The Rangers lead guests of all swimming levels in the water and follow-up after the snorkelling session with discussions of interesting and environmental issues incorporating reef guides and other visual materials. The position is ideal for two friends (or a married couple). Requirements: * Possess a background in marine science * Have strong experience in diving/snorkelling (and must be a strong swimmer) * Training in first aid and CPR * Fluency in English * Friendly and easy-going personality to interact with diverse guests * Adaptable and energetic CHICOP will provide Ramadan Rangers with: * Basic accommodation in the Island Lodge Manager?s house * All daily staff food on Chumbe Island * Please note, we are not able to fund travel to Zanzibar, but we will gladly arrange for your airport pick-up/ drop-off and provide you with boat transportation from Zanzibar to Chumbe Island. This is an excellent opportunity to experience the famous Chumbe Island reef sanctuary and to work with a team of local staff members. The uninhabited island has a maximum capacity of 14 overnight guests and hosts a numerous rare and endangered terrestrial and marine species. The mission statement for Chumbe Island Coral Park is ?To manage, for conservation and educational purposes, the Chumbe Island Reef Sanctuary and the Forest Reserve. This is also supported by eco-tourism activities which are directly related to the non-consumptive uses of the natural resources.? For further information please check our website www.chumbeisland.com where you can find our newest newsletter. We look forward to receiving applications (cover letter and CV) on or before March 21st, 2010! Best wishes, Lina Nordlund and the Chumbe Ranger Team Ms Lina Nordlund Conservation and Education Co-ordinator *************************************************** Chumbe Island Coral Park P.O. Box 3203 - Zanzibar, Tanzania Phone/Fax: +255 (0)24 2231040 Mobile: +255 (0)776 583442 Fax UK: +44 (0)870 1341284 www.chumbeisland.com *************************************************** Ph.D. Student *************************************************** Aronia Coastal Zone Research Team Novia University of Applied Sciences & ?bo Akademi University, Finland *************************************************** From jlang at riposi.net Wed Jan 27 14:57:53 2010 From: jlang at riposi.net (Judith Lang) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:57:53 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation References: <4B603BEF.4090200@noaa.gov> Message-ID: <2A5566AB-A479-404A-9DD7-5988651AEF4D@riposi.net> Hi everyone, To follow up on Jim Hendee's posting regarding submissions to the US Coral Reef Task Force (below): members of the public attending the Business Meeting in Washington, DC on February 24, 2010 also have the option of speaking during the Public Comments period. To register for the meeting, go to http://coralreef.gov/ Dave Raney and Judy Lang (whose only familiarity with this issue is the previous postings on the coral-list) Begin forwarded message: > From: Jim Hendee > Date: January 27, 2010 8:13:19 AM EST > To: Coral-List Subscribers > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation > > Greetings, > > I have a new sparkler to throw into the Chagos fireworks. The U.S. > Department of Defense (through the Secretary of Defense) is charged > by > Executive Order #13089 to be participating member of the U.S. Coral > Reef > Task Force. To wit, see Sec.4.: > > ~~~~~~~~~~ > > Sec. 4. Coral Reef Task Force. The Secretary of the Interior and the > Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National > Oceanic > and Atmospheric Administration, shall co-chair a U.S. Coral Reef Task > Force (``Task Force''), whose members shall include, but not be > limited > to, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the > Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of > Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the > Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of > the > National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the Agency for > International Development, and the Administrator of the National > Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Task Force shall oversee > implementation of the policy and Federal agency responsibilities set > forth in this order, and shall guide and support activities under the > U.S. Coral Reef Initiative (``CRI''). All Federal agencies whose > actions > may affect U.S. coral reef ecosystems shall review their participation > in the CRI and the strategies developed under it, including strategies > and plans of State, territorial, common-wealth, and local governments, > and, to the extent feasible, shall enhance Federal participation and > support of such strategies and plans. The Task Force shall work in > cooperation with State, territorial, commonwealth, and local > government > agencies, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific community, and > commercial interests. > > ~~~~~~~~~~ > > Although this EO was designed with U.S. territories in mind, clearly > coral reef areas know know no international boundaries; and in fact > NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (www.coralreef.noaa.gov) > provides > for international programs and partnerships. > > The DoD was also charged with helping coral reefs in the U.S. > Commission > on Ocean Policy. > > I'm almost clueless on DoD coral reef activities, yet I see here... > > http://www.stormingmedia.us/39/3977/A397794.html > > that they have made progress. Perhaps now is a great chance for > them to > both help their quiet image on the coral reef conservation front, and > also to help come to a solution regarding the Chagos conservation > area. > If Diego Garcia is a "hands-off" area, but which is of concern in > being > included into a proposed new conservation area, then might I propose > that DoD offers to the international research community a plan for > conservation that is reviewed by peers, and which would allow periodic > site review by those who would likely not be shot as spies? I think > it > is worth considering that this subject be put before the next U.S. > Coral > Reef Task Force meeting to be held February 23-24, Washington, DC. > Here's more on the USCRTF, http://coralreef.gov/ . Note this > statemtent > on that site: > > "The advance public comment period for the February 2010 CRTF > Meeting is > open through Friday, January 29. Advance public comments may be > submitted to Sarah Bobbe via email at Sarah_Bobbe at ios.doi.gov or via > mail at 1305 East-West Highway, NOS/OCRM/CCD 10th Floor, Silver > Spring, > MD 20910." > > In other words, by this Friday, two days from now. > > I know this suggestion in itself does nothing, or little, with > regard to > the Chagosians themselves. However, maybe this is a great opportunity > for the U.S. (to include the Department of State) to look like one of > the good guys. > > Cheers, > Jim > > ---------------------------------------------------- > James C. Hendee, Ph.D. > Coral Health and Monitoring Program > Ocean Chemistry Division > Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory > National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration > U.S. Department of Commerce > 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway > Miami, FL 33149-1026 > > Voice: (305) 361-4396 > Fax: (305) 361-4447 > Email: jim.hendee at noaa.gov > Web: http://www.coral.noaa.gov > > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From timecott at hotmail.com Wed Jan 27 12:22:33 2010 From: timecott at hotmail.com (tim ecott) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:22:33 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos and Hitler In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Coral-listers, What a wonderful example we have here of the mess that surrounds any attempt to ge governmental level involvement in the creation of an MPA. All coral-listers should note the level of acrimony entering the debate. No wonder it is so hard to do anything about marine conservation and dwindling fish stocks - no sooner does one person advocate setting aside a marine reserve than another immediately pops up to denounce the negative human impact of such a move. the debate as conducted here could provide a Ph.D case study in why marine conservation is doomed in most cases to failure. Once again does it not seem that the parties involved are arguing 'rearranging the deckchairs on the deck of the Titanic'? And if 'Mauritius' is to be involved then why not Seychelles? The Chagossians on Agalega have been frequently looked after by the Seychelles administration because little help or effort was forthcoming from Mauritius. And, while it may not be politically correct to point this out - the evidence of Indian Ocean states being able to adequately manage or preserve their marine environment is without a shadow of equivocation - abysmal. Unfortunately there is a good reason for the healthy status of Chagos reefs: lack of people. I for one would vote for pretty much anything that kept it that way. And by the way - do the arguing parties know Godwin's Law - which states that "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." a subsidiary Law states that once Hitler is mentioned the debate is to all practical purposes over. we reached that point today - so let's move on. please. Tim Ecott is the author of Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World (Penguin) > From: coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Subject: Coral-List Digest, Vol 17, Issue 22 > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:00:02 -0500 > > Send Coral-List mailing list submissions to > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > > You can reach the person managing the list at > coral-list-owner at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Coral-List digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Chagos Conservation (Richard Dunne) > 2. Chagos, now or never? or better later? (Mark Spalding) > 3. Congratulations (Eugene Shinn) > 4. position at American Samoa Community College > (dfenner at blueskynet.as) > 5. Re: Chagos Conservation (Jim Hendee) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:36:33 +0000 > From: Richard Dunne > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Message-ID: <4B5FDEF1.20703 at aol.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > Ted > > On your rationale it is of course possible to excuse any of man's > actions on the natural environment or against his fellow humans, and > neither condemn nor defend past transgressions. "It was simply the way > things were done". As human society evolves and matures it develops > practices to protect nature and other human beings. So we have evolved > national and international laws on environmental protection, > Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Convention, the Laws of War, the Law of > the Sea, and bodies such as the United Nations. Underlying all this is > basic morality - a sense of what is right and wrong. Without these rules > or in the absence of morality there would be anarchism. > > The subject of human rights is not an "emotional" one. Furthermore, > where does one one draw the line in the sand? The eviction of the > Chagossians by the British Government? The Burmese junta? Apartheid? > Saddam Hussein's persecution of the Kurds? The Nazis and the jews? The > Slave Trade? Some of these issues are in the past and have been followed > by legal process: e.g. the Nuremberg trials; or the recent trial and > execution of 'Chemical Ali'. Others remain in the present and are still > to be determined as is the case of the Chagossians. > > The House of Lords judgment in 2008 was solely concerned with the > validity of section 9 of the British Indian Ocean Territory Order in > Council which stated: "Whereas the territory was constituted and is set > aside to be available for the defence purposes of the Government of the > United Kingdom and the Government of the United States of America, no > person has a right of abode in the Territory." Earlier courts (the > Divisional Court and the Appeal Court) had held this section to be > invalid. It was not about compensation. Nor is my concern about > compensation. Nor will the ECtHR case be about compensation. > > Nor do I seek "to halt the conservation of the Chagos" on these or any > other grounds. True I argue that it should be stayed until the ECtHR > (the final court of jurisdiction on this matter) has ruled. This will > then determine whether the Chagossians must be consulted and involved in > any future legislation concerning the Chagos. This is entirely > reasonable and logical as I argue in earlier posts. Neither has Charles > Sheppard justified why such a delay would be potentially damaging as Ted > Morris alleges here. There is already extensive Fishery and Conservation > legislation in force - it only a matter of enforcing it appropriately. > > The question of the resettlement of the islanders is a side issue. The > House of Lords noted that there were less than 1,000 inhabitants on > three islands in 1962. Presumably the numbers wishing to return now are > smaller. The British Government commissioned its own report in 2002 > into the feasibility of the resettlement of only Peros Banhos and > Salomon (Diego Garcia, the most inhabitable island was not considered). > It concluded that agroforestal production would be unsuitable for > commercial ventures, that fisheries and mariculture offerred > opportunities although they would require investment, tourism could be > encouraged, although there was nowhere that aircraft could land. It > might therefore be feasible in the short term to resettle the islands. > But introduced into that report was the effect of global warming which > was raising the sea level and already eroding the corals of the low > lying atolls. In the long term, it was concluded that the need for sea > defences and the like would make the cost of inhabitation prohibitive. > Of course on this premise, the conservation of the coral reefs and > islands of the Chagos and indeed the future of the US Base on Diego > Garcia are also called into question. None are tenable. Perhaps nature's > course will determine all these issues. > > The largest and most inhabitable of the BIOT islands is Diego Garcia. > Charles Shepherd has said in an earlier post " ... a full no take > protected area out to the 200 mile limit would do much to ensure these > islands, reefs and threatened species were preserved - something much > needed for the marine environment and Indian Ocean. Should the > Chagossians return, then it would be to their advantage too." But we > also know that it is the British Government intention that > "Additionally, neither the UK Government nor the US would want the > creation of a marine protected area to have any impact on the > operational capability of the military base on Diego Garcia. For this > reason, it may be necessary to consider the exclusion of Diego Garcia > and its 3 mile territorial waters from any marine protected area." > Indeed this is the most likely outcome. Diego Garcia would not therefore > be protected under any new MPA, either for the good of the marine > environment or for the possible future benefit of the Chagossians. The > north western segment is already extensively covered in concrete, and a > deepwater port and anchorage constructed. Presumably there may be > continued construction, certainly continued dredging of the anchorage, > discharge of sewage out to sea, etc. Diego Garcia is to be afforded no > future protection under these proposals. The argument that an MPA of the > type envisaged can protect the Chagos for the Chagossians is therefore > flawed. > > There are not two forums, one for conservation and one for the > Chagossians rights. These issue are inextricably linked. I am no expert > on social aspects of MPA creation but I would have thought that in all > cases a holistic approach is required. That is why (and for the reasons > above) the decision should be stayed. > > Richard P Dunne > > > > On 26/01/2010 19:16, Ted Morris wrote: > > Dear Listers, > > > > Mr. Dunne's response to my posting involves what I attempted to point out - > > that criticism of the current effort to protect the Chagos by tying it to > > actions taken at the height of the Cold War four decades ago is > > inappropriate. > > > > The construction activities and the treatment of the islanders was not > > unusual given the circumstances of the time, and I do not defend them.. > > However, I do not condemn them either. It simply was the way things were > > done. If you have read the resettlement proposals of the UK CSA, you can > > see that their plan to resettle thousands of islanders will be as disruptive > > to the Chagos as that of the SEABEEs in the 1970s. > > > > The appropriateness of the islanders' compensation is really Mr. Dunne's > > concern, is it not? Isn't the subject still in play in the ECHR? Won't it > > be a subject of legislation in the democracies involved as time goes by, > > regardless of the ECHR outcome? Of course. Therefore, I think where Mr. > > Dunne and I differ is that I believe that those are the forums in which > > resettlement should be discussed. Mr. Dunne's effort appears to be to halt > > the conservation of the Chagos by using the emotional and politicized > > question of the islanders' compensation. This will help no one and is > > potentially damaging to the marine environment of the islands for the > > reasons given by Dr. Sheppard in other posts in this thread. > > > > Regards, > > Ted Morris > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > > [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Richard Dunne > > Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 10:01 AM > > To: Coral List > > Subject: [Coral-List] The US Base on Diego Garcia and environmental > > protection > > > > Dear Listers > > > > An earlier post on the issue of the Chagos MPA posted by Ted Morris Jr > > almost escaped my attention until I revisited it and followed his links > > to his website. > > > > Mr Morris encourages us to protect the marine environment of the Chagos > > by signing up to the proposed MPA. He also thinks that in protecting > > human rights we are politicising the process. I would love to endorse > > his viewpoint if it could be considered to be serious in the light of > > his website which whilst containing some interesting 'facts' about Diego > > Garcia has some fairly alarming facts and statements, for example: > > > > _On the construction of the runway on DG by US SeaBees: _(photos cannot > > be reproduced here) > > And then came Tom Grenier and his buddies. > > They dredged the coral used to build the runway. Here's a little photo > > essay on how they did it. > > First, you set your charges and blow a big hole in the coral.... > > Then you bulldoze out the rock.... > > Then, Harry and Joe haul all the "little rocks" to the crusher... > > Then you have a party.... > > .....and another..... > > .....and another .... > > Or, you could go fishing and looking around the reef for whatever you > > could find... > > > > You might also like to visit the page on blowing a hole in the reef for > > a ship canal. and I am sure that there is something there about dredging > > the lagoon for the Navy ships and submarines._ > > > > Elsewhere Mr Morris says_ > > "Finally Those of you who have read my website, or know me personally, > > know that my first and foremost concern is for the defense of the United > > States and our democratic republic. Diego Garcia is essential to that > > defense, and therefore anything that would limit our use of Diego Garcia > > would not receive my support." > > > > All I can say is that clearly the environmental 'protection' afforded by > > the presence of the US base has been fairly alarming and that Mr Morris > > is very lucky to live in a democracy which has not yet illegally evicted > > him to another country as the UK Government did to the rightful > > inhabitants of the Chagos, as it seems in the interests of UK and US > > defence. > > > > I hope that the debate on conservation in the Chagos can proceed from a > > more serious and open-minded angle. > > > > > > Richard Dunne > > > > > > > > ********************************************************* > > Ted Morris Jr's post > > > > The process of protecting the marine environment of the Chagos Archipelago > > is at a critical point, and signing the petition at http://protectchagos.org > > is the very minimum anyone concerned with the reefs of the Chagos should do. > > > > Politicizing the process by insisting on the inclusion of Chagossian claims, > > all of which have been dismissed by UK and US courts, would be unwise.. That > > said, there are certainly many people who wonder just what really did happen > > to the islanders back in the early 70s, and would like to ensure that a > > suitable political solution is arrived at on their behalf. To fully > > participate in that discussion, one should reflect on the economic and > > geo-political context of the times, and not solely on emotional appeals. > > There is also a huge amount of data concerning the demographics and > > population that is germane to the discussion, but is not included in the > > arguments posted to date. > > > > I've been a student of the islands, it's history and current uses for many > > years, and about 18 months ago I wrote a short paper summarizing the various > > British Court cases, the Chagossian lawsuit in the US, and the available > > published literature at the time. That information might be of interest to > > readers as they attempt to determine what role the Chagossian community > > should play in the future of the islands. The paper is on line at > > http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/chagossians.pdf. > > > > Meanwhile, the goal is to fully protect the near-pristine coral reef and > > other marine environments of the central Indian Ocean, and anything that > > would delay or derail that effort should be avoided. Conservation now would > > be to the advantage of any future resident population, should things change > > in that respect, and to no one's disadvantage, least of all to other > > residents of the Indian Ocean. > > > > Ted A. Morris, Jr. > > http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/stc.html > > easy501 at zianet.com > > skype: ted.morris.501 > > _______________________________________________ > > Coral-List mailing list > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:47:12 -0000 > From: "Mark Spalding" > Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos, now or never? or better later? > To: > Message-ID: <001c01ca9ec0$5aae9220$0200a8c0 at Englanmspalding> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > It is reassuring to hear Charles Sheppard's message. > > 1 - Neither the Chagossians nor the Mauritians have heard this clearly. If I > can (I think) paraphrase, it might go like this. "Look guys, we've got the > UK government offering us something we could all benefit from, but we've got > 2 weeks left and they might never come up with an offer like this again. Of > course we'll change things and accomodate your needs should the poltical > situation change". Of course it may be true that the MPA would be easily > altered as the poltical situation changes, but by not involving these key > groups in the discussion from the start they have developed a deep distrust > of the whole agenda and there is a very real risk that the MPA would be > totally dismantled if the situation changes (which could be within 6 > months). The world's largest and the world's shortest lived no-take zone. > > 2 - There are ominous other hints of "get out clauses": > - MRAG Ltd who currently manage the fisheries and patrol the waters, want to > keep the pelagic fishery going...and they happen to be owned by the UK > government's chief scientific advisor (to be fair they have suggested they > will go with whatever is decided, but there will be some strong influence > here); > - it appears that the waters around the military base will be excluded from > protection; > - there are arguments that the only commercial licensed reef fishery > currently permitted, run from Mauritius could be excluded from the MPA; > - I have also already been told that the visiting yachts who currently spend > time in Chagos would be allowed to carry on fishing (and lets be honest it > would be impossible to stop them). > - and its not exactly a get out clause, but there is no mention of funding > for this new MPA. > > So a no-take MPA that allows ALL of the current fishing? Hmmmm > > ....and one that is legally highly dubious because of the Mauritius claim to > Chagos, and that may even be dismantled under any of several likely future > scenarios. > > Hindsight is easy, but I have to say that many people have been calling for > collaboration with Chagos and Mauritius on this for a long time (not > "informing", or "telling", or even "discussing", out and out partnership), > They should have been at the table from the start, and had they been we > might be in a very different position now. Just last week France and > Mauritius agreed a joint management agreement over Tromelin, a much smaller > Indian Ocean island which they both claim but which France adminsters. > > So I would say even from a purely, selfishly, fish-centric view-point the > debate is still open. One strategy states "go for a strict MPA because it > might be the only chance we get...and because the UK might never let > Chagossians return or Mauritius re-take sovereignty, so from the fishes > point of view its a great opportunity". The other says "there are too many > risks, that legislating in haste will leave too many loop-holes and too much > bad-taste among the stakeholders. Look how many protected areas failed > because they didn't engage the vested interests". > > Is a compromise not possible? Couldn't those calling for immediate total > closure now raise their concerns about the loop-holes AND clearly state > their open-ness to changes in management as and when there are changes to > politics and sovereignty. Surely that would be pretty close to stating the > need for another option - an MPA without loop-holes, that makes space for > future change. Unanimity would strengthen our hand, and it might be enough > to persuade the UK government to proceed, but buy more time for ironing out > concerns AND, belatedly, bringing in the stakeholders. > > All best > > Mark > > > > > Message: 7 > Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:24:42 -0000 > From: "Sheppard, Charles" > Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos conservation > To: > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Richard Dunne again asks ?why protect Chagos? and ?why hurry??, and urges > people to ?vote? no to the government?s enquiry about whether to establish > greater, clearer and easier conservation. My posting last week said the > answers are in the several documents available on www.chagos-trust.org and > www.protectchagos.org. > > But Mr Dunne conflates issues and asks what is the urgency given that, he > says, a year or two more waiting can?t hurt? The urgency is partly the state > of so much of the Indian Ocean: in a break-out session in one of the > workshops on this last year, people came up with several biological reasons > why more protection is merited now, but these really shouldn?t need > explaining here. Partly because of the continued damage from (legal) fishing > to numerous species, particularly threatened sharks, but partly because we > have the opportunity now caused by government interest in doing something, > which may not re-occur if we put this opportunity off. Partly too because > the consultation deadline itself is February 12th, if you want your views to > be recorded. > > Mr Dunne?s desire for delaying conservation appears to be based on the bad > treatment of people removed in the 1970s and because a no-fishing > declaration would prohibit the only means of livelihood of anyone returning. > But as whole paragraphs say in several docs, the whole proposal is ?without > prejudice? to the court case, and explains that if Chagossians do return > then revisions would be made (I imagine changes would be needed to several > other laws too). > > Any implication that urging stronger conservation on the UK government now > is somehow being ?against? Chagossians would be false. The two issues run in > parallel and are not exclusive (as several docs also explain). There was > only one group identified who would be directly disadvantaged now: blue > water fishing interests. Last week?s London Times > (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6997414.ece) ran > an article on the present fisheries interests. It shouldn?t need noting on a > scientific list like this, but the tuna fishery, with its only partly > quantified but huge by-catch, is quite distinct from demersal reef fishing > by some local inhabitants. > > Voting against a protected area now will do nothing for the Chagossians and > nothing for conservation of these islands or reefs and nothing for > threatened species. On the other hand a full no take protected area out to > the 200 mile limit would do much to ensure these islands, reefs and > threatened species were preserved - something much needed for the marine > environment and Indian Ocean. Should the Chagossians return, then it would > be to their advantage too. > > Best wishes > Charles > > -------------- > Professor Charles Sheppard > Dept Biological Sciences > University of Warwick > Coventry, CV4 7AL, > UK > charles.sheppard at warwick.ac.uk > tel (44) (0) 2476 524975 > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:24:11 -0500 > From: Eugene Shinn > Subject: [Coral-List] Congratulations > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" > > Jim, You should be proud. 6000 subscribers..wow! And you put up with > my stuff all these years! You done did good!!! 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 > > Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- > ----------------------------------- > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:14:30 -1100 > From: dfenner at blueskynet.as > Subject: [Coral-List] position at American Samoa Community College > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Message-ID: <1264547670.4b5f775695159 at mx1.blueskynet.as> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > American Samoa Community College > Department of Academic Affairs > EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY > > Position Title: Marine Science Coordinator > Employment Status: Full Time/12 Months (Two Years Contract) > > General Description: > The Marine Science Coordinator is responsible for teaching and planning, or > organizing and administering the Associate of Arts Degree in Marine Science > Program. The incumbent in this 12-month academic administrative position > reports directly to the Science Department Chairperson. > > Job Duties and Responsibilities: > .. Provide leadership in administering the Marine Science Department > .. Concentrate on increasing student enrollment in the Marine Science Program > .. Oversee the scheduling, grading, and instruction of courses and assessment of > Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) > .. Teach a minimum of two marine science courses per semester > .. Serve as an advisor and mentor for Marine Science majors > .. Participate in department and academic committee meetings > .. Conduct outreach in the community to build capacity and aid in community > development > .. Develop opportunities for student internships locally and abroad > .. Seek extramural funding to support and expand program > .. Perform other duties as assigned. > > Minimum Qualifications: > Master?s degree from an accredited college or university in marine biology, > oceanography, or a related discipline; proven ability to develop and lead > programs; demonstrated ability to teach marine science effectively at the > community college or university level; ability to communicate effectively both > verbally and in writing; strong record of university and community service; > successful record of locating, obtaining and managing external funding. > > Salary: Salary will be commensurate with degree and experience. > > Application Deadline: Open until filled > > Applications are available from American Samoa Community College, Human > Resources Office at 699-9155 Ext. 403/335/436 or email > s.saofaigaalii at amsamoa.edu; j.toilolo at amsamoa.edu. > > ? An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer ? And A Drug-Free Workplace? > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > This message was sent from Blue Sky Communications, American Samoa > > Blue Sky, Always there > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:13:19 -0500 > From: Jim Hendee > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation > To: Coral-List Subscribers > Message-ID: <4B603BEF.4090200 at noaa.gov> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Greetings, > > I have a new sparkler to throw into the Chagos fireworks. The U.S. > Department of Defense (through the Secretary of Defense) is charged by > Executive Order #13089 to be participating member of the U.S. Coral Reef > Task Force. To wit, see Sec.4.: > > ~~~~~~~~~~ > > Sec. 4. Coral Reef Task Force. The Secretary of the Interior and the > Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic > and Atmospheric Administration, shall co-chair a U.S. Coral Reef Task > Force (``Task Force''), whose members shall include, but not be limited > to, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the > Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of > Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the > Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the > National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the Agency for > International Development, and the Administrator of the National > Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Task Force shall oversee > implementation of the policy and Federal agency responsibilities set > forth in this order, and shall guide and support activities under the > U.S. Coral Reef Initiative (``CRI''). All Federal agencies whose actions > may affect U.S. coral reef ecosystems shall review their participation > in the CRI and the strategies developed under it, including strategies > and plans of State, territorial, common-wealth, and local governments, > and, to the extent feasible, shall enhance Federal participation and > support of such strategies and plans. The Task Force shall work in > cooperation with State, territorial, commonwealth, and local government > agencies, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific community, and > commercial interests. > > ~~~~~~~~~~ > > Although this EO was designed with U.S. territories in mind, clearly > coral reef areas know know no international boundaries; and in fact > NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (www.coralreef.noaa.gov) provides > for international programs and partnerships. > > The DoD was also charged with helping coral reefs in the U.S. Commission > on Ocean Policy. > > I'm almost clueless on DoD coral reef activities, yet I see here... > > http://www.stormingmedia.us/39/3977/A397794.html > > that they have made progress. Perhaps now is a great chance for them to > both help their quiet image on the coral reef conservation front, and > also to help come to a solution regarding the Chagos conservation area. > If Diego Garcia is a "hands-off" area, but which is of concern in being > included into a proposed new conservation area, then might I propose > that DoD offers to the international research community a plan for > conservation that is reviewed by peers, and which would allow periodic > site review by those who would likely not be shot as spies? I think it > is worth considering that this subject be put before the next U.S. Coral > Reef Task Force meeting to be held February 23-24, Washington, DC. > Here's more on the USCRTF, http://coralreef.gov/ . Note this statemtent > on that site: > > "The advance public comment period for the February 2010 CRTF Meeting is > open through Friday, January 29. Advance public comments may be > submitted to Sarah Bobbe via email at Sarah_Bobbe at ios.doi.gov or via > mail at 1305 East-West Highway, NOS/OCRM/CCD 10th Floor, Silver Spring, > MD 20910." > > In other words, by this Friday, two days from now. > > I know this suggestion in itself does nothing, or little, with regard to > the Chagosians themselves. However, maybe this is a great opportunity > for the U.S. (to include the Department of State) to look like one of > the good guys. > > Cheers, > Jim > > ---------------------------------------------------- > James C. Hendee, Ph.D. > Coral Health and Monitoring Program > Ocean Chemistry Division > Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory > National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration > U.S. Department of Commerce > 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway > Miami, FL 33149-1026 > > Voice: (305) 361-4396 > Fax: (305) 361-4447 > Email: jim.hendee at noaa.gov > Web: http://www.coral.noaa.gov > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > > End of Coral-List Digest, Vol 17, Issue 22 > ****************************************** _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/196390710/direct/01/ From eshinn at marine.usf.edu Wed Jan 27 15:55:46 2010 From: eshinn at marine.usf.edu (Eugene Shinn) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:55:46 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] cold water coral kill Message-ID: Coral listers, Here is the article from todays Miami Herald concerning the recent cold water episode. Reminds me of the 1969/70 winter chill that killed about 80 percent of the Montastrea at Hens and Chicken reef and the 1977 (snow in Miami) cold water event that killed Acropora at Dry Tortugas. It demonstrates why Acropora never proliferated in some of the Acropora "critical habitat" areas. Gene Coral in Florida Keys suffers lethal hit from cold BY CURTIS MORGAN Miami Herald, Posted on Wed, Jan. 27, 2010 Bitter cold this month may have wiped out many of the shallow water corals in the Keys. Scientists have only begun assessments, with dive teams looking for ``bleaching'' that is a telltale indicator of temperature stress in sensitive corals, but initial reports are bleak. The impact could extend from Key Largo through the Dry Tortugas west of Key West, a vast expanse that covers some of the prettiest and healthiest reefs in North America. Given the depth and duration of frigid weather, Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator for The Nature Conservancy, expected to see losses. But she was stunned by what she saw when diving a patch reef 2 1?2 miles off Harry Harris Park in Key Largo. Star and brain corals, large species that can take hundreds of years to grow, were as white and lifeless as bones, frozen to death. There were also dead sea turtles, eels and parrotfish littering the bottom. ``Corals didn't even have a chance to bleach. They just went straight to dead,'' said Johnson, who joined teams of divers last week surveying reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. ``It's really ecosystem-wide mortality.'' The record chill that gripped South Florida for two weeks has taken a heavy toll on wildlife -- particularly marine life. On Tuesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that record numbers of endangered manatees had already succumbed to the cold this year -- 77, according to a preliminary review. The previous record, 56, was set last year. Massive fish kills also have been reported across the state. Carcasses of snook and tarpon are still floating up from a large fish kill across Florida Bay and the shallow waters of Everglades National Park. Many of the Florida Keys' signature diving destinations such as Carysfort, Molasses and Sombrero reefs -- as well as deeper reefs off Miami-Dade and Broward -- are believed to have escaped heavy losses, thanks to warming effects of the Gulf Stream. But shallower reefs took a serious, perhaps unprecedented hit, said Billy Causey, Southeast regional director of national marine sanctuaries for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. PAST PROBLEMS Coral-bleaching has struck the Keys in the past, most recently twice in the 1990s, preceding a die-off that claimed 30 percent of the reef tract. But those events, along with others that have hit reefs around the world, have usually been triggered by water hotter than what corals typically tolerate. Healthy corals depend on a symbiotic relationship between polyps, the living tissues that slowly build the hard outer skeletons that give species distinctive shapes, and algae called zooxanthellae that give them their vibrant colors. But when ocean temperatures veer from their comfort zone too much or too long, the coral begin to shed that algae, turning dull or a bleached bone-white. The effect usually doesn't immediately kill coral but can weaken it, slowing growth and leaving fragile reefs -- home to millions of fish, crabs and other animals -- more vulnerable to diseases, pollution and damage from boaters and divers. Cold-water bleaching is unusual, last occurring in 1977, the year it snowed in Miami. It killed hundreds of acres of staghorn and elkhorn corals across the Keys. Neither species has recovered, both becoming the first corals to be federally listed as threatened in 2006. This big chill, said Causey, shapes up worse. ``They were exposed to temperatures much colder, that went on longer, than what they were exposed to three decades ago,'' he said. Typical winter lows in-shore hover in the mid- to high-60s in the Keys. At its coldest more than a week ago, a Key Largo reef monitor recorded 52. At Munson Reef, just about a half-mile off the Newfound Harbor Keys near Big Pine Key, it hit 56. At Munson Reef, said Cory Walter, a biologist for Mote Marine Laboratory in Summerland Key, scientists saw losses similar to what was reported off Key Largo. Dead eels, dead hogfish, dead coral -- including big coral head five- to six-feet wide, bleached white with only fringes of decaying tissue. ``They were as big, as tall, as me. They were pretty much dead,'' said Walter, who coordinates Mote's Bleach Watch program, which monitors reefs. The dividing line for damage seems to be Hawk Channel, which parallels the Keys on the Atlantic Ocean side. East of the channel, at reefs such as Looe Key, one of the top tourist sites, there was only light paling on some coral, she said. In Hawk Channel itself, there were dead sponges and stressed corals but not many outright dead ones. SURVEYING DAMAGE West of the channel toward shore, damage was more serious. Walter estimated 75 percent coral loss at one patch reef, though with poor visibility, it was a limited survey. Some nurseries growing small staghorn and elkhorn corals for restoration programs also may have been hard hit. Over the next few weeks, scientists and divers from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, National Park Service, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Mote Marine Laboratory, the University of Miami, Nova Southeastern University and other organizations will try to get a more complete picture of damage with reef surveys as far north as Martin County and as far south as the Dry Tortugas. While they may not be able to save cold-damaged corals, Causey said, chronicling what dies and, more important ``We're going to know so much more about this event than any other event in history,'' he said. ? 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved. -- 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- From phil.pepe at pcmail.maricopa.edu Wed Jan 27 17:35:50 2010 From: phil.pepe at pcmail.maricopa.edu (Philip Pepe) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:35:50 +1000 Subject: [Coral-List] Tropical Marine Biology in Australia International Education Program Message-ID: <4B60BFC6.8060006@pcmail.maricopa.edu> Dear Coral Lister, Dr. Robin Cotter and I are announcing an exciting summer opportunity for marine enthusiasts: *Tropical Marine Biology in Australia*** *International Education Program*** *June 8-30, 2010* **Snorkel off Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Monitor the health of corals and survey invertebrates and fishes. Explore mangrove and eucalypt forests on Stradbroke Island observing Australian wildlife. Learn about Aboriginal natural arts from the Indigenous Community. For more information visit . Can you help us get the word out about this Phoenix College International Education Program? Thank you for your consideration! Regards, Phil Pepe From lee.higa at noaa.gov Wed Jan 27 21:58:00 2010 From: lee.higa at noaa.gov (Lee Higa) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:58:00 -1000 Subject: [Coral-List] Job Opportunity - Benthic Quantitative Ecologist Message-ID: <4B60FD38.1080207@noaa.gov> Hello, I would like to post the job posting below for a Benthic Quantitative Ecologist with the NOAA-NMFS-PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Division in Honolulu, Hawaii. Questions can be directed to me at Lee.Higa at noaa.gov. Thank you, Lee *JIMAR PIFSC QUANTITATIVE ECOLOGIST (BENTHIC) ? ID# 10003 *Joint Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Research. Regular, Full-Time, RCUH Non-Civil Service position with the School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology, Joint Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Research, located at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Continuation of employment is dependent upon program/operational needs, satisfactory work performance, & availability of funds. MINIMUM MONTHLY SALARY: $4,935/Mon. DUTIES: *DUTIES: *Works with the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division?s (CRED) multidisciplinary program to enhance the statistical and analytical capacity of the CRED to publish and present past and future results from ecological marine studies across the Pacific Islands region. Leads efforts to evaluate, coordinate, and improve project?s integrated assessment and long-term monitoring program such that statistically sound findings and strategic advice can be provided to marine resource managers. Designs, expands, implements, and improves sampling methodologies, survey protocols, and field experiments which facilitate statistically valid analyses of field observations and timely production of presentations, reports, and publications. Serves as the Lead for the Benthic Team providing guidance and supervision to the overall team and develops, establishes, and monitors work plans and team objectives and assists the CRED Chief with strategic scientific advice and identifying research priorities and direction. Evaluates, compiles, processes, integrates, summarizes, and analyzes interdisciplinary data from marine ecosystem research surveys into management-relevant products. Designs, develops, tests, implements and documents state-of-the-art statistical methods that are appropriate for interdisciplinary and multi-scale data analyses and integration. Conducts analyses involving multivariate statistics, spatial statistics, ecological modeling and simulation, spectral analysis, and other quantitative techniques relating to statistical power and change detection. Integrates research findings and summaries into project?s interdisciplinary context, and prepares and submits manuscripts for publication in technical reports and refereed scientific literature, as well as makes presentations to professional/scientific bodies and educational venues, both nationally and internationally. Prepares and delivers presentations as part of education and outreach efforts. Participates in research cruises. FOR REQUIREMENTS, TO APPLY, or more details please go to www.rcuh.com - click on ?Employment? then ?Job Announcements/Apply for a Job? & enter the ID #. CLOSING DATE: February 16, 2010. EEO/AA Employer From conservationmaven at gmail.com Thu Jan 28 03:22:30 2010 From: conservationmaven at gmail.com (Robert Goldstein) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:22:30 -0800 Subject: [Coral-List] New study finds fishing, ocean warming not synergistic on Kenyan coral reefs Message-ID: Hello, I thought folks here might be interested in a new study published in Conservation Letters finding that fishing and ocean warming did not act synergistically during a mass coral bleaching episode in Kenyan reefs. Here's a link to an article summarizing the study: http://www.conservationmaven.com/frontpage/2010/1/27/fishing-climate-change-not-double-trouble-for-corals.html Here's a link to the abstract: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123209323/abstract Cheers, Rob Goldstein From kleypas at ucar.edu Thu Jan 28 09:19:08 2010 From: kleypas at ucar.edu (Joanie Kleypas) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:19:08 -0700 Subject: [Coral-List] Research Program Announcement - NSF - Ocean Acidification In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4B619CDC.3030107@ucar.edu> Dear Coral-Listers: I hope you all take serious notice of Phil Taylor's announcement earlier of the new NSF solicitation for proposals that address Ocean Acidification. This is a great opportunity for coral reef researchers to really tackle this big problem for reefs, so I hope a lot of you take this seriously and submit proposals in April. The total funding available will be $12-15M, and there are three categories of proposals: (1), full research projects, may be a maximum of four years duration and $2,000,000. (2), exploratory awards, will follow the guidelines and review criteria of EAGER proposals (3), community and capacity building projects, may request a maximum of $100,000. Good luck out there! Joanie Taylor, Phillip R. wrote: > The U.S. National Science Foundation announces opportunities for > research and community building in the theme of > > OCEAN ACIDIFICATION. Please see the full announcement at the > following website. > > > > http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10530/nsf10530.htm > > > > > > Letters of Intent due: 29 March 2010 > > Full proposals due: 26 April 2010 > > > > > > > > Synopsis of Program: > > > > Since the publication of The Royal Society's report Ocean Acidification > Due to Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (June 2005, > www.royalsoc.ac.uk), there has been growing concern for the potential > adverse impacts of a slowly acidifying sea upon marine ecosystems. In > recognition of the need for basic research concerning the nature, extent > and impact of ocean acidification on oceanic environments in the past, > present and future, this announcement has the following broad goals: > > > > > > To understand the chemistry and physical chemistry of ocean > acidification and, in particular, its interplay with fundamental > biochemical and physiological processes of organisms; > > > > To understand how ocean acidification interacts with processes > at the organismal level, and how such interactions impact the structure > and function of ecosystems, e.g. through life histories, food webs, > biogeochemical cycling, and other interactions; > > > > To understand how the earth system history informs our > understanding of the effects of ocean acidification on the present day > and future ocean. > > > > New research frontiers require the development of interdisciplinary > partnerships and capacity building within the scientific community. > Accordingly, full research proposals, exploratory proposals, and > community development efforts such as workshops and symposia all are > encouraged. Proposals must clearly demonstrate links between the > research outcome and the emphasis areas described within the > solicitation. Preference will be given to proposals that create new > partnerships across traditional disciplines (including molecular and > cellular biology, physiology, marine chemistry and physics, ecological > sciences, paleoecology, and earth system history) and use diverse > approaches (observational systems, experimental studies, theory and > modeling) to examine cutting edge research questions related to ocean > acidification. > > > > > > Phil Taylor > > > > *********************************** > > Phillip R. Taylor > > Head, Ocean Section (Biological, Chemical and Physical Oceanography) > > Division of Ocean Sciences > > National Science Foundation > > 4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite 725 > > Arlington, Virginia, USA 22230 > > 703-292-8580, fax: 703-292-9085 > > prtaylor at nsf.gov > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > -- ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Joanie Kleypas Integrated Science Program / Climate & Global Dynamics National Center for Atmospheric Research PO Box 3000 Boulder, CO 80307-3000 ph: 303-497-8111 fx: 303-497-8125 kleypas at ucar.edu ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ From sfrias_torres at hotmail.com Thu Jan 28 11:27:28 2010 From: sfrias_torres at hotmail.com (Sarah Frias-Torres) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:27:28 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] BIODIVERSITY EXTINCTION In-Reply-To: <4B60BFC6.8060006@pcmail.maricopa.edu> References: <4B60BFC6.8060006@pcmail.maricopa.edu> Message-ID: Dear Coral Listers,as we follow the Chagos messages and the many problems associated to the designation and monitoring of any marine protected area, here is a reminder we might have overlooked. At the 1992 Rio Summit, a series of objectives were agreed upon by many nations in order to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2010. It's been 18 years since then, and the 2010 Biodiversity Target has failed.We continue to destroy marine and terrestrial ecosystems at an unprecedented rate, resulting in continuing biodiversity extinction. In previous posts we shared the difficulty of urging people and governments to react to global climate change. Look where we are after Copenhagen. Now, if you think that was difficult, imagine making the loss of biodiversity visible to everyone, so we are all aware of the catastrophic consequences, and take the necessary conservation and management measures. There are more than 3,000 coral listers. Imagine all the accumulated brain power there. Can we possibly come up with ideas that work? In a world of twitter, you tube, cell phones, and international TV networks we can reach out farther than never before. If anyone is reading this message, let's come up with a list of things we can all do. After all, 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D. http://independent.academia.edu/SarahFriasTorres From Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov Thu Jan 28 15:06:40 2010 From: Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov (Alan Strong) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:06:40 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] cold water coral kill In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4B61EE50.9040602@noaa.gov> I can only wonder how much the corals of the entire region might ultimately show an increased tolerance to bleaching & especially disease in the coming years because of these colder temperatures. We know extremely cold temperatures in the GBR back in 2004 [Heron Island] saw a rapid bounce back following the low SSTs....what about recovery in the Gulf of California from cold water bleaching a couple years ago??? Cheers, Al Hoegh-Guldburg, O., M. Fine, W. Skirving, R. Johnstone, S. Dove and A.. Strong (2005). Coral bleaching following wintry weather. Limnology and Oceanography 50(1): 265-271. On 1/27/2010 3:55 PM, Eugene Shinn wrote: > Coral listers, Here is the article from todays > Miami Herald concerning the recent cold water > episode. Reminds me of the 1969/70 winter chill > that killed about 80 percent of the Montastrea at > Hens and Chicken reef and the 1977 (snow in > Miami) cold water event that killed Acropora at > Dry Tortugas. It demonstrates why Acropora never > proliferated in some of the Acropora "critical > habitat" areas. Gene > > Coral in Florida Keys suffers lethal hit from cold > > BY CURTIS MORGAN > > Miami Herald, Posted on Wed, Jan. 27, 2010 > > Bitter cold this month may have wiped out many of > the shallow water corals in the Keys. > > Scientists have only begun assessments, with dive > teams looking for ``bleaching'' that is a > telltale indicator of temperature stress in > sensitive corals, but initial reports are bleak. > The impact could extend from Key Largo through > the Dry Tortugas west of Key West, a vast expanse > that covers some of the prettiest and healthiest > reefs in North America. > > Given the depth and duration of frigid weather, > Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator for > The Nature Conservancy, expected to see losses. > But she was stunned by what she saw when diving a > patch reef 2 1Z(2 miles off Harry Harris Park in > Key Largo. > > Star and brain corals, large species that can > take hundreds of years to grow, were as white and > lifeless as bones, frozen to death. There were > also dead sea turtles, eels and parrotfish > littering the bottom. > ``Corals didn't even have a chance to bleach. > They just went straight to dead,'' said Johnson, > who joined teams of divers last week surveying > reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine > Sanctuary. ``It's really ecosystem-wide > mortality.'' > > The record chill that gripped South Florida for > two weeks has taken a heavy toll on wildlife -- > particularly marine life. > > On Tuesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife > Conservation Commission reported that record > numbers of endangered manatees had already > succumbed to the cold this year -- 77, according > to a preliminary review. The previous record, 56, > was set last year. Massive fish kills also have > been reported across the state. Carcasses of > snook and tarpon are still floating up from a > large fish kill across Florida Bay and the > shallow waters of Everglades National Park. > > Many of the Florida Keys' signature diving > destinations such as Carysfort, Molasses and > Sombrero reefs -- as well as deeper reefs off > Miami-Dade and Broward -- are believed to have > escaped heavy losses, thanks to warming effects > of the Gulf Stream. But shallower reefs took a > serious, perhaps unprecedented hit, said Billy > Causey, Southeast regional director of national > marine sanctuaries for the National Oceanic and > Atmospheric Administration. > > PAST PROBLEMS > > Coral-bleaching has struck the Keys in the past, > most recently twice in the 1990s, preceding a > die-off that claimed 30 percent of the reef > tract. But those events, along with others that > have hit reefs around the world, have usually > been triggered by water hotter than what corals > typically tolerate. > > Healthy corals depend on a symbiotic relationship > between polyps, the living tissues that slowly > build the hard outer skeletons that give species > distinctive shapes, and algae called > zooxanthellae that give them their vibrant > colors. But when ocean temperatures veer from > their comfort zone too much or too long, the > coral begin to shed that algae, turning dull or a > bleached bone-white. > > The effect usually doesn't immediately kill coral > but can weaken it, slowing growth and leaving > fragile reefs -- home to millions of fish, crabs > and other animals -- more vulnerable to diseases, > pollution and damage from boaters and divers. > > Cold-water bleaching is unusual, last occurring > in 1977, the year it snowed in Miami. It killed > hundreds of acres of staghorn and elkhorn corals > across the Keys. Neither species has recovered, > both becoming the first corals to be federally > listed as threatened in 2006. > > This big chill, said Causey, shapes up worse. > > ``They were exposed to temperatures much colder, > that went on longer, than what they were exposed > to three decades ago,'' he said. > > Typical winter lows in-shore hover in the mid- to high-60s in the Keys. > > At its coldest more than a week ago, a Key Largo > reef monitor recorded 52. At Munson Reef, just > about a half-mile off the Newfound Harbor Keys > near Big Pine Key, it hit 56. > > At Munson Reef, said Cory Walter, a biologist for > Mote Marine Laboratory in Summerland Key, > scientists saw losses similar to what was > reported off Key Largo. Dead eels, dead hogfish, > dead coral -- including big coral head five- to > six-feet wide, bleached white with only fringes > of decaying tissue. > > ``They were as big, as tall, as me. They were > pretty much dead,'' said Walter, who coordinates > Mote's Bleach Watch program, which monitors reefs. > > The dividing line for damage seems to be Hawk > Channel, which parallels the Keys on the Atlantic > Ocean side. > > East of the channel, at reefs such as Looe Key, > one of the top tourist sites, there was only > light paling on some coral, she said. In Hawk > Channel itself, there were dead sponges and > stressed corals but not many outright dead ones. > > SURVEYING DAMAGE > > West of the channel toward shore, damage was more > serious. Walter estimated 75 percent coral loss > at one patch reef, though with poor visibility, > it was a limited survey. Some nurseries growing > small staghorn and elkhorn corals for restoration > programs also may have been hard hit. > > Over the next few weeks, scientists and divers > from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, > National Park Service, Florida Fish& Wildlife > Conservation Commission, Mote Marine Laboratory, > the University of Miami, Nova Southeastern > University and other organizations will try to > get a more complete picture of damage with reef > surveys as far north as Martin County and as far > south as the Dry Tortugas. > > While they may not be able to save cold-damaged > corals, Causey said, chronicling what dies and, > more important > ``We're going to know so much more about this > event than any other event in history,'' he said. > > ? 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved. > > > -- ****<>< *******<>< *******<>< *******<>< ******* Alan E. Strong, Ph.D. NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Senior Consultant ...with AJH Environmental Services... National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Coral Reef Watch Program e-mail: Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov URL: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov E/RA31, SSMC1, Room 5305 1335 East West Hwy Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226 301-713-2857 x108 Fax: 301-713-3136 Cell: 410-490-6602 From wnuckols at erols.com Thu Jan 28 18:51:25 2010 From: wnuckols at erols.com (Will Nuckols) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:51:25 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] cold water coral kill In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00e301caa074$cd9d5090$68d7f1b0$@com> Anyone associating the cold with increased climate variability as a part of climate change, or are people just calling this a weather (as opposed to climate) phenomenon? Will Nuckols -----Original Message----- From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Eugene Shinn Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 3:56 PM To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov Subject: [Coral-List] cold water coral kill Coral listers, Here is the article from todays Miami Herald concerning the recent cold water episode. Reminds me of the 1969/70 winter chill that killed about 80 percent of the Montastrea at Hens and Chicken reef and the 1977 (snow in Miami) cold water event that killed Acropora at Dry Tortugas. It demonstrates why Acropora never proliferated in some of the Acropora "critical habitat" areas. Gene Coral in Florida Keys suffers lethal hit from cold BY CURTIS MORGAN Miami Herald, Posted on Wed, Jan. 27, 2010 Bitter cold this month may have wiped out many of the shallow water corals in the Keys. Scientists have only begun assessments, with dive teams looking for ``bleaching'' that is a telltale indicator of temperature stress in sensitive corals, but initial reports are bleak. The impact could extend from Key Largo through the Dry Tortugas west of Key West, a vast expanse that covers some of the prettiest and healthiest reefs in North America. Given the depth and duration of frigid weather, Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator for The Nature Conservancy, expected to see losses. But she was stunned by what she saw when diving a patch reef 2 1?2 miles off Harry Harris Park in Key Largo. Star and brain corals, large species that can take hundreds of years to grow, were as white and lifeless as bones, frozen to death. There were also dead sea turtles, eels and parrotfish littering the bottom. ``Corals didn't even have a chance to bleach. They just went straight to dead,'' said Johnson, who joined teams of divers last week surveying reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. ``It's really ecosystem-wide mortality.'' The record chill that gripped South Florida for two weeks has taken a heavy toll on wildlife -- particularly marine life. On Tuesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that record numbers of endangered manatees had already succumbed to the cold this year -- 77, according to a preliminary review. The previous record, 56, was set last year. Massive fish kills also have been reported across the state. Carcasses of snook and tarpon are still floating up from a large fish kill across Florida Bay and the shallow waters of Everglades National Park. Many of the Florida Keys' signature diving destinations such as Carysfort, Molasses and Sombrero reefs -- as well as deeper reefs off Miami-Dade and Broward -- are believed to have escaped heavy losses, thanks to warming effects of the Gulf Stream. But shallower reefs took a serious, perhaps unprecedented hit, said Billy Causey, Southeast regional director of national marine sanctuaries for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. PAST PROBLEMS Coral-bleaching has struck the Keys in the past, most recently twice in the 1990s, preceding a die-off that claimed 30 percent of the reef tract. But those events, along with others that have hit reefs around the world, have usually been triggered by water hotter than what corals typically tolerate. Healthy corals depend on a symbiotic relationship between polyps, the living tissues that slowly build the hard outer skeletons that give species distinctive shapes, and algae called zooxanthellae that give them their vibrant colors. But when ocean temperatures veer from their comfort zone too much or too long, the coral begin to shed that algae, turning dull or a bleached bone-white. The effect usually doesn't immediately kill coral but can weaken it, slowing growth and leaving fragile reefs -- home to millions of fish, crabs and other animals -- more vulnerable to diseases, pollution and damage from boaters and divers. Cold-water bleaching is unusual, last occurring in 1977, the year it snowed in Miami. It killed hundreds of acres of staghorn and elkhorn corals across the Keys. Neither species has recovered, both becoming the first corals to be federally listed as threatened in 2006. This big chill, said Causey, shapes up worse. ``They were exposed to temperatures much colder, that went on longer, than what they were exposed to three decades ago,'' he said. Typical winter lows in-shore hover in the mid- to high-60s in the Keys. At its coldest more than a week ago, a Key Largo reef monitor recorded 52. At Munson Reef, just about a half-mile off the Newfound Harbor Keys near Big Pine Key, it hit 56. At Munson Reef, said Cory Walter, a biologist for Mote Marine Laboratory in Summerland Key, scientists saw losses similar to what was reported off Key Largo. Dead eels, dead hogfish, dead coral -- including big coral head five- to six-feet wide, bleached white with only fringes of decaying tissue. ``They were as big, as tall, as me. They were pretty much dead,'' said Walter, who coordinates Mote's Bleach Watch program, which monitors reefs. The dividing line for damage seems to be Hawk Channel, which parallels the Keys on the Atlantic Ocean side. East of the channel, at reefs such as Looe Key, one of the top tourist sites, there was only light paling on some coral, she said. In Hawk Channel itself, there were dead sponges and stressed corals but not many outright dead ones. SURVEYING DAMAGE West of the channel toward shore, damage was more serious. Walter estimated 75 percent coral loss at one patch reef, though with poor visibility, it was a limited survey. Some nurseries growing small staghorn and elkhorn corals for restoration programs also may have been hard hit. Over the next few weeks, scientists and divers from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, National Park Service, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Mote Marine Laboratory, the University of Miami, Nova Southeastern University and other organizations will try to get a more complete picture of damage with reef surveys as far north as Martin County and as far south as the Dry Tortugas. While they may not be able to save cold-damaged corals, Causey said, chronicling what dies and, more important ``We're going to know so much more about this event than any other event in history,'' he said. C 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved. -- 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 Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- ----------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Coral-List mailing list Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From ells at uwaterloo.ca Thu Jan 28 09:34:30 2010 From: ells at uwaterloo.ca (Ellsworth LeDrew) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:34:30 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Request for Assistance on Research on Coral Reef Management Message-ID: <67EF16F4-39B5-49A1-AAF3-D7DBE135968D@connect.uwaterloo.ca> Greetings: Last spring I sent out a request by way of this list-serve for assistance in research into coral reef management using remote sensing being carried out by the "Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management Program" The Remote Sensing Working Group of that program, directed by Dr. Peter Mumby is interested in the development of management practices incorporating remote sensing information. Unfortunately, the response from the entire coral reef community on this list was ZERO! We had a short on-line survey and we did not record any entries; and we did check several times that the software was working! If you have any experience in management of coral reef communities, we are hoping that the New Year will bring to you a renewed sense of participation which will provide some quantitative basis for our study. The survey is attached to this email in its entirety so you will see that it is not onerous. But please do NOT use this as the links are not live! The live-linked survey is found at where the buttons and free-form text entry boxes will record your information. The Remote Sensing Working Group thanks you in advance for your input. If you have any questions or problems, please email me directly at the address noted below (remove the spaces to make a valid address). I will get back to you with an answer. Regards Ells Dr Ellsworth LeDrew, F.IEEE, F.CASI, University Professor, University Research Chair, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3G1 Phone: 519 888 4567 X32783 FAX: 519 746 0658 ells @ connect . uwaterloo . ca Coral Reef and Remote Sensing Management Survey >From the CRTR Remote Sensing Working Group The 'Remote Sensing Working Group' (RSWG) of the Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management Program wishes to assess any change in approaches to management of Coral Reefs that may have occurred over the past decade as a result of incorporation of remotely sensed information. This builds upon the survey completed in 1996 by Peter Mumby and colleagues as well as more recent surveys by Karen Joyce, Chrisopher Roelfsema and Stuart Phinn of The University of Queensland. The results of this survey will provide a similar benchmark for future surveys of coral reef management. This will also help direct the scope and focus of the work of the participants of the RSWG over the next few years. The following short questionnaire is web based and designed to be answered with clickable radio buttons, entry of short phrases into a data base, or selecting items in a pull-down menu. Any reporting will be based upon aggregation of data by region so that individuals will not be identified. Submission of a name is optional and would only be used for follow up if appropriate. We hope that you will take a few minutes to provide us with information based upon your experience. This information will assist in improving the research and application of remote sensing for coral reef management. Note: We plan to compile the results approximately four weeks from the time of distribution of this questionnaire. All responses are saved in our database after you click on 'Submit' at the end. Section 1 - General Background 1. What is the name of the coral reef area under your agency?s management? 2. What is the approximate size of the coral reef area under your management? East-West Dimension (km) North-South Dimension (km) OR Area (km?) 3. Within which countries are these reef areas located? 4. What is the agency or authority that you represent? 5. What type of agency is this? 1. a. NGO 2. b. Research 3. c. Government Federal 4. d. Government Local 5. e. Government Other 6. f. Other If other, please specify 6. Are other agencies or authorities in partnership with you for management? Yes No a. If yes, how many? b. What type(s) of agencies are these? (Please check all that apply) 1. a. NGO 2. b. Research 3. c. Government Federal 4. d. Government Local 5. e. Government Other 6. f. Other If other, please specify 7. What are your responsibilities within your position? Locating Marine Reserves Fisheries Management Water Quality Monitoring Coral Habitat Mapping Habitats Recreational Use Evaluating Permits for Coastal Development Conservation of Key Species (i.e. turtles, manatees, nesting birds) Enforcement Other If other, please specify 8. May we cite you as contributing information towards publications resulting from this survey? Yes No If yes then please answer question 10. 9. Do you wish to receive results from this study Yes No If yes then please answer question 10. 10. If you answered yes to questions 8 or 9, please provide your name and address: Name: Email: Address Line 1: Address Line 2: Section 2 - Remote Sensing for Marine Management 11. Who has performed any remote sensing work in your area during the past decade? University Scientists Private Consultant Foreign Scientists/Consultants Other Nobody If other, please specify For the following management categories, check under the appropriate column to best identify your involvement in each issue. I do this I am familiar with this but do not do it myself I am not familiar with this activity My agency is not involved in this activity 11. Locating Marine Reserves 12. Fisheries Management 13. Water Quality 14. Monitoring Coral Habitat 15. Mapping Habitats 16. Recreational Use 17. Evaluating Permits for Coastal Development 18. Conservation of Key Species (i.e. turtles, manatees, nesting birds) 19. Enforcement If you perform, or are familiar with, any activities in numbers 11 to 21, please answer the matching questions below. Note: Buttons are greyed out if a response is not required. I do this or am familiar with this activity and the importance of Remote Sensing is (1 = not important; 5 = critical) 1 2 3 4 5 20. Locating Marine Reserves 21. Fisheries Management 22. Water Quality 23. Monitoring Coral Habitat 24. Mapping Habitats 25. Recreational Use 26. Evaluating Permits for Coastal Development 27. Conservation of Key Species (i.e. turtles, manatees, nesting birds) 28. Enforcement I do this or am familiar with this activity Remote Sensing products are used Remote Sensing products are not used but we would like to use them Remote Sensing products are not used 29. Locating Marine Reserves 30. Fisheries Management 31. Water Quality 32. Monitoring Coral Habitat 33. Mapping Habitats 34. Recreational Use 35. Evaluating Permits for Coastal Development 36. Conservation of Key Species (i.e. turtles, manatees, nesting birds) 37. Enforcement I do this or am familiar with this activity and the major reason for not using Remote Sensing products is: Lack of knowledge Lack of training Lack of physical resources Lack of funding Lack of access to imagery 38. Locating Marine Reserves 39. Fisheries Management 40. Water Quality 41. Monitoring Coral Habitat 42. Mapping Habitats 43. Recreational Use 44. Evaluating Permits for Coastal Development 45. Conservation of Key Species (i.e. turtles, manatees, nesting birds) 46. Enforcement 47. Which sensors have been used in areas under your jurisdiction? Airborne Spectrometer (e.g. CASI) AVHRR Colour Aerial Photography DMSP Formosat Geostationary Satellites Ikonos IRS Landsat MSS Landsat TM Lidar MODIS/SeaWiFS Monochrome Aerial Photography OrbView Quickbird QuickSCAT RADARSAT RapidEye SPOT Panchromatic SPOT XS Terra WorldView Other None If other, please specify 48. If Remote Sensing was used for mapping, what was the purpose? To provide information on the distribution of marine and wetland biotic resources To update or improve accuracy of maps Other None If other, please specify 49. How have you used remote sensing for marine resource management? Please ensure that your answers describe ACTUAL rather than potential uses. (The following are suggestions; please feel free to add more and elaborate.) As general background to a management plan Assessment of habitat representativeness (e.g. Have management plans attempted to protect examples of particular habitats, thus requiring information on the type and locations of habitats present. If so, which habitats are considered? Please answer below in the details box.) Delineation of boundaries to management zones and/or location of moorings Stock assessment tool (if the abundance of species is related to habitat type) Selection of sites that may be regarded as fragile (e.g. Shallow reefs, shallow seagrass) Selection of sites for other conservation criteria such as rarity, biodiversity, size etc. Location of fishing banks, spawning areas or nusery grounds Scientific use in planning monitoring studies Educational or interpretative material Detection of changes in habitat cover (e.g. mangrove clearance, beach erosion etc.) Location of suitable trawl fishing zones and shipping lanes Planning geological surveys (e.g. for oil exploration) Planning recreational usage on account of topography etc. (e.g. good dive sites) None Details: 50. Which (if any) of the following do you consider to be the main hindrances to the practical use of Remote Sensing? Cost Ground resolution (pixel size) too coarse Wave bands of the sensor inappropriate Satellite data collected too infrequently for a given area Satellite data not collected for your area of interest Cloud cover Training of staff Inadequate time available Access to facilities Difficulty in obtaining ground-truthing data No need for data from Remote Sensing Other None If other, please specify Details: Most significant limitation: 51. Do you consider Remote Sensing to be cost-effective as a means of providing information on coastal resources? Yes No Why or why not? 52. When were you first aware of the potential for remote sensing data for coral reef management? Before 1990 1991 to 1995 1996 to 2000 2001 to 2005 2006 to Present 53. When did you first start to use remote sensing data for coral reef management? Before 1990 1991 to 1995 1996 to 2000 2001 to 2005 2006 to Present You are almost there! Section 3 - Your Assessment of Remote Sensing for Marine Management This is the last set of questions, and many thanks for your participation in the survey. 54. The following methods are an important part of coral reef management in this area: a. Remote Sensing on its own Yes No b. Products derived from Remote Sensing Yes No c. Remote Sensing as a component with GIS Yes No d. Remote Sensing combined with field surveys Yes No e. Remote Sensing with computer modelling Yes No 55. You believe that you or your organization are well informed about the range of Remote Sensing resources available. Yes No 56. You believe that you or your organization could utilise a broader range of Remote Sensing resources if: a. More funding was available Yes No b. More staff time was available Yes No c. More technical support was available Yes No d. More training workshops were available Yes No Please use the following fill-in box to provide any comments or additional information that you feel would be appropriate. We appreciate the time that you have spent on this. If you have provided your name and address, we will ensure that you receive a copy of our report. We hope that with this and previous questionnaires that we will be able to write a journal article on the evolution of the state of remote sensing for Coral Reef Management. We will also ensure that you receive a copy of this.. If, after submission of this file, you have any questions or information that you would like to add, please do not hesitate to contact the lead on this project who will make certain that it is considered in the evaluation. Sincerely On behalf of the CRT Remote Sensing Working Group, Dr. Ellsworth LeDrew F.IEEE, F. CASI University Professor Department of Geography and Environmental Management University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3G1 ells at uwaterloo.ca From georgios at icm.csic.es Thu Jan 28 14:43:20 2010 From: georgios at icm.csic.es (Georgios Tsounis) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:43:20 +0100 Subject: [Coral-List] Mediterranean Red Coral In-Reply-To: <775ED003-C652-412B-A168-3F45C55A8D3F@icm.csic.es> References: <4B5812FC.15147.96C750C@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn>, <4B5EB4F8.24370.4C345AA@karim.benmustrapha.instm.rnrt.tn> <775ED003-C652-412B-A168-3F45C55A8D3F@icm.csic.es> Message-ID: Dear all, since the question has been posted whether C. rubrum should be listed on CITES appendix II, I made some inquiries that I would like to share in order to be more specific than in my last email. To to reiterate, my point was that if a local management plan is flawed, a CITES listing may not result in an improvement of management. However, maybe I did not give CITES enough credit, since in fact Article IX of the Convention specifies that Parties may designate any scientific authority they wish, or even several. These should be separate and independent from the managing government department, so by design a CITES listing may be able to enforce scientific recommendations where e.g. fishery departments ignore them. Nevertheless, it seems that lines between scientific management authorities and management authorities are often blurred, i.e., some countries appoint their fisheries research department as scientific authorities. It is therefore possible that a CITES Appendix II listing might indeed force the implementation of scientific recommendations, but this would depend on the choice of management authority (they are listed on the web). Of course, this conservation benefit would be bought at the expense of the industry suffering bureaucratic burdens as a result of the fishery managers failing to implement scientific recommendations since 1986. If there is one point I am trying to make, it is that this matter is more complex than it seems. To be honest, I find it difficult to estimate how efficient a listing may be. Among factors such as identification etc., you have to consider that borders within the EU are not enforced anymore, so it is not straightforward to track the items manufactured in Italy and exported outside the EU from there. However, I guess the argument that an error on the conservative side will be preferable in the long term, is acceptable (i.e., preventive measures). The industry claims that a listing would have catastrophic effects pushing many companies out of business, but it seems that experiences in other cases do not confirm this extreme position. I trust that the CoP is able to judge this. But whatever they decide, let us not forget that local management urgently needs to progress, as CITES and local management are not an "either-or" situation. I`d love to hear if anyone knows of enlightening case studies. All the best, Georgios Dr. Georgios Tsounis Institut de Ci?ncies del Mar, CMIMA (CSIC) Passeig Mar?tim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona, Spain Phone: 34 932 309 611 Fax: 34 93 2 309 555 E-mail: georgios at icm.csic.es http://www.icm.csic.es On Jan 26, 2010, at 11:16 PM, Georgios Tsounis wrote: > Dear Kerim, > thanks for "putting the finger on the wound" by asking about the lack > of progress in management after 1983 and 1988 FAO expert consultation > meetings. > > Let me focus on just one specific example to illustrate where part of > the problem lies, at least according to my experience. When the C. > rubrum catches declined in the late 70s / early 80s, the FAO hosted > consultation meetings. The wealth of information accumulated back > then, as well as the recommendations given, are actually quite > impressive, as the experts did in fact come up with preventive > solutions. > > One of the participants was Richard Grigg who in 1976 published a > management program (Seagrant Tech Rep 77-03) for the black coral > Antipathes dichotoma (now re-described as Antipathes griggi). It is > now said to be Hawaii's best managed species. He applied the Beverton- > Holt maximum sustainable yield model to population data of black > coral, and derived the minimum size at which black coral may be > harvested. > > By the time the FAO hosted the second meeting in 1988, two spanish > scientists (Mariano Garcia-Rodriguez & Carlos Masso 1986, Bol Inst Esp > Oceanogr) applied the same model to the red coral populations north of > Barcelona (Spain). They calculated that maximum sustainable yield > (MSY) would be obtained if C. rubrum was harvested at an age of at > least 80 years. In reality corals are harvested at a much younger age > of about 11 years or less. The reason is that this corresponds to the > basal diameter to 7 mm, which was the smallest diameter the industry > was interested in. They proposed to increase the minimum size to at > least 8.6 mm. It has never happened. > > We applied the Beverton-Holt model to the same populations in 2003, > using more precise growth rate estimates, and found that coral reach > MSY at 98 years, pretty much confirming that the 1986 study was valid. > Our study was commissioned by the local fishery authorities, and we > made it very clear in our report that the minimum size should be > increased to at least what Garcia-Rodriguez & Masso proposed. This was > not implemented though, and red coral is harvested pretty much the > same way it was more than 20 years ago. It can still be legally > harvested in nearly all of the Mediterranean at 7 mm diameter because > this has been traditionally so, in contrast to scientific studies. > > The thing is that only a few of the active 16 divers dive to the > depths where larger coral can still be found (talking about Spain). In > contrast, the authorities in Sardinia (Italy) took the correct > measures and banned coral fishing in traditional SCUBA depths of down > to 80 m. They also increased the minimum size limit to 10 mm. This can > be done everywhere by gradually phasing out shallow water fishing as > senior divers retire. New participants can be required to use mixed > gas. > > But it is not easy to get the actual managers to do this, even though > these are not radical measures at all. The shallow water stocks are so > devastated by overfishing, that a Mediterranean wide application of > the Sardinian example should be considered. This will meet resistance > in some countries... The key lies in convincing all decision-makers, > and I feel this is what we have to start discussing, as CITES > unfortunately does not fulfil this function. > > CITES relies on the evaluation of these decision makers to allow > specimens to be exported. So if Corallidae was listed in CITES, any > managed fishery would issue the non-detriment finding required for > export, and we would continue to harvest coral as thin/young as 7 mm, > just as it was done for the last 30 years... Unless of course you > change local management regulations, but there has not been much talk > about how to achieve this. Unfortunately, the managers were not even > present at the workshops last year (except one). Again: these managers > will provide an NDF finding for the coral harvested by their > fisheries, which will lead to CITES export papers. > > By mentioning a lack of resources I did not refer to the means to > perform the studies, but to a strong management system that is able to > implement the recommendations from such studies. We have conducted the > type of studies you are planning to do at your coast, but even our > official government reports are not being implemented. The managers > have to represent a variety of interests and know they have a huge > problem on their hands. If however the GFCM provided binding or non- > binding guidelines, the decision-makers would be off the hook as they > would be obliged to implement these changes. In the end, it comes down > to the persons sitting there. In Hawaii there are dedicated scientists > and managers in contact with industry and fishermen, all with the will > to make it work. I am glad to hear about your plans, as your studies > are certainly necessary. > > By the way, the reason that FAO and IUCN concluded that the species do > not meet the decline criteria is not just to a lack of data. In fact > it is documented that shallow water populations contained a large > number of old/large colonies in the 1950s. These are all gone. If you > compare historical information with recent studies and anecdotal > observation, we can already speak of a collapse / catastrophic decline > of shallow water populations. This is the reason that the protection > of shallow water populations was agreed upon unisono at the workshop > in Naples, including industry representatives (but will any decision- > maker ever read our report ?). However, populations at depths deeper > than ca. 130 m are practically protected since 1994 (when dredging was > prohibited in the EU), so coral fishing does not affect the whole > population. This is actually an important factor when looking at the > criteria. But we will see what the parties decide in June. > > In the meantime, I am grateful for this conversation, and hope we can > identify ways to implement the management changes that the scientific > community recommends. We now have the knowledge to better manage these > species, it is a matter of implementation. Without such an > implementation, CITES will make no difference. I am not criticizing > CITES itself by the way, just pointing out what component is missing > to make it work effectively in the mentioned case, as I am afraid that > after a listing we might forget about this issue, thinking the problem > has been solved. > > The minimum size is just the most illustrative example, but there are > others, e.g., the fact that poaching is severe, and that no one > records the size of coral landed. Please excuse me for talking just > about management here, but the scientific data are already published. > Please let me know if anyone needs me to point towards the > publications containing all the information I mentioned. > > All the best, > Georgios > > > Dr. Georgios Tsounis > Institut de Ci?ncies del Mar, CMIMA (CSIC) > Passeig Mar?tim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 > 08003 Barcelona, Spain > > Phone: 34 932 309 611 > Fax: 34 93 2 309 555 > E-mail: georgios at icm.csic.es > http://www.icm.csic.es > > > On Jan 26, 2010, at 9:25 AM, Kerim Ben Mustapha wrote: > >> Dear all >> Thank you for keeping this issue on the agenda. >> >> As many of you pointed out, there is a lack of local management, and >> this "mis managment" could not be met only by national countries..We >> already know the result of such "initiatives" for the last decades; >> it's a regional issue, and neither FAO or GFCM are able to manage >> the issue. >> We certainly lack reliable statistical figures re. red coralll >> populatioon collapse, for that reasons some experts (even the fao >> panel of experts) do not agree on its listing in annexe 2 of the >> CITES, but what kind of improvment in national management of such >> fisheries can be done? Why it was not done before? do we really can >> rely on such improvment? why we do not succeed till today? How do >> you think a management model could be set up when its related to >> such living resources (exploitation de gisement)? So If the >> statitical figures are lacking and the scientific knowledge did not >> provide sufficient argumentation on the needed management procedure >> why we do not apply the precautionnary approach? Since the meeting >> in Torre del Greco in the late 80's we were spooking about a better >> management for Corallium rubrum population in the mediterranean; we >> are in 2010, and I do not see such improvment neither a clear >> national will. >> From a regional point of view even when the regional and >> international fishing structure's decisison are binding the states >> do not fullfill their obligation (see the BFTuna/ICCAT issue, or the >> BFT/ and the UN (UN agreement on straddling and highly migratory >> stocks , or the whaling issue etc....) so what about non binding >> decisions? >> >> The situation is what it is, and the prices are raising up each >> year....Im confident in a CITES listing (annexe2) , after all, it's >> a matter of improved control system by the scientific body as well >> as the management body of the involved countries; such listing will >> increase their control and will be a strong signal for the natioanl >> scientific and management bodies to act. We from the southern med >> did not lack resources, it's only a matter of will. >> By the way, we are going to start a mapping program of the >> coralligenous habitat (including C.rubrum gisement) this summer, >> with our new hightech SSS "C3D benthos" in the northern tunisian >> coasts. I think that it's really important to knew the geographical >> distribution, the density of the red coral population (may be the >> available bio mass... but did our knowledge will be sufficient to >> calculate such data knowing that differentiated biologica/ >> ecological strategies ocurs in deep and cosatal population, as well >> as in exploited and non exploited ones) and one objectif of this >> programm is to study the ecological pathway of the colonies in their >> habitats. >> >> Kerim Ben Mustapha >> INSTM >> Salammb? >> Tunisia >> >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------- >> On 25 Jan 2010 at 17:15, Georgios Tsounis wrote: >> >> Dear all, >> thanks for raising this question. Excellent replies have already >> been posted, and I especially agree with Prof. Santangelo who >> indicated that the ultimate question we should be asking is: what is >> necessary to effectively manage Corallium rubrum? >> As FAO consultation reports and recent literature demonstrate, >> current management of almost all Mediterranean coral fisheries >> cannot be described as adequate. In 2009 there were two more >> Corallium workshops that accumulated a wealth of recent information, >> and a FAO panel as well as an IUCN/TRAFFIC expert group provided >> recommendations to the CITES conference of Parties (see links below). >> For those of you who are interested in recent information that was >> gathered at these events, please have a look at the respective >> documents: >> http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/38195/icode/ >> http://coris.noaa.gov/activities/1st_intl_wkshop/ >> http://dsa.uniparthenope.it/rcsmt09/ >> http://intranet.iucn.org/webfiles/doc/SSC/CoP14/AnalysesEN/cites_prop_21.pdf >> When discussing whether Corallidae meet the criteria, we should keep >> in mind that FAO and IUCN/TRAFFIC provide advice to CITES CoP, and >> both came to the conclusion that the present data do not meet the >> criteria (see the links provided), -and the panels have been well >> aware of the information cited in the mentioned MEPS paper. >> As Kristian pointed out, local management is the basis for effective >> conservation, but CITES can complement it. Therefo >> karim.benmustapha at instm.rnrt.tn >> kbmtok at yahoo.com.au >> Marine ecologist and biologist >> Expert in sponges and seagrass mapping > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From RichardPDunne at aol.com Fri Jan 29 10:46:14 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:46:14 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation Message-ID: <4B6302C6.9000002@aol.com> Dear Listers This is an extract from the Mauritius Times published on Friday, 29 January 2010 written by Dr Sean Carey (Research Fellow at the Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (CRONEM) at Roehampton University, UK) The original posting is onhttp://mauritiustimes.com/index.php/the-news/111-sean-carey *//* It refers to an article published in the Times Newspaper (London) on 26 Jan 2010 to which Charles Sheppard drew our attention in his post that day (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6997414.ece) ************************************************** Frank Pope?s article in /The Times /last week,?Investment is essential for biological wonderland of the Chagos islands?,was written to highlight the pristine state of theBritish Indian Ocean Territory and why the area should be designated a Marine Protected Area (MPA). ?There is none of the fertiliser, pesticide, silt or construction debris that are choking reefs elsewhere,? he says before issuing a series of warnings about the various categories of people who, with the notable exception of ?scientists who go without sunscreen for fear of contaminating the water?, would mess up the area if allowed in. Put simply, the claim is that the current pristine quality of the Archipelago is all down to ?the lack of inhabitants?. Tourists are particularly problematic we are told: ?Conservationists warn that even small numbers of visitors would risk destroying the area?s value as a scientific reference point against which to gauge climate change.? Fishermen are also dangerous because according to one marine scientist ?the position of the islands and the prevailing currents helps to seed fish stocks and reefs elsewhere in the Indian Ocean?.** But then we come to Pope?s real target: the possible return of some of the exiled Chagos Islanders whose case is currently before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. ** Their return to their homeland would involve ?constructing an airport and town? which would be ?both financially and environmentally ruinous? to the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office although Pope conveniently omits to mention that Mauritius has stated that it will pick up the costs of resettlement and install suitable transport links (not necessarily an airport) once sovereignty of Chagos is regained from the UK. ** It is also revealing that Pope does not provide any details of the negative environmental effects of the population of around 3500 people (who may or may not use sunscreen) composed of US and British military personnel and their predominantly Filipino workforce on the base on Diego Garcia, the largest in southernmost island in the Chagos Archipelago. For the record, the base boasts the world's longest runway built on crushed coral -- after a total of 5 million cubic yards of 'coral fill' was blasted and dredged from the reef and the lagoon for construction purposes (or ?harvested?, as the US Navy puts it). Nor do we read anything about the significant number of people that sail through the area and armed with the appropriate ?100 a month permit issued by the BIOT authorities can moor on the outer islands of the Archipelago like Peros Banhos and Salomon where some of the Islanders once lived. In fact, Pope?s highly selective account well illustrates a general problem with a traditional and conservative approach to conservation that has a long but not very glorious history. Last year leading US investigative journalist, Mark Dowie, published /Conservation Refugees: The Hundred ?Year Conflict between Conservation and Native Peoples /(MIT Press) where he exposed some of the injustices that have often been at the heart of many apparently successful land conservation projects. At Yosemite in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, for example, there was a concerted and ultimately successful effort from the mid-19^th -century until 1914 when the area became a national park, to expel a small group of Miwak Native Americans who are thought to have settled in the valley some 4000 years ago. Similarly, nearly all of the other national parks in the USA, including Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainier, Yellowstone, and Zion, were created by expelling, sometimes violently, tribal peoples from their homes and hunting grounds so that the areas recovered could remain in a ?state of nature? free from human contamination. This process has been replicated in other parts of the world as well. Indeed, Dowie estimates that over the last 100 years at least 20 million people, 14 million in Africa alone, have been displaced from their traditional homelands in the name of nature conservation by consciously employing ?the Yosemite model? (which in Africa was renamed ?fortress conservation?) often with the tacit backing of NGOs like The Nature Conservancy, the World Wide Fund for Nature, and the African Wildlife Foundation. Exactly 40 years ago, a British social anthropologist, Mary Douglas, in a lecture delivered at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London pointed out that in assessing risks to environments caused by ?human folly, hate and greed? it was vitally important to achieve a moral consensus by carefully scrutinising the concepts and theories which powerful groups used to explain things to themselves (and others). But Douglas also issued a warning that relying on mainstream scientists who had absorbed not only the biases of their own professions but were also possessed by the emotional (and she might have said political) attachment to system-building was of little use for guidance in trying to resolve serious environmental problems. Insight was much more likely to come from those operating at the margins or where a number of disciplines intersected, she claimed. History has proved Douglas right. According to Mark Dowie and others, the old model of conservation which falsely opposed nature (good) and culture (bad) is being replaced with something much more dynamic, a new transnational conservation paradigm. A younger generation of scientists recognise that properly engaged indigenous and traditional peoples have a vital role to play in preserving fragile ecosystems. Which brings us neatly back to the Chagos Islanders. They may be relatively recent inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago (they first arrived in 1783) but no one can legitimately claim that they do not possess the status of an indigenous or traditional people just like those descendants of former African slaves and Indian indentured labourers who live on other Indian Ocean islands like Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues and the Seychelles. And the only reason the Chagossians no longer reside in their homeland, part of the colony of Mauritius until it was illegally excised in 1965, is because they were forcibly removed by the British authorities. While the evidence is clear that uncontrolled fishing can have catastrophic consequences the idea that a small settlement of Chagossians and a carefully controlled number of eco-tourists are going to destroy the pristine qualities of the proposed MPA in the Chagos Archipelago is nothing short of preposterous and flies in the face of evidence from other parts of the world like American Samoa, Australia, Chile, Indonesia and the Philippines where indigenous and traditional peoples are fully involved in the conservation and maintenance of marine reserves. Environmentalists like Pope may be able to line up a fair number of scientists and traditionally-minded conservation groups to back their argument, but the rest of us realise that the game has moved on. This is not just because of evolving social and political realities which have undermined a hierarchical view of the world based on the principle that conservationists always know best, but because the old opposition between nature conservation where humans were seen as ?the enemy? in the preservation of biological diversity has been rightly found wanting and is being slowly but surely being replaced by a much better model. */ **************************************** /* */ /* Richard Dunne From scubadivingdoc at yahoo.com Fri Jan 29 14:57:17 2010 From: scubadivingdoc at yahoo.com (R.D.) Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:57:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Coral-List] Biodiversity extinction Message-ID: <412224.94210.qm@web50906.mail.re2.yahoo.com> As a non-academic with field experience in coral conservation, coral disease, and marine park science and politics, I would like to comment on the recent Biodiversity extinction post, keeping in mind the "big picture". In the past few years several scientific biodiversity expeditions have reported in the lay press the discovery of thousands of new marine species from the Phillipines to Antartica to Australia to Tasmania to New Guinea and on and on. Such species have been scientifically collected, catalogued and classified. A Google search for "new marine species" yields a treasure trove of articles. On the other hand, an internet search for recently extinct marine species(especially credited to human influence) reveals sparse data. Therefore, when a scientist speaks about "stopping the loss of biodiversity" and "continued biodiversity extinction" it seems incongruous to the reported facts. Is there scientific data to confirm this loss? Which species have been lost and how many? When we talk about habitat destruction, anthropogenic global warming, and overfishing, is there scientific data to confirm a "loss of biodiversity"? Or is it an assumption that it has happened or will happen? It is my understanding that environmental stressors rarely destroy an entire species(except for mass extinction events). In fact it is often environmental changes that allow new mutations to take hold and encourages the development of new species. As an example, a 2007 scientific survey of the Celebes Sea turned up between 50 and 100 new species of fish and invertebrates in an area that has been isolated by rising sea levels. So my question is,"Is isolated habitat destruction on coral reefs really contributing to loss of biodiversity?" Is there scientific evidence? Or is the following analogy appropriate - If my entire neighborhood poisons all of the ant hills in our back yards, are we contributing to the loss of biodiversity? Will poison-resistant ants develop? Will different species of ants move in? Will the same species relocate from other areas? I hate to see human induced damage to coral reefs as much as anyone. But loss of coral cover does not equal extinction of species. And if you are going to try to convince the general public otherwise, you will need to show them what species we have lost and how they have helped cause that loss. Because as of now, for every marine species put on the endangered list, there are hundreds or thousands newly discovered. From mark at mdspalding.co.uk Fri Jan 29 12:24:24 2010 From: mark at mdspalding.co.uk (Mark Spalding) Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:24:24 -0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos (again!) Message-ID: <000601caa107$e6d3be80$0200a8c0@Englanmspalding> Perhaps I'm pushing people's tolerance, but I'm concerned that this subject has been oversimplified. Tim Ecott wrote "Unfortunately there is a good reason for the healthy status of Chagos reefs: lack of people. I for one would vote for pretty much anything that kept it that way" - fine, but what would he vote for? It really isn't a decision of being for or against, fish versus people. So here's a possible scenario: June 2010 - UK govt declares no-take MPA over all of Chagos. Gordon Brown's legacy (hooray) Sept 2010 - Chagossians granted right to return by European Court of Human Rights (hooray (different people shouting) Sept 2010, 2 weeks later - First Chagossians arrive back in Chagos (remember they were given this right once before, just 5 year or so ago, and are not there now only because they didn't move fast enough). Sure the UK government won't fund them, but there are plenty of rich people out there who do care about human rights and might even fancy getting access to some beautiful islands at the same time Oct 2010 - FCO repeal MPA (as they have said they would) Nov 2010 - horrified environmentalists learn of plans for an airstrip, a hotel, a live-fish export trade from northern Chagos. They try to step in, some through the courts (ha ha) others through diplomacy. They find the Chagossians don't trust them, I wonder why? Dec 2010 - FCO, far from being concerned, decide to cede the northern atolls of Chagos to Mauritius. They are far enough away from the military base for the US not to care. I'm not saying this will happen, or even anything like it, but the various elements are all possible. The all-out anti Chagossian, anti-Mauritian approach is, in my mind a very high risk strategy FOR BIODIVERSITY. It might pay off and then some can say "I told you so" but I will have to say that, right now, they don't have a clue, because no-one does. Alternatively design a strategy that builds a scenario for the POSSIBLE resettlement of Chagos, in the eventuality that it could happen. I am concerned that a poll, apparently with some 10,000 signatures, has over-simplified the matter. A lot. Mark Spalding Cambridge etc. mark at mdspalding.co.uk From RichardPDunne at aol.com Sun Jan 31 15:38:10 2010 From: RichardPDunne at aol.com (Richard Dunne) Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:38:10 +0000 Subject: [Coral-List] Proposed Marine Protected Area in the Chagos - The Plight of the Chagos Islanders Message-ID: <4B65EA32.3090002@aol.com> Dear Listers For those of you following the debate about the proposal for a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Archipelago (BIOT). There is a film (55 minutes long) by John Pilger, an Australian journalist. It was made in 2004 and describes what happened to the Chagos Islanders. It can be viewed on Google videos at the link below. It contains several interviews with Prof David Stoddart OBE, the founder of the International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS) whom many of you will know and who deprecates the treatment of the islanders by the British Government. STEALING A NATION (John Pilger, 2004) is an extraordinary film about the plight of people of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean - secretly and brutally expelled from their homeland by British governments in the late 1960s and early 1970s, to make way for an American military base. Stealing a Nation has won both the Royal Television Society's top award as Britain's best documentary in 2004-5, and a 'Chris Award' at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3667764379758632511# IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SIGNED THE PETITION IN SUPPORT OF THE MPA on the Chagos Environment Network website. WERE YOU AWARE OF THESE HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES? or did you get the impression from that website that it was simply the case of establishing a MPA in a remote uninhabited part of the world? Are you entitled to think again? Certainly if you feel that you did not know the full facts. If you wish to do this then simply sign the Marine Education Trust petition (http://www.marineeducationtrust.org/petition/protect-chagos) and send an e-mail to info at marineeducationtrust.org with any further details. Here are just a few of the signatories to that petition who support the idea of an MPA BUT ONLY with the participation and consultation with the Chagossians and the Mauritian Government. Coral Reef Scientists, former diplomats, politicians, lawyers, academics. If you want to see the full list then go to the website. Former President of the Republic of Mauritius - Cassam Uteem Former British High Commissioner to Maurtitius and Deputy Commissioner for BIOT - David Snoxall Emeritus Professor Barbara Brown - Newcastle University UK, co-founder and former Vice-President International Society of Reef Studies, former Editor in Chief ?Coral Reefs? 2005-8, Founder and Director of Centre for Tropical Coastal Management Newcastle University Dr Alasdair Edwards ? Newcastle University UK, former Director of Centre for Tropical Coastal Management, Chair of GEF/World Bank ?Reef Restoration and Remediation Working Group. Dr Tom Goreau - USA President Global Coral Reef Alliance Professor Chris Perry - Chair, Tropical Coastal Geosciences, Manchester University UK Dr Sue Wells - Coral reef conservation consultant, Cambridge UK Professor Andrew Balmford - Professor of Conservation Science, Cambridge University Dr Elizabeth Gladfelter - coral reef biologist USA Professor John Ogden ? Director, Florida Institute of Oceanography USA, former President International Society of Reef Studies (ISRS) Dr Mark Spalding - Global Conservation Specialist - Cambridge UK - co-author of the Chagos Conservation Plan 2003 Dr Tom Spencer - Geography University of Cambridge Professor David Simon - University of London Associate Professor Kenneth Cathan - Mauritius Professor John Eade - London David Evans - Marine Biologist Dr Judith Lang USA coral reef researcher Dr Emma Mawdsley - Geography Department Cambridge University Dr Ester Peters - USA coral reef scientist Dr Elizabeth Tyler - Tropical Ecology Group, Oxford University Dr Deborah Potts - Geography Kings College London Katherine Muzik - Marine Biologist Dr Lynn Dicks - Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, Cambridge University David Vine - Assistant Professor, American University Washington USA - author of 'Island of Shame: The Secret History of the US Military Base on Diego Garcia' Dr Carlos Ruiz Sebastian - marine biologist South Africa John Howell - Former Director of Overseas Development Unit Jack Everett - USA Saving Our Environment Campaign Andy Vivian ? BBC Producer - UK Dr Bill Burnett ? Head of Biology St Paul?s School, London - UK Dr Sean Pyne-O?Donnell - Norway Graham Pascoe ? Lecturer - Germany Dr Liz Andrew ? University of Manchester, Fellow Zoological Society London, UK Dr Tony Lemon - Dept of Geography Oxford University Erich Hoyt - research fellow Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society UK Abigail Moore - Marine Conservation volunteer Indonesia Ofer Ben-Tzvi - PhD candidate coral reef biology - Israel Dr Martin Little - Biologist UK Adel Heenan - PhD candidate University of Edinburgh Dr Basia Zaba - University of London Sabrina Meunier - Field Centre Manager Shoals Rodrigues, Mauritius Dr Martina Burtscher - University of the Highlands and Islands UK Dr Emmanuel Gregoire - Directeur de recherche IRD France Dr Sean Carey Research Fellow at the Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (CRONEM) at Roehampton University - UK Durkje Gilfillan - Attorney South Africa Jim McGowan - Cmdr RN (rtd) Barrister - Hong Kong ? former Legal Adviser to the Commander in Chief Fleet Hans A. De Savornin Lohman - Netherlands Attorney at Law Maite Mompo - Spain Lawyer Richard Dunne - Lt Cdr RN (rtd) BA (Cantab) Barrister UK, former Legal Adviser to the Commander in Chief Fleet 1988-91, editor The Manual of Naval Law (1991 ed) Rebecca Musarra ? Lawyer ? USA Amir Matar ? Research Associate, Public International Law and Policy Group, Washington - USA -- Richard P Dunne From allison.billiam at gmail.com Fri Jan 29 20:12:32 2010 From: allison.billiam at gmail.com (Bill Allison) Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:12:32 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Chagos Conservation In-Reply-To: <4B6302C6.9000002@aol.com> References: <4B6302C6.9000002@aol.com> Message-ID: <1eab821b1001291712g5d8ea608s8b477c380d51a4ec@mail.gmail.com> "...nearly all of the other national parks in the USA, including Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainier, Yellowstone, and Zion, were created by expelling, sometimes violently, tribal peoples from their homes and hunting grounds so that the areas recovered could remain in a ?state of nature? free from human contamination. " As another seaman put it: ?The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretense but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea--something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to. . . ." Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 10:46 AM, Richard Dunne wrote: > Dear Listers > > > This is an extract from the Mauritius Times published on Friday, 29 > January 2010 written by Dr Sean Carey (Research Fellow at the Centre for > Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (CRONEM) at > Roehampton University, UK) > > > The original posting is > onhttp://mauritiustimes.com/index.php/the-news/111-sean-carey > > *//* > > > It refers to an article published in the Times Newspaper (London) on 26 > Jan 2010 to which Charles Sheppard drew our attention in his post that > day (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6997414.ece) > > > ************************************************** > > Frank Pope?s article in /The Times /last week,?Investment is essential > for biological wonderland of the Chagos islands?,was written to > highlight the pristine state of theBritish Indian Ocean Territory and > why the area should be designated a Marine Protected Area (MPA). ?There > is none of the fertiliser, pesticide, silt or construction debris that > are choking reefs elsewhere,? he says before issuing a series of > warnings about the various categories of people who, with the notable > exception of ?scientists who go without sunscreen for fear of > contaminating the water?, would mess up the area if allowed in. Put > simply, the claim is that the current pristine quality of the > Archipelago is all down to ?the lack of inhabitants?. Tourists are > particularly problematic we are told: ?Conservationists warn that even > small numbers of visitors would risk destroying the area?s value as a > scientific reference point against which to gauge climate change.? > Fishermen are also dangerous because according to one marine scientist > ?the position of the islands and the prevailing currents helps to seed > fish stocks and reefs elsewhere in the Indian Ocean?.** > > But then we come to Pope?s real target: the possible return of some of > the exiled Chagos Islanders whose case is currently before the European > Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. > > > ** > > Their return to their homeland would involve ?constructing an airport > and town? which would be ?both financially and environmentally ruinous? > to the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office although Pope conveniently > omits to mention that Mauritius has stated that it will pick up the > costs of resettlement and install suitable transport links (not > necessarily an airport) once sovereignty of Chagos is regained from the UK. > > > ** > > It is also revealing that Pope does not provide any details of the > negative environmental effects of the population of around 3500 people > (who may or may not use sunscreen) composed of US and British military > personnel and their predominantly Filipino workforce on the base on > Diego Garcia, the largest in southernmost island in the Chagos > Archipelago. For the record, the base boasts the world's longest runway > built on crushed coral -- after a total of 5 million cubic yards of > 'coral fill' was blasted and dredged from the reef and the lagoon for > construction purposes (or ?harvested?, as the US Navy puts it). > > Nor do we read anything about the significant number of people that sail > through the area and armed with the appropriate ?100 a month permit > issued by the BIOT authorities can moor on the outer islands of the > Archipelago like Peros Banhos and Salomon where some of the Islanders > once lived. > > In fact, Pope?s highly selective account well illustrates a general > problem with a traditional and conservative approach to conservation > that has a long but not very glorious history. Last year leading US > investigative journalist, Mark Dowie, published /Conservation Refugees: > The Hundred ?Year Conflict between Conservation and Native Peoples /(MIT > Press) where he exposed some of the injustices that have often been at > the heart of many apparently successful land conservation projects. > > At Yosemite in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, for > example, there was a concerted and ultimately successful effort from the > mid-19^th -century until 1914 when the area became a national park, to > expel a small group of Miwak Native Americans who are thought to have > settled in the valley some 4000 years ago. > > Similarly, nearly all of the other national parks in the USA, including > Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainier, > Yellowstone, and Zion, were created by expelling, sometimes violently, > tribal peoples from their homes and hunting grounds so that the areas > recovered could remain in a ?state of nature? free from human > contamination. > > This process has been replicated in other parts of the world as well. > Indeed, Dowie estimates that over the last 100 years at least 20 million > people, 14 million in Africa alone, have been displaced from their > traditional homelands in the name of nature conservation by consciously > employing ?the Yosemite model? (which in Africa was renamed ?fortress > conservation?) often with the tacit backing of NGOs like The Nature > Conservancy, the World Wide Fund for Nature, and the African Wildlife > Foundation. > > Exactly 40 years ago, a British social anthropologist, Mary Douglas, in > a lecture delivered at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London > pointed out that in assessing risks to environments caused by ?human > folly, hate and greed? it was vitally important to achieve a moral > consensus by carefully scrutinising the concepts and theories which > powerful groups used to explain things to themselves (and others). > > But Douglas also issued a warning that relying on mainstream scientists > who had absorbed not only the biases of their own professions but were > also possessed by the emotional (and she might have said political) > attachment to system-building was of little use for guidance in trying > to resolve serious environmental problems. Insight was much more likely > to come from those operating at the margins or where a number of > disciplines intersected, she claimed. > > History has proved Douglas right. According to Mark Dowie and others, > the old model of conservation which falsely opposed nature (good) and > culture (bad) is being replaced with something much more dynamic, a new > transnational conservation paradigm. A younger generation of scientists > recognise that properly engaged indigenous and traditional peoples have > a vital role to play in preserving fragile ecosystems. > > Which brings us neatly back to the Chagos Islanders. They may be > relatively recent inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago (they first > arrived in 1783) but no one can legitimately claim that they do not > possess the status of an indigenous or traditional people just like > those descendants of former African slaves and Indian indentured > labourers who live on other Indian Ocean islands like Mauritius, > Reunion, Rodrigues and the Seychelles. And the only reason the > Chagossians no longer reside in their homeland, part of the colony of > Mauritius until it was illegally excised in 1965, is because they were > forcibly removed by the British authorities. > > While the evidence is clear that uncontrolled fishing can have > catastrophic consequences the idea that a small settlement of > Chagossians and a carefully controlled number of eco-tourists are going > to destroy the pristine qualities of the proposed MPA in the Chagos > Archipelago is nothing short of preposterous and flies in the face of > evidence from other parts of the world like American Samoa, Australia, > Chile, Indonesia and the Philippines where indigenous and traditional > peoples are fully involved in the conservation and maintenance of marine > reserves. > > Environmentalists like Pope may be able to line up a fair number of > scientists and traditionally-minded conservation groups to back their > argument, but the rest of us realise that the game has moved on. This is > not just because of evolving social and political realities which have > undermined a hierarchical view of the world based on the principle that > conservationists always know best, but because the old opposition > between nature conservation where humans were seen as ?the enemy? in the > preservation of biological diversity has been rightly found wanting and > is being slowly but surely being replaced by a much better model. > > */ > **************************************** /* > > */ > /* > > Richard Dunne > > > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list > From dfenner at blueskynet.as Sat Jan 30 04:55:04 2010 From: dfenner at blueskynet.as (Douglas Fenner) Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:55:04 -1100 Subject: [Coral-List] Biodiversity extinction References: <412224.94210.qm@web50906.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <77FFF474CFE5465199C69C7207958855@DOUGLASFENNER> Interesting thoughts. When people find new species, these are species that are new to us, but they were there all the time. They didn't just evolve in the last few weeks or years. They are species that people hadn't found, or hadn't recognized. Many are "cryptic" so they may be rare, physically hidden, very small, camouflaged, or just so similar to known species that nobody noticed the difference before. You are definately correct that new marine species are found vastly much faster than extinctions are discovered, but the new species are not ones that have just evolved recently in our lives, so they don't balance extinctions. There are vastly more species out there on reefs than we have cataloged. There are various ways of estimating total numbers of species, and they may produce different estimates, but they all agree that the total is vastly larger than the ones we have found and cataloged. The largest number of species known from any one reef system presently to my knowledge is New Caleldonia where about 8500 species are known. The names alone fill a book an inch thick, names only, no descriptions, photos, etc. But the estimates are that coral reefs around the world may have up to a half million species on them. So almost all of them are not yet known. Indeed, the question of whether there are fewer extinctions in the oceans than on land is one that has been debated. The oldest view is that the oceans are so large that it's resources including organisms, are undepleteable. That has clearly been demonstrated not to be the case (unfortunately). Demonstrating the extinction of a species is not easy. It is essentially the null hypothesis, proving something doesn't exist anywhere, so it is impossible to totally prove. So one view is that in the oceans, it is just nearly impossible to demonstrate that something no longer exists anywhere. I believe that in general a species isn't declared extinct until it has not been found for 50 years. By then it is a bit late to try to conserve them, so we have to do something while they are decreasing. I read recently that 107 species (none marine) have gone extinct in the U.S. while their cases were being reviewed for Endangered Species Status. That is an example of management failure, and comes from gross underfunding of the agencies responsable for researching the status of the species. The IUCN Red List has a standard set of criteria by which information on species can be evaluated, to estimate danger of future extinction. The criteria were put together by experts on extinction. A recent review of all the world's reef coral species found many to be threatened. One coral species has been claimed to have gone extinct, a fire coral on the Pacific coast of Panama, due to the 1983 El Nino mass bleaching event, which killed all 2000 or so colonies known to exist of that species. Eventually another smaller group of colonies was discovered, and then all 100 of them were killed in the 1998 El Nino bleaching event. Most recently, the species has been found in a coral collection from Indonesia, so presumably it is not extinct. Reviews of marine extinctions have in some cases documented a variety of apparent extinctions, but some are only local extinctions, and some are near-extinctions, with a very few individuals left known. But even with those added, the numbers are still small. Is that because the oceans are so big it is hard to extinguish a species? Or is it because the oceans are so big it is hard to find the information to show that species have gone extinct? Not an easy question to answer. Back to "biodiversity," there are lots of different measures of biodiversity, the total number of species in existance on the whole planet is just one measure. There are indices of biodiversity that can be applied locally, and they can decline even without a species being totally lost, just by the evenness of species being reduced. So if you go from 100 species all equally abundant, to 100 species where 99 are extremely rare, and one totally dominates the ecosystem, biodiversity has been reduced. That is likely to be the kind of reduction of biodiversity that happens in the earlier stages of the destruction of coral reefs, unless the agent of destruction is highly selective for some species. All destructive agents are likely to be at least partly selective, so for instance bleaching kills some species much more readily than others. Certainly it caused a local extinction of that firecoral in Pacific Panamal without causing the extinction of other corals. White band disease in the Caribbean is sufficiently specific to Acropora to cause massive losses of Acropora there which led to the Acropora species being listed as Endangered Species. Local extinctions can be a microcosm of global extinction. Local extinction of bumphead parrotfish on some islands in Fiji by spearfishing has been documented. Further, there are species on reefs that are endemic, that is, restricted to small areas. Those species can be particularly vulnerable to extinctions. An example might be several species of toadfish, a couple known only from Belize, one known only from Cozumel. Many reef species have wide dispersal, but a few don't. I get a chuckle when I read a paper that says that reef fish all have a larval dispersal phase. Sharks and rays certainly do not have a larval dispersal phase, nor do most toadfish, or the Bangaii Cardinal, or handfish (a type of angler that mostly lives in Tasmania, OK, not a reef area, but some species are endemic to a just one or two river mouths). The extinction of species on land is well documented, and as I understand it, the rates of extinction due to humans are on the same order of magnitude as that during the great extinction events of the geological record. Doug Douglas Fenner Dept Marine & Wildlife Resources American Samoa Carleton JT (1993) Neoextinctions of marine invertebrates. American Zoologist 33: 499-509. Carlton JT, Geller JB, Reaka-Kudla ML, Norse EA (1999) Historical extinctions in the sea. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 30: 515-538. Carpenter, K. E., Abrar M., Aeby G., Aronson R., Bruckner A., Delbeek C., DeVantier L., Edgar G., Edwards A., Fenner, D. and 29 others. 2008. One third of reef building corals face elevated extinction risk from climate change and local impacts. Science 321: 560-563. Culotta E (1994) Is marine biodiversity at risk? Science 263: 918-920. Dulvy, N. K., Polunin, N. V. C. 2004a. Using informal knowledge to infer human-induced rarity of a conspicuous reef fish. Animal Conservation 7: 365-374. Dulvy, N. K., Sadovy, Y., Reynolds, J. D. 2003. Extinction vulnerability in marine populations. Fish and Fisheries 4: 25-64. Fenner, D (2001) Mass bleaching threatens two corals with extinction. Reef Encounter 29: 9-10 Glynn, PW, Feingold JS (1992) Hydrocoral species not extinct. Science 257: 1845. Glynn PW, de Weerdt WH. (1991) Elimination of two reef-building hydrocorals following the 1982-83 El Nino warming event. Science 253: 69-71. Hawkins, J.P., Roberts, C.M. and V. Clark. 2000. The threatened status of restricted-range coral reef fish species. Animal Conservation 3: 81-88. Payri, C. E. and B. Richer de Forges (eds), Compendium of marine species from New Caledonia. Documents Scientifiques et Techniques II7, Institute de recherche pour le developpement, Noumea. Powles H, Bradford MJ, Bradford RG, Doubleday WG, Innes S, Levings CD (2000) Assessing and protecting endangered marine species. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57: 669-676. Purvis A, Gittleman JL, Cowlishaw G, Mace GM (2000) Predicting extinction risk in declining species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 267: 1947-1952. Razak, T.B. and B.W. Hoeksema. 2003. The hydrocoral genus Millepora (Hydrozoa: Capitata: Milleporidae) in Indonesia. Zool. Verh. Leiden 345: 313-336. Reaka-Kudla ML (1995) An estimate of known and unknown biodiversity and potential for extinction on coral reefs. Reef Encounter 17: 8-12. Roberts CM, Hawkins JP (1999) Extinction risk in the sea. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14: 241-246 Senior, K. 2004. Delays caused 107 species extinctions in the US. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2: 229. ----- Original Message ----- From: "R.D." To: Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 8:57 AM Subject: [Coral-List] Biodiversity extinction > As a non-academic with field experience in coral conservation, coral > disease, and marine park science and politics, I would like to comment on > the recent Biodiversity extinction post, keeping in mind the "big > picture". > > In the past few years several scientific biodiversity expeditions have > reported in the lay press the discovery of thousands of new marine species > from the Phillipines to Antartica to Australia to Tasmania to New Guinea > and on and on. Such species have been scientifically collected, catalogued > and classified. A Google search for "new marine species" yields a treasure > trove of articles. > On the other hand, an internet search for recently extinct marine > species(especially credited to human influence) reveals sparse data. > Therefore, when a scientist speaks about "stopping the loss of > biodiversity" and "continued biodiversity extinction" it seems incongruous > to the reported facts. Is there scientific data to confirm this loss? > Which species have been lost and how many? When we talk about habitat > destruction, anthropogenic global warming, and overfishing, is there > scientific data to confirm a "loss of biodiversity"? Or is it an > assumption that it has happened or will happen? > It is my understanding that environmental stressors rarely destroy an > entire species(except for mass extinction events). In fact it is often > environmental changes that allow new mutations to take hold and encourages > the development of new species. As an example, a 2007 scientific survey of > the Celebes Sea turned up between 50 and 100 new species of fish and > invertebrates in an area that has been isolated by rising sea levels. > So my question is,"Is isolated habitat destruction on coral reefs really > contributing to loss of biodiversity?" Is there scientific evidence? > Or is the following analogy appropriate - If my entire neighborhood > poisons all of the ant hills in our back yards, are we contributing to the > loss of biodiversity? Will poison-resistant ants develop? Will different > species of ants move in? Will the same species relocate from other areas? > I hate to see human induced damage to coral reefs as much as anyone. But > loss of coral cover does not equal extinction of species. > And if you are going to try to convince the general public otherwise, you > will need to show them what species we have lost and how they have helped > cause that loss. Because as of now, for every marine species put on the > endangered list, there are hundreds or thousands newly discovered. > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list From luciepenin at hotmail.com Sat Jan 30 12:00:48 2010 From: luciepenin at hotmail.com (luciepenin at hotmail.com) Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:00:48 -0800 Subject: [Coral-List] =?iso-8859-1?q?R=E9ponse_en_cas_d=27absence?= In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi, This is an automatic answer to your email. I'm on the field until February, 5th, with intermittent Internet access. I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Regards, Bonjour, Ceci est une r??ponse automatique ?? votre email. Je serai sur le terrain jusqu'au 05 f??vrier, avec un acc??s tr??s limit?? ?? l'inte rnet. Je vous recontacterai d??s que possible. Lucie.. From dave at fuzzo.com Fri Jan 29 19:05:32 2010 From: dave at fuzzo.com (David M. Lawrence) Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:05:32 -0500 Subject: [Coral-List] Biodiversity extinction In-Reply-To: <412224.94210.qm@web50906.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <412224.94210.qm@web50906.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <4B6377CC.3090100@fuzzo.com> You seem to have a fatal flaw in your logic: few species are documented to be lost (extinct); many [sic] species are reported as "newly discovered;" thus an apparent conclusion that the number of "newly discovered" species offsets the number lost. The problem is that the "newly discovered" species aren't really "new." They are just "newly documented" -- either they have never been collected (for whatever reason), or they have been collected previously but not recognized as a new species, or they have been identified as new species using technologies not available a couple of decades ago. Are there truly "new" species? The existence of a truly "new" species is improbable -- with the possible exception of microbial organisms that tend to thumb their nose at the classic notion of the biological species concept and that pass through numerous generations in a single year. For the most part, the "new" species being described probably existed as distinct biological entities for decades, centuries, or millennia prior to their recent description and recognition in the scientific literature. Are species truly going extinct? Of that, there is no doubt. Dave On 1/29/2010 2:57 PM, R.D. wrote: > As a non-academic with field experience in coral conservation, coral disease, and marine park science and politics, I would like to comment on the recent Biodiversity extinction post, keeping in mind the "big picture". > > In the past few years several scientific biodiversity expeditions have reported in the lay press the discovery of thousands of new marine species from the Phillipines to Antartica to Australia to Tasmania to New Guinea and on and on. Such species have been scientifically collected, catalogued and classified. A Google search for "new marine species" yields a treasure trove of articles. > On the other hand, an internet search for recently extinct marine species(especially credited to human influence) reveals sparse data. > Therefore, when a scientist speaks about "stopping the loss of biodiversity" and "continued biodiversity extinction" it seems incongruous to the reported facts. Is there scientific data to confirm this loss? Which species have been lost and how many? When we talk about habitat destruction, anthropogenic global warming, and overfishing, is there scientific data to confirm a "loss of biodiversity"? Or is it an assumption that it has happened or will happen? > It is my understanding that environmental stressors rarely destroy an entire species(except for mass extinction events). In fact it is often environmental changes that allow new mutations to take hold and encourages the development of new species. As an example, a 2007 scientific survey of the Celebes Sea turned up between 50 and 100 new species of fish and invertebrates in an area that has been isolated by rising sea levels. > So my question is,"Is isolated habitat destruction on coral reefs really contributing to loss of biodiversity?" Is there scientific evidence? > Or is the following analogy appropriate - If my entire neighborhood poisons all of the ant hills in our back yards, are we contributing to the loss of biodiversity? Will poison-resistant ants develop? Will different species of ants move in? Will the same species relocate from other areas? > I hate to see human induced damage to coral reefs as much as anyone. But loss of coral cover does not equal extinction of species. > And if you are going to try to convince the general public otherwise, you will need to show them what species we have lost and how they have helped cause that loss. Because as of now, for every marine species put on the endangered list, there are hundreds or thousands newly discovered. > _______________________________________________ > Coral-List mailing list > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list -- ------------------------------------------------------ David M. Lawrence | Home: (804) 559-9786 7471 Brook Way Court | Fax: (804) 559-9787 Mechanicsville, VA 23111 | Email: dave at fuzzo.com USA | http: http://fuzzo.com ------------------------------------------------------ "All drains lead to the ocean." -- Gill, Finding Nemo "We have met the enemy and he is us." -- Pogo "No trespassing 4/17 of a haiku" -- Richard Brautigan From jbruno at unc.edu Sun Jan 31 21:44:39 2010 From: jbruno at unc.edu (John Bruno) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 12:44:39 +1000 Subject: [Coral-List] Biodiversity extinction (R.D.) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <414EE67E-F8A5-4CFE-86C1-5B15D0729B05@unc.edu> Dear RD, I think these are good and fair questions. Absolute (global) species extinctions in the ocean have to date been quite rare (Dulvy 2003). This could change, but I think a few other points are more germane to your questions. First "biodiversity" is a broad (squishy) term that includes variation not just in species, but also in genes, genotypes, phenotypes, higher taxonomic levels, habitat types, ecosystems, etc (Stachowicz et al 2007). So, you can and do see losses in "biodiversity" without species extinctions taking place. Second, although global species extinctions are relatively rare in the ocean, local and functional extinctions are very common. Such local extinctions, and other aspects of biodiversity loss, related to coral mortality/loss is fairly well-documented, especially for fish (e.g., see Jones et al 2004, Pratchett et al 2008). And based on ecological theory and an enormous body of literature from other systems, the loss in structural heterogeneity caused by mass coral mortality will almost certainly drive large declines in most aspects of reef biodiversity. Finally, the local extinctions that we are seeing on reefs and in many other marine ecosystems are primarily at higher trophic levels, causing a phenomena called trophic skewing (Duffy 2003, Byrnes et al 2007) which results in food webs dominated by lower trophic level species, with few large carnivores. Cheers, JB Byrnes JE, Reynolds PL, Stachowicz JJ (2007) Invasions and extinctions reshape coastal marine food webs. PLoS ONE 2:e295 Duffy JE (2003) Biodiversity loss, trophic skew and ecosystem functioning. Ecology Letters 6:680-687 Dulvy NK, Sadovy Y, Reynolds JD (2003) Extinction vulnerability in marine populations. Fish and Fisheries 4: 25?65. Jones GP, McCormick MI, Srinivasan M, Eagle JV (2004) Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:8251-8253 Pratchett MS, Munday PL, Wilson SK, Graham NAJ, Cinner JE, Bellwood DR, Jones GP, Polunin NVC, McClanahan TR (2008) Effects of climate-induced coral bleaching on coral-reef fishes ? ecological and economic consequences. In: Gibson RN, Atkinson RJA, Gordon JDM (eds) Oceanography and marine biology: an annual review, Vol 46. CRC Press, p 251-296 Stachowicz JJ, Bruno JF, Duffy JE (2007) Understanding the effects of marine biodiversity on communities and ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 38:739-766 > > Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:57:17 -0800 (PST) > From: "R.D." > Subject: [Coral-List] Biodiversity extinction > To: Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Message-ID: <412224.94210.qm at web50906.mail.re2.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > As a non-academic with field experience in coral conservation, coral disease, and marine park science and politics, I would like to comment on the recent Biodiversity extinction post, keeping in mind the "big picture". > > In the past few years several scientific biodiversity expeditions have reported in the lay press the discovery of thousands of new marine species from the Phillipines to Antartica to Australia to Tasmania to New Guinea and on and on. Such species have been scientifically collected, catalogued and classified. A Google search for "new marine species" yields a treasure trove of articles. > On the other hand, an internet search for recently extinct marine species(especially credited to human influence) reveals sparse data. > Therefore, when a scientist speaks about "stopping the loss of biodiversity" and "continued biodiversity extinction" it seems incongruous to the reported facts. Is there scientific data to confirm this loss? Which species have been lost and how many? When we talk about habitat destruction, anthropogenic global warming, and overfishing, is there scientific data to confirm a "loss of biodiversity"? Or is it an assumption that it has happened or will happen? > It is my understanding that environmental stressors rarely destroy an entire species(except for mass extinction events). In fact it is often environmental changes that allow new mutations to take hold and encourages the development of new species. As an example, a 2007 scientific survey of the Celebes Sea turned up between 50 and 100 new species of fish and invertebrates in an area that has been isolated by rising sea levels. > So my question is,"Is isolated habitat destruction on coral reefs really contributing to loss of biodiversity?" Is there scientific evidence? > Or is the following analogy appropriate - If my entire neighborhood poisons all of the ant hills in our back yards, are we contributing to the loss of biodiversity? Will poison-resistant ants develop? Will different species of ants move in? Will the same species relocate from other areas? > I hate to see human induced damage to coral reefs as much as anyone. But loss of coral cover does not equal extinction of species. > And if you are going to try to convince the general public otherwise, you will need to show them what species we have lost and how they have helped cause that loss. Because as of now, for every marine species put on the endangered list, there are hundreds or thousands newly discovered. >