[Coral-List] Oil Industry experts assess Belize

[Belize Marine TREC]

The first of the two experts who said he is working pro bono, Rick Steiner, a professor in Anchorage Alaska has been in Belize over the past week on a scientific and technical fact finding mission to evaluate the country’s position in terms of spill liability, financial liability, regulations and Environmental Impact Assessments. But according to Steiner, unlike other countries, the industry doesn’t yet have adequate standards for oil production.

If it is to be done, it has to be done with the highest global standards, best available technology using American Petroleum Institute and American Society for Mechanical Engineering standards. Many other countries require their oil industry to meet those standards as a legal requirement, my understanding so far here is that Belize has no such requirement and so that there are likely insufficient standards here for the existing oil and gas production you have at Spanish Lookout.”

Steiner said that Belize is party to two of the International Marine Pollution Protocol Pollution Protocol which are Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund which covers Belize up to three hundred million U.S. dollars in the case of a massive offshore oil spill. However, Belize isn’t a part of the Supplementary Fund which covers up to over one billion U.S. dollars. Richard Fineberg, an Economist who specializes in Production Sharing Agreements, is expected to arrive in the country this Wednesday.
For the complete story including offshore drilling comments visit www.BelizeMarineTREC.com 
 
 
> From: coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Coral-List Digest, Vol 33, Issue 4
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 12:00:02 -0400
> 
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> Today's Topics:
> 
> 1. Re: Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System
> (Derek Manzello)
> 2. Quantify coral as CO2 sink (Verena Wiesbauer Ali)
> 3. Re: Help Ban Oil Exploration (David M. Lawrence)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 2 May 2011 21:48:33 -0400
> From: "Derek Manzello" <dmanzello at rsmas.miami.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier
> Reef System
> To: szmanta at uncw.edu, coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID:
> <72a6739210225b41609c20403c49f0da.squirrel at webmail.rsmas.miami.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
> 
> Hi Alina and coral-listers,
> 
> Given the values you provided, I'm assuming you've based your ideas on
> Table 1 from Orme (1977) within v.4 of the Jones and Endean books.
> 
> The numbers you refer to are from lagoon and reef sediments, not actual
> reef frameworks. The title of the Table is, in fact, "Some examples of
> the composition of peripheral reef sediment".
> 
> Nobody is arguing that there other calcifiers on coral reefs. A lot of
> these calcaerous materials end up in sedimentary environments, sometimes
> in domineering fashion (e.g., /Halimeda/ in some lagoons). However, these
> sedimentary environments usually occur in the lee of A) structural coral
> reef framework or B) some other baffling antecedent topography.
> 
> When I think of a coral reef, I think of a calcareous, 3-D, wave resistant
> structure. I do not consider the sediments that accumulate in the lee of
> structural reef frameworks the actual coral reef. Based on your argument,
> any calcareous sedimentary environment should therefore be a coral reef. 
> Saying these other calcifiers contribute to the building of coral reefs is
> like saying that the windows on a skyscraper are instrumental to its
> construction.
> 
> I stand by Ian Macintyre's (1997) conclusion:
> 
> "Crustose coralline algae do not contribute significantly to reef
> framework except in shallow water, high-energy environments. In Holocene
> reefs, which have had to cope with advancing sea levels, these conditions
> have occurred mainly in the latter stages of reef growth, when there is
> little space left for framework accumulation. Thus the coralline algal
> contribution to the overall structural framework in modern reefs has for
> the most part been minor."
> 
> Best,
> Derek
> 
> Refs cited
> Macintyre IG (1997) Reevaluating the role of crustose coralline algae in
> the construction of coral reefs. Proc 8th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:725-730
> 
> Orme GR (1977) Aspects of sedimentation in the coral reef environment. In:
> Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, v. 4. Jones OA, Endean R (Eds),
> Academic Press, p. 129-176
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Derek:
> 
> Contrary to your statements, and those cited from the 8th International
> Symposium, there are a number of studies that have quantified the relative
> contribution of the various calcifying taxa to reef building, and there
> are large regional and local differences in these values. In chapters in
> the old (1973-1975) Geology and Biology of Coral Reefs and other sources,
> analyzing which taxa make up how much of long reef cores, corals are
> attributed with 5-45 % of the carbonate, red and green calcified algae
> together 5 to 60 % of the carbonate, forams 2-40 %, and miscellaneous
> inverts (echinoderms, mollusks, crustaceans up to 30 % of the carbonate. 
> So while I agree that the large coral heads and also the fast growing
> branching corals are essential for reef formation, they don't do it alone.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Alina
> 
> *************************************************************************
> Dr. Alina M. Szmant
> Professor of Marine Biology
> Center for Marine Science and Dept of Biology and Marine Biology
> University of North Carolina Wilmington
> 5600 Marvin Moss Ln
> Wilmington NC 28409 USA
> tel: 910-962-2362 fax: 910-962-2410 cell: 910-200-3913
> http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
> *******************************************************
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Derek
> Manzello
> Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 1:15 PM
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
> System
> 
> Hello Doug and coral-list,
> 
> Thanks for the helpful information. However, I found one statement in
> your message inaccurate.
> 
> The statement I refer to is this: "That said, most reefs are not just
> coral reefs, they are coralgal reefs or even algal coral reefs, with
> coralline algae and other calcareous algae contributing as much or more
> calcium buildup than the corals."
> 
> This is a popular quip among certain reef ecologists that is not
> supported by any hard data, other than some very rare and extreme
> cases. I felt it was necessary to respond to this because this
> misconception seems to be popping up everywhere and I think we need to
> remind ourselves that this was already debated and pretty much resolved
> a while back. In fact, there was an entire session during the 8th
> International Coral Reef Symposium entitled "Are calcareous algae
> important to reefs today or in the past?"
> 
> In the session summary, Steneck and Testa state: ""Calcareous algae have
> long been assumed to be important and perhaps even necessary for reef
> development. If so, one might expect to find the rates of reef growth
> (or accumulation) correlating with the abundance of calcareous algae.
> Macintyre (1997) reviewed the association of coralline algae and reef
> development by reviewing non-algal ridge reefs and 5 algal ridge reefs
> that have been drilled all over the world. Macintyre made the simple but
> profound point that most of the worlds fastest growing coral reefs were
> relatively devoid of coralline algae during that period of rapid
> growth... Coral reefs do not require corallines or any calcareous algae
> for their formation. Internal strength of reefs is primarily augmented
> by submarine lithification and not by coralline algal cementation as has
> often been asserted."
> 
> CCAs are important to reef dynamics for a variety of reasons, but they
> do not significantly contribute to the calcium carbonate budget of the
> vast majority of coral reefs, nor do they 'cement' reefs, as has been a
> popular misconception for years. For further information on this topic,
> I refer the list to the important papers within this session (all freely
> available online at reefbase), that are all too often overlooked. The
> specific papers referred to here are referenced below.
> 
> With regards,
> Derek Manzello
> 
> 
> REFS
> Macintyre IG (1997) Reevaluating the role of crustose coralline algae in
> the construction of coral reefs. Proc 8th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:725-730
> 
> Steneck RS, Testa V (1997) Are calcareous algae important to reefs today
> or in the past? Symposium summary. Proc 8th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:685-688..
> 
> 
> On 4/21/2011 4:41 PM, Douglas Fenner wrote:
> > > Almost all reef-building coral species in the Caribbean have ranges
> > > throughout the Caribbean, since the Caribbean is a relatively small
> body of
> > > water (compared to the Indo-Pacific, for instance). Most all of the
> species
> > > have already been found in places like Belize, Cozumel, Akumal,
> Cancun area,
> > > and so on, and some of the others may be there but just haven't been
> found
> > > there yet. There are a very few which have not been found in the NW
> or W
> > > Caribbean at all, and might (might) not be there (to prove they are
> not there
> > > is like trying to prove the null hypothesis). One that is pretty
> sure not to
> > > be there is Millepora squarrosa. It is only known from the southeast
> > > Caribbean, and reports elsewhere are likely all errors. Millepora
> complanata
> > > can look a bit like it, but if you look in the Humann book you'll see M.
> > > squarrosa is actually quite distinctive and easy to recognize. A second
> > > species is Leptoseris cailleti, a small deep-water species that is
> rarely
> > > reported anywhere. Millepora striata is rarely reported, but I
> reported it
> > > from Belize, so it is in the MesoAmerican reef system. There are a
> few other
> > > rarely reported or less well known species that may or may not be
> there, such
> > > as Madracis senaria, Madracis asperula, Madracis carambi and Porites
> branneri.
> > > The situation is quite different with the azooxanthellate corals.
> How many are
> > > present in an area is poorly known, probably because they are small and
> > > cryptic, but they may be patchy as well, since they typically live in
> very
> > > specific habitats like cavern roofs that are searched less often and
> less
> > > completely than open habitats. Also, their identification is not a
> trivial
> > > matter for most of us reef biologists, most require sending a sample
> to the one
> > > or two people in the whole world who are experts on their taxonomy
> (I'm not one
> > > of them, Dr. Stephen Cairns at the Smithsonian is one, and can put you
> in touch
> > > with the others).
> > > For the zooxanthellate species, you can find range maps in
> Veron (2000),
> > > but it appears he fills in all the Caribbean for any species found
> somewhere in
> > > the Caribbean. He's working on a much more detailed database called
> "Coral
> > > Geographic."
> > >
> > > To my way of thinking Belize has a true barrier reef, but the
> rest of the
> > > MesoAmerican reef system is not a barrier reef as far as I know, but
> I'm no
> > > expert on it. A barrier reef has to have a significant lagoon between
> it and
> > > land, and my impression is outside Belize, reefs are pretty much
> fringing. I've
> > > also heard of the Florida Keys reefs referred to as a barrier reef. I
> prefer
> > > the older name, "Florida Reef Tract" since as far as I know it
> consists of a
> > > series of relatively small reefs with wide gaps between them, and more
> > > continuous ridges of hard grounds that are not currently living coral
> reefs and
> > > don't get close to the surface. Gene Shinn also tells me that the
> Florida Keys
> > > reefs have been called bank reefs. That said, most reefs are not just
> coral
> > > reefs, they are coralgal reefs or even algal coral reefs, with
> coralline algae
> > > and other calcareous algae contributing as much or more calcium
> buildup than the
> > > corals. Also, the Great Barrier Reef is not a single reef but a whole
> series of
> > > about two thousand reefs, with gaps of various sizes (a maze that in
> effect is
> > > a barrier to navigation unless you have GPS and a very good map
> system and are
> > > a good navigator). There is one section that is a nearly continuous
> barrier,
> > > the section called the "Ribbon Reefs." I'd also remind people of the
> barrier
> > > reef in New Caledonia, which is like Belize and the Ribbon Reefs in
> the GBR, a
> > > nearly continuous barrier with some small gaps. New Caledonia is said
> to have
> > > the longest continuous barrier reef in the world, and likely that is
> not widely
> > > known. Anyhow, "MesoAmerican reef system" sounds fine with me, as
> does Belize
> > > Barrier Reef, but adding barrier to MesoAmerican does not, nor does
> it for
> > > Florida. It seems like today people think the word "barrier" adds
> charisma, so
> > > they want to call their reef a barrier reef. Fringing reef ought to
> also have
> > > some charisma, think of the Ningaloo fringing reef in western Australia,
> > > longest fringing reef in the world. Not nearly as well known as the
> GBR, but a
> > > huge and amazing reef. Think of Indonesia, which has more coral
> reefs than any
> > > other country in the world (slightly more than Australia), I bet most
> of their
> > > reefs are fringing. Also among the most diverse in the world, a true
> world
> > > treasure. Fringing is good. Doug
> > >
> > > Cheers, Doug
> > >
> > > Fenner, D. 2001. Biogeography of three Caribbeancorals (Scleractinia);
> > > Tubastraea
> > >
> > > coccineainvades the Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 69:
> > > 1175-1189.
> > >
> > > Fenner, D. 1999. New Observations on the Stony Coral Species
> (Scleractinia,
> > > Milliporidae, Stylaseridae) of Belize(Central America) and
> Cozumel(Mexico).
> > > Bulletin of Marine Science 64: 143-154.
> > >
> > > Fenner, D. P. 1993. Some reefs and corals of Roatan (Honduras), Cayman
> Brac, and
> > > Little Cayman. Atoll Research Bulletin 388: 1-30.
> > > Weerdt, W. H. de. 1990. Discontinuous distribution of the tropical
> west
> > > Atlantic hydrocoral Millepora squarrosa. Beaufort. 41: 195-203.
> > >
> > > Douglas Fenner
> > > Coral Reef Monitoring Ecologist
> > > Dept Marine & Wildlife Resources
> > > American Samoa
> > >
> > >
> > > Mailing address:
> > > PO Box 3730
> > > Pago Pago, AS 96799
> > > USA
> > >
> > >
> > > work phone 684 633 4456
> > >
> > >
> > > Sharply increased mass loss from glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian
> Arctic
> > > Archipelago
> > >
> > >
> > > Between the periods 2004-2006 and 2007-2009, the rate of mass loss
> sharply
> > > increased from 31 ? 8 Gt yr 1 to 92 ? 12 Gt yr 1 in direct response to
> warmer
> > > summer temperatures, to which rates of ice loss are highly sensitive
> (64 ? 14
> > > Gt yr 1 per 1 K increase).
> > >
> > > Gardner et al Nature
> > > http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10089.html?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20110421
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: Brittany Huntington <brittanyhuntington at gmail.com>
> > > To: coral-list at coral.aoml..noaa.gov
> > > Sent: Thu, April 21, 2011 4:13:17 AM
> > > Subject: [Coral-List] Coral species list for Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
> System
> > >
> > > I am interested in determining the regional species pool for
> scleractinian
> > > corals within the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. Published reports
> weigh
> > > in around 60 species from what I have found but would appreciate any
> leads
> > > to a taxonomic list of coral species observed in the region.
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance,
> > > Brittany Huntington
> > >
> > > Brittany Huntington
> > > Doctoral Candidate
> > > Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries
> > > Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
> > > University of Miami
> > > 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
> > > Miami, FL 33149
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Coral-List mailing list
> > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Coral-List mailing list
> > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 10:19:04 +0500
> From: Verena Wiesbauer Ali <marinebiology.verena at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Coral-List] Quantify coral as CO2 sink
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <BANLkTikvpZfOfcd=UkMwYRbY-R6qvBPn7w at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> 
> Dear listers,
> 
> I hope I can address some specialists who are working on calcification rates
> in corals and CO2 absorption.
> 
> Is it possible to - approximately - quantify the amount of atmospheric CO2
> that is absorbed by coral (poly/colony/reef - size?) in order to calculate
> how much an artificial reef of a certain size would contribute to CO2 sink?
> I know it's very theoretic, but maybe the experts of you could recommend me
> literature on this topic or we could even start conversations about it.
> 
> Thank you in advance,
> Verena
> 
> -- 
> Verena Wiesbauer Ali, M.Sc.
> Marine Biologist / Zoologist
> EIA Consultant: 03/10
> Austria and Maldives
> <?))))><
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 03 May 2011 10:12:11 -0400
> From: "David M. Lawrence" <dave at fuzzo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Help Ban Oil Exploration
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <4DC00D3B.7070608 at fuzzo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> 
> When talking about tanker losses in World War II, let's make sure we are 
> comparing apples to apples. When we compare all the oil dumped in an 
> entire ocean basin to the amount of oil released in a fairly limited 
> area from a Deepwater Horizon-like disaster, it seems the deck is 
> unfairly stacked to make those concerned about drilling look like 
> "greenie-weenies" out of touch with reality. The fact is a lot of other 
> factors besides volume of oil determine the severity of a disaster.
> 
> Having grown up in Louisiana and seeing a lot of drilling and extraction 
> activity up close, there are a lot of adverse effects from petroleum 
> exploration. It might not look all that bad -- especially to those 
> whose only frame of reference is a landscape (and seascape) already 
> affected by the oil industry -- but the adverse effects are there 
> nonetheless.
> 
> I'm skeptical of the benefits of oil exploration to the economies of 
> developing nations, too. Extractive industries have a pretty lousy 
> record of promoting long-term economic growth. They so a good job of 
> extracting as much of whatever resource they target, take their money 
> elsewhere, and leave a permanently changed (arguably damaged) landscape 
> behind. It's not a terribly sustainable model, and there is rarely 
> incentive for industry to invest in preparing the "host" community for 
> survival after the industry is gone.
> 
> Whether or not the coral reefs would recover from an oil disaster, 
> industries that depend on them -- like Belize's tourist industry -- 
> might not. Personally, I'd hate to see what would happen to Virginia 
> Beach's Strand after a big oil disaster coats the beach in black goo. I 
> don't think anyone has done an adequate risk assessment of all the 
> effects of such a disaster on local and regional economies affected by 
> it. Is the limited and temporary benefit from petro-dollars worth the 
> potential wider and longer-term effects of such an event?
> 
> I would love to see that data some day.
> 
> Dave
> 
> On 5/2/2011 4:06 PM, Greg Challenger wrote:
> >
> > Steve:
> >
> > Ill let Gene defend himself but here is my take. Offshore drilling "may" lead to environmental disaster. My reading of the post by Gene is that he felt the risks should be weighed against the potential upside before stating absolutes. To me it was the comments "will lead to disaster" and "never recover" that deserve some discussion. In my opinion, these sorts of statements dont do the environmental cause much good and only give ammunition to the opposition in that they can find evidence to easily refute the statements without getting to the heart of the matter...real risks to Belize corals and peoples. Many areas with drilling have never experienced an environmental disaster. The volumes of oil dumped and spilled in the sea in WWII outweigh all combined other anthropogenic point sources in the past century by quite a bit (see 2003 paper by Jacqui Michel from International Oil Spill Conference), and yet I dont believe it is possible to find a place that will "never r
> ecover", unless an area continues to receive ongoing impacts that dont allow it to recover. I have seen some oil exploration areas that could conceivably fit this bill. I didnt see any real embellished distortions other than getting the tanker thing wrong, which really isnt an embellished distortion at all relative to the issue at hand. While you are 100% correct that seeps are the biggest sources followed by land runoff, tankers are the largest anthropogenic point source (i.e., disaster). Since we are talking about risk of disaster from man's activities, then tankers and cargo vessels are indeed the number one cause since runoff and seeps arent typically considered part of a disaster scenario. Oil spilled in the marine environment is a tragedy...it kills things....but a statement to the effect that drilling "will result in disaster" from which we can "never recover" deserves refutation. As you can see, saying things like this takes people off track (as it did here) f
> rom the important issues like proper evaluation and careful consideration of the potential impacts, both environmental and economic. That said, I understand that these comments can serve a purpose...we have to know where the left and right side of the road are located so we can safely drive down the middle.
> >
> > I know people think Im a fan of fossil fuel because I have a financial interest in my clients' oil spills, but frankly I hope I never work on another oil spill the rest of my life (I do other stuff as well).
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> >
> > Greg E. Challenger
> > Marine Scientist/Principal
> > Polaris Applied Sciences, Incorporated
> > 12525 131st Ct NE Kirkland, WA 98034
> > 425-823-4841
> > 425-823-3805 fx
> > 206-369-5686 cell
> > visit us at: www.polarisappliedsciences.com
> >
> 
> -- 
> ------------------------------------------------------
> 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
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
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> End of Coral-List Digest, Vol 33, Issue 4
> *****************************************