[Coral-List] Subject: 82 Corals Status Review under the US Endangered Species Act (Patricia Warner)

[Billy Causey]

Hi Quenton...
It's always great to hear from you.  Thank you for sharing your
thoughts, observations and experiences here.  I don't think we ever
had a single planning or scoping meeting in the Keys without the
topics of carrying capacities, boating licenses and other management
tools for managing people's activities being raised by the public.
Some for it and some against it ....regardless of the management tool.
 As you know, I am no longer the Superintendent of the FKNMS, but in
2001, 5 years before I moved to my current position, we began
implementing the kind of management tools that would help us manage
visitation to the far western end of the sanctuary in the Tortugas
Ecological Reserve (TER).  We implemented a permitting system for
vessels conducting diving operations in the Tortugas ER North, limited
them to the use of mooring buoys only (no anchoring) and we limited
the size of the vessels to 100' in length.  We rotate the mooring
bouys (when we have the funding) to move the pressure around TER
North.  In the Tortugas ER South we established a Research/Educational
Permitted site only and recreational dive boats are not allowed to
stop in that area.  Of course fishing of any sort is prohibited in
both areas.  These were new strategies for us to manage diving
activity in a remote area .... with the idea of looking to the future
management planning activities in other parts of the Keys.

The Tortugas Ecological Reserves are beyond the Dry Tortugas National
Park (70 miles west of Key West) by another 5-20 miles and are remote.
 But these management tools have given the sanctuary an opportunity to
apply tools that we don't use up the more populated and crowded reefs.
 The FKNMS is beginning a scoping period soon to receive public input
on future management actions.  Quenton, I am sure they would love to
hear from you and Patricia and others on the Coral List who are
interested in commenting.

Again... it's great to hear from you!  Cheers, Billy

On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 12:59 PM, Quenton Dokken <qdokken at gulfmex.org> wrote:
> Good Day Billy,
>
> This exchange has been most interesting and it very much underscores the
> challenges to ecological sustainability faced in special areas such as the
> Florida Keys and the island territories of the Caribbean.  You will remember
> that as young students in Ecology 101 we listened to lectures on "maximum
> holding capacity" as it applies to sustainable populations. Today I am
> acutely aware that this law of nature applies to human population and
> activities as well.  This is a lesson that has been lost on the Chamber of
> Commerce, bankers, and the tourist industry developers.  Tourism is an
> essential part of the socioeconomic structure of the Gulf of Mexico and
> Caribbean.  Thankfully, it is here to stay; we must have the jobs and
> businesses for our society to be sustainable.   Unfortunately, tourism is
> not an environmentally benign activity. It has as much or more negative
> impact on the environment as any other industry.  It is imperative that this
> be recognized and addressed.  Within the FKNMS, you all have set the tone
> for reversing the negative impacts of human encroachment with fishing
> restrictions and programs to improve water quality.  Unfortunately this is
> not the case in all tropical paradises.  Development and management of the
> tourist industry must take the law of "maximum holding capacity" into
> account.  Otherwise we will always be behind in trying to fix environmental
> problems that could have been avoided.
>
> Quenton
>
>
> Quenton R. Dokken, PhD
> President/CEO
> Gulf of Mexico Foundation, Inc.
>
> Mail:
> PMB 51  5403 Everhart Rd.
> Corpus Christi, TX 78411
>
> Office:
> 3833 South Staples
> Suite S-214
> Corpus Christi, TX 78411
>
> 361-882-3939 office
> 361-882-1260 fax
> 361-442-6064 cell
> 1-800-884-4175 toll free
>
> qdokken at gulfmex.org
> www.gulfmex.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Billy Causey
> Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 10:18 AM
> To: Patricia Warner
> Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Subject: 82 Corals Status Review under the US
> Endangered Species Act (Patricia Warner)
>
> Hello Patricia ....
> Thank you again for this second informative email and the response to my
> posting.  You are absolutely correct about the heavy-use that we experience
> in the Florida Keys and the numbers of vessels and boat registrations are
> one example to illustrate.  While the commercial boat registrations have
> remained somewhat level for the past couple of decades, the recreational
> boat registrations continue to climb in both the Keys, as well as the State
> of Florida.  While this comes more inexperienced boaters which leads to
> prop-scarring in the seagrass beds, groundings on the coral reefs, etc.  Key
> Largo claims to be the Sport Diving Capitol of the World and Islamorda
> claims to be the Recreational Fishing Capitol of the World and I am not
> weighing in on either claim, but they may be correct.
>
>  Years ago, when my good friend and colleague, the late Virginia Chadwich
> first became the Chair of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, came
> to visit me in the Keys along with her husband .  We spent a couple of days
> together exploring the Keys and I took them out on the water off Key West..
> She was amazed at the closeness of the outer coral reef to shore and the
> numbers of boats, both in the Key West Harbor and on our mooring buoys
> offshore.  She experienced all of the boating pressures that exist in the
> Keys and was impressed with how it compared to Queensland.  We joked that
> while her job was huge in geographical scale, our job was huge in a smaller
> scale with people-pressure.
>
> One last statistic that you may not have heard is about cruiseship landings
> in Key West.  When I first moved to the Keys in 1973, there had only been a
> couple of crusieship landings in Key West.  Until about 18 years ago
> crusieships were very infrequent.  In 2005, there were 525 cruiseship
> landings in one year.  The number of landings has been less since 2005, but
> they are still high compare to the early 1990's and 1980's.
>
> Let me preface, these are not anti-tourism comments, they are simply the
> facts as I know them.  I am keenly interested in socioeconomic data and have
> long been a proponent of socioeconomic assessments.
> Your postings remind me of the importance of such research.
>
> Patricia ... your comments and observations are refreshing.  Thank you and I
> hope we can catch up with one another some time.
>
> Cheers, billy
>
> On Sun, Jun 10, 2012 at 7:52 PM, Patricia Warner <p.warner1859 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Dear Billy/ Coral List,
>>
>> Thanks for the update on the sewage treatment situation, and I am
>> happy to hear that the State and EPA have been making so much progress
>> towards that end.  Although I am a native Floridian I have been away
>> over 10 years now, so clearly I am behind the times on the local status
> and progress.
>>
>> I completely agree that the Keys are impacted by a diverse array of
>> different issues that have contributed to deterioration over decades,
>> and that global issues must be addressed by the international
>> community as well as minimizing local impacts.  And particularly,
>> improving the local situation will ultimately fail to preserve our
>> reefs if climate change and acidification have even some of the
>> effects to the degree that most of us expect them to over the next few
> decades.
>>
>> My point in highlighting out the density of population in the Keys was
>> apparently lost on my audience.  I apologize that my intention in
>> comparing the Keys to Queensland was originally oriented towards an
>> Australian audience.  It is very hard to comprehend the proximity and
>> number of users in Florida when your main experience has been gathered
>> on the GBR.  In fact, I originally used the Keys/ GBR comparison to
>> demonstrate how different the situation is, how different the native
>> reefs are, and to defend the state of Key's reefs for an audience that
>> has not experienced and may not appreciate the beauty and uniqueness
>> of the Florida reef habitat (limited in hard coral species diversity
>> cf. GBR as it may be).   However, perhaps it would have been more
>> appropriate to cite the annual number of boat registrations, boat
>> launches, SCUBA tanks filled, commercial dive/ snorkeler hours,
>> recreational fishing licenses purchased, lobsters landed per capita.
>> The point is that the use of the Florida reefs by people is enormous
>> when compared to many or even most other areas.  I do not actually
>> know the numbers to back this up, but from my experience in different
>> countries I would guess the per capita boat ownership in Florida is
>> probably higher than almost anywhere else in the world.  Likewise,
> recreational fishing pressure is probably as high comparatively.
>>
>> The final comparison to Flower Gardens is most apt, and you directly
>> mention some of the specific reasons that would have come to mind for
>> stable, healthy reefs at that location.  If there are others that
>> would contradict the problems of direct and long-term human impact
>> that plague Keys reefs but cannot be attributed to the unique nature
>> of the Flower Gardens inherently, I would like to hear them elaborated.
>>
>> Many thanks for your response,
>>
>> Patricia
>>
>> On Sun, Jun 10, 2012 at 10:11 AM, Billy Causey <billy.causey at noaa.gov>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear Patricia,
>>> I have been reading this thread and have avoided responding to most
>>> of which has been the opinions of individuals, or pontifications
>>> which we all do too much or citations of conditions observed in the
>>> past that we would all love to see again.  I first visited coral
>>> reefs in Veracruz, Mexico in 1962 and can only dream.... as you can
> imagine.
>>>
>>> But, I wanted to correct a couple of your statements for the coral
>>> list.  As an employee of NOAA, a Trustee Agency, I can't comment on
>>> the original topic in this email thread, but suffice it to say many
>>> good comments have been made, even from my good friend Gene.
>>>
>>> Even though I am no longer the superintendent of the FKNMS, I do
>>> serve as the DOC/NOAA representative on Sanctuary's Water Quality
>>> Protection Program Steering Committee.  The EPA and State has done an
>>> excellent job of managing the water quality issues in the Keys and
>>> enormous progress has been made in water quality improvements.  We
>>> are now at 75% replacement of septic tanks and cess pits that you
>>> mentioned with advanced wastewater treatment facilities .  Monroe
>>> County just received 50 million $ from
>>>  the state and we will be at 100% replacement by 2015. We are now
>>> starting to focus some of the attention of the FKNMS WQPP on cleaning
>>> up the 125 miles of canals in the Keys.
>>>
>>> Another  correction is that we don't really have a high population of
>>> people living along the 115 miles of populated Keys.  We have 72,000
>>> full time residents, but we do get 4 million visitors that spend 14
>>> million visitor-days.
>>>
>>> Like coral reefs around the world, the coral reefs of the Keys are
>>> impacted by climate change, land-based sources of pollution, habitat
>>> loss and destruction and overfishing.  It's impossible to separate
>>> these sources of stress, but they can be managed at different levels.
>>> Climate change has to be addressed globally, but the other 3 have
>>> local and regional solutions that can be implemented .... With
>>> expensive solutions.  When it's all over 1 Billion US dollars will
>>> have been spent in the Florida Keys.  It is worth it .... But who
>>> pays and how much is anyways at the fore-front of the discussions.
>>> Tourism brings in over 2 Billion US dollars annually, but the
>>> question of who pays is always present.
>>>
>>> I will close that I always have hope and am encouraged by the health
>>> of the coral reefs in the Flower Garden Banks NMS. There our
>>> management team is still recording  coral cover > 50-60%.
>>> Remoteness, stable conditions, and many other factors contribute to
>>> the health of the corals at FGBNMS, but those reefs are just some of
>>> the jewels around the Gulf that we need to make sure remain healthy.
>>> Cheers, Billy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jun 10, 2012, at 12:07 PM, Patricia Warner
>>> <p.warner1859 at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Dear Coral Listers,
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >               I am surprised that no one has much mentioned water
>>> > quality as one of the greatest possible factors contributing to
>>> > coral reef deterioration in the Florida Keys.  Poor water quality
>>> > is absolutely a human caused condition that can be linked, albeit
>>> > sometimes diffusely, to our actions or often more appropriately our
>>> > inaction.  I think most people can appreciate the complications of
>>> > trying to manage reefs across international boundaries, but it is
>>> > not as easy to understand why managing resources would be so
>>> > difficult within the jurisdiction of a single nation.
>>> > This is not an easy question to answer without going into the
>>> > intricacies of American Government, which if I am not mistaken is
>>> > probably almost as poorly understood by American citizens as
>>> > science is.  Nevertheless, several posters have alluded to and
>>> > deplored some of these issues of multiple agency jurisdictions,
>>> > laws with no teeth, and the paradoxical balance of environmental
>>> > resource management with social resource use.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >               Without forcing everyone to read below to get to the
>>> > point, the Florida Keys has a long history of habitation and reef
>>> > resource use with high numbers of residents and tourists on a
>>> > relatively limited reef area.  The sewage “treatment” used in the
>>> > area is primarily septic tanks or even more primitive cesspits that
>>> > are mostly not up to modern standards and built upon quite
>>> > permeable land with high water tables and seasonal rainfall.  I do
>>> > not think you need to be a hydrologist or microbiologist to guess
>>> > that most of the sewage is not treated much at all.  Clearly,
>>> > designating the reef area and coastal waters as a marine sanctuary
>>> > has no effect on this water quality situation, and most of the
>>> > efforts to make these types of infrastructural changes have
>>> > necessarily come from the local county government (not State or
>>> > Federal action).  But, in the end all of this comes down to money
>>> > (what else), and most residents, Monroe County government, and even
>>> > the State of Florida do not have excess money sitting around to
>>> > overhaul the sewage system in the Florida Keys amongst other
>>> > pressing matters.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > So, what can the ESA do for corals and coral reefs in the Florida
>>> > Coastal waters?  Well, unlike some of the other environmental laws
>>> > that have failed to adequately protect coral reefs and ecosystems
>>> > generally, the ESA is a law with some teeth that has a history of
>>> > successfully protecting species (and habitats) as others have
>>> > already detailed.  The fact that it has not so far prevented the
>>> > already in progress decline of Acropora species since the two were
>>> > listed in 2006 is not surprising given the extent of the problem
>>> > and the way our government is designed to work.  However, the
>>> > provision of the ESA which may have the greatest impact on Florida
>>> > reefs will be the potential designation of ‘critical habitat’ for
>>> > the listed corals.  The Act defines ‘critical habitat’ as “the
>>> > specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the
>>> > species,…on which are found those physical or biological features
>>> > (I) essential to the conservation of the species and (II) which may
>>> > require special management considerations or protection…” (16
>>> > U.S.C. §1532(5)(A)(i)).  There is no doubt that the “requirements”
>>> > of corals may be “complex,” nevertheless achieving a ‘critical
>>> > habitat’ designation is essential to protecting Florida reefs under
>>> > the ESA.   The ESA remains one of the cornerstones of U.S.
>>> > environmental law, often forcing action where other laws fail (EAD,
>>> > 2007).
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >                      Several years ago I compiled an amateur’s
>>> > report with extensive research on the state of Florida Keys reefs
>>> > and the legal framework designed to protect it, and I found it a
>>> > useful context to compare the situation in the Keys to another
>>> > famous reef in Australia (i.e the GBR).  I have included some of my
>>> > work below for those interested.
>>> >  I
>>> > expect the population numbers are now only greater, and the
>>> > environmental situation is generally worse, but my apologies for
>>> > any information or references that may be out of date.  Please
>>> > email me directly if you would like a full copy of the report or
>>> > bibliography of literature and statutes cited.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Cheers,
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Patricia
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >                      In 2007, the population of Florida was
>>> > approximately
>>> > 18 million in an area 139,670 km2 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007).  The
>>> > total land area of Queensland, Australia is 1,726,950 km2 with a
>>> > population of
>>> > 4.1 million (density 2.4/ km2; OESR, 2007).  The residential
>>> > population density in the actual Florida Keys island tract was
>>> > estimated to be about 210 people per km2, and this does not include
>>> > tourist visits that numbered an additional 3.8 million persons in
>>> > 2010 (Monroe County Chamber of Commerce).
>>> > Furthermore, the average distance to the outer reef from the Keys
>>> > islands is less than 10 km, compared to an 80 km average for the
>>> > outer reef of the GBR.  Clearly, the Florida Reef Tract (FRT)
>>> > differs greatly from the GBR in terms of human impact, with a
>>> > highly accessible reef within close proximity to densely populated
>>> > islands.  Moreover, the unique hydrogeology of the area combined
>>> > with a historical usage of on-site sewage treatment systems (*
>>> > i.e.* household septic tanks and cesspits), has had a demonstrably
>>> > negative influence on the quality of water surrounding the reef
>>> > environment (Lipp et al. 2002; Darden, 2001; Kruczynski, 1999;
>>> > Halley et al. 1997; Lapointe and Matzie, 1996; Paul et al. 1995).
>>> > In fact, scientists have found a direct link between the lethal
>>> > ‘white pox’ coral disease and a human fecal enterobacterium found
>>> > in the Keys’ waters (Patterson et al. 2002).
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > In South Florida, the already complex issue of water quality is
>>> > further complicated by another unique Florida ecosystem, the
> Everglades.
>>> >  Briefly,
>>> > the Everglades are an extensively interconnected hydrogeological
>>> > and ecological system which naturally would cover most of the
>>> > Florida peninsula, starting in the freshwater subterranean springs
>>> > north of Lake Okeechobee and including the FRT to the furthest
>>> > distal point (Fig. 3; Craig, 2006; Lodge, 2005; Browder and Ogden,
>>> > 2000).  However, with the development of South Florida and
>>> > agriculture in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth
>>> > centuries, the once expansive system has been largely drained and
>>> > truncated to a pale imitation of the once vibrant ecosystem,
>>> > replete with agriculturally induced water quality issues of its own
>>> > immediate concern (Craig, 2006; Lodge, 2005; Sklar et al. 2005).
>>> > Currently,
>>> > the effects of Everglades’ agricultural pollution to the FRT are
>>> > comparably minor, due to the drastically reduced water flow and
>>> > past Keys’
>>> > construction projects limiting the extent to which water moves east
>>> > from Florida Bay to the Atlantic Ocean (Browder and Ogden, 2000;
>>> > Lapointe and Matzie, 1996).  Of course, local sewage influences
>>> > currently have a much greater effect on the health of corals.
>>> > (Lipp, 2002; Patterson, 2002; Lapointe and Clark, 1992)  However,
>>> > the Everglades restoration efforts include re-establishing more
>>> > natural and thus greater flow to the area, which could effectively
>>> > increase both the overall nutrient loading of the water and
>>> > generally increase the strength of flow eastward to have a
>>> > synergistically greater impact on the FRT (Craig, 2006; Shinn et al.
>>> > 2002;
>>> > Lapointe and Matzie, 1996).  Thus, when we look more closely at the
>>> > specific situation in Florida, the condition of the reef becomes
>>> > even more complicated, now including laws and mandates which may
>>> > often contradict one another for the benefit of either the
>>> > Everglades or the reefs (Davidson, 2006).             *
>>> > *
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Even without considering the intricacies of the Everglades, the
>>> > Florida Keys water quality situation involves a complex history of
>>> > overlapping State, County, and city jurisdictions.  The State has
>>> > many laws, including a section of the Constitution itself, designed
>>> > to prioritize and protect the State’s natural environment, and
>>> > water quality specifically (Art.. II §
>>> > 7(a) Fla. Const.).  These include a statute analogous to the
>>> > federal CWA, which delegates nonpoint pollution management to local
>>> > entities (FLA.
>>> > STAT.
>>> > §§ 373.451-4595), regulations of septic tank systems (FLA. STAT. §
>>> > 381.0065) and various classifications for State waters with
>>> > corresponding water quality criteria (FLA. STAT. § 403.061; Darden,
>>> > 2001).  Perhaps most significant to the FRT situation, the State’s
>>> > land-planning agency, the Department of Community Affairs (DCA),
>>> > designated the Keys as an Area of Critical State Concern in 1979
>>> > (FLA. STAT. § 380. 0552(3)).  This designation retains for the DCA
>>> > and State, all final development approvals, and requires land
>>> > planning to adhere to State guidelines (FLA. STAT. § 380.05;
>>> > Darden, 2001).  In Monroe County (Florida Keys), this ultimate
>>> > State authority over land-use has proved relevant to the County
>>> > development plans under the direction of the peer-reviewed and DCA
>>> > commissioned Florida Keys Carrying Capacity Study completed in 2002
>>> > (URS Corp. 2002).
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Accordingly, the Monroe County Commission has implemented a growth
>>> > limit ordinance (227 residential permits per year; Monroe Co., Fla.
> Code, ch..
>>> > 9.5, art. IV, div. 1.5, §9.5 – 122(2007)), as well as management
>>> > plans to replace and improve current wastewater treatment
>>> > facilities in partnership with the State created Florida Keys
>>> > Aqueduct Authority (Grosso, 2003; URS Corp. 2002; Darden, 2001).
>>> > If effective, these two initiatives have the potential to
>>> > dramatically improve the quality of coastal waters influencing the
>>> > health of the FRT.  However, while the growth restrictions may be
>>> > relatively easy to execute, and demographic statistics actually
>>> > indicate a recent decline in population, the wastewater treatment
>>> > remains a more difficult problem (Fig. 4; U.S. Census Bureau,
>>> > 2007).  Cost is the single greatest issue preventing a
>>> > comprehensive overhaul of the Florida Keys wastewater treatment
>>> > system (Darden, 2001).  These projects require many millions of
>>> > dollars, which neither the County nor the citizens can
>>> > independently afford.  Moreover, State or federal funding requires
>>> > complex budgeting processes and prioritization from non-local
>>> > stakeholders, whose constituencies contain many diverse needs.
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > 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 NOAA's Office of
> National Marine Sanctuaries
> 33 East Quay Road
> Key West, Florida 33040
>
> Office:  305 809 4670 (ex 234)
> Mobile: 305 395 0150
> Fax:     305 293 5011
> Email:  Billy.Causey at noaa.gov
>
> Will Our Grandchildren Remember Us For What We Conserved and Protected or
> For What We Let Slip Away?
> _______________________________________________
> 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
NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
33 East Quay Road
Key West, Florida 33040

Office:  305 809 4670 (ex 234)
Mobile: 305 395 0150
Fax:     305 293 5011
Email:  Billy.Causey at noaa.gov

Will Our Grandchildren Remember Us For What We Conserved and Protected
or For What We Let Slip Away?