[Coral-List] Responding to Coral Bleaching

[Austin Bowden-Kerby]

Here in Fiji we tried scattering COTS in a cassava field for fertilizer but
the village chickens (and hungry dogs) ate them all up, so the experiment
failed.  But we learned another potential use!  I have tried eating the
eggs, and they are delicious at first, followed by a very bitter taste-
nope!

Austin

On Fri, Sep 18, 2015 at 4:52 AM, Andrew Ross <ross.andrew at mac.com> wrote:

> Doug & Austin,
> What Austin is describing might be akin to the recreational hunting
> programmes for lionfish in the Caribbean
> “*Eat it to beat it*” etc.
>
> Problem in transferring to COT might be:
> Lionfish are a) tasty b) easy and c) invasive, thus with reduced karmic
> baggage.
> COTs, unfortunately
> a) hasn’t got a straightforward secondary value such as lunch and
> b) is often difficult to remove from the reef while poisoning doesn’t
> provide a “trophy”.
> c) Overpopulation &/or ecosystem damage arguments may mitigate one’s
> issues with St Peter *et al.*
>
> So, how do we make COT hunting “sexy” to bring in the recreational?
>
> b) Trophy:
> Methods that remove the animal from the water for a photo or
> competitive-count expose the diver to stings and tend to be relatively
> inefficient.
> Air-inflating methods might start to get around that.
>
> a) Food/use:
> A soup or roe-based sushi?
> Chicken feed?
> Do they at least make a decent garden fertilizer?
>
> c) Karma:
> May be a paid "voluntourism” activity,
> though this often gets its own complications, particularly as key areas
> get hunted-out and less efficient for the hunter/operator.
> With collection (trophy & Facebook photos) would be better, but such
> volunteers may be amenable to poisoning.
>
> Thinking out loud,
>
> Andrew Ross Ph.D.
> Seascape Caribbean
>
>
> On Sep 16, 2015, at 5:19 PM, Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>    I think this is a GREAT idea!!
>
>    When there are millions of crown-of-thorns starfish, trying to control
> them has not worked.  However, in a situation like that you describe, there
> are not so many.  Maybe we were all scared off by the impossibility of
> controlling millions of them.  But when there are modest numbers, we really
> can make a difference.  In American Samoa, we had the beginnings of an
> outbreak in the last few years.  People got concerned, and started killing
> them.  National Parks is devoting significant effort to lead the way in
> controlling them, and so far it is working brilliantly.  Like cancer, if
> you catch an outbreak early enough, you may be able to control it.
>     We're all super frustrated that all we can do is sit by and watch
> bleaching kill coral.  But this is something we can do, which can make a
> real difference.
>     Your observations remind me of the paper by Nancy Knowlton, Judy Lang
> and Brian Keller on the Acropora in Jamaica after Hurricane Allen broke so
> much coral, killing it, in 1980.  The Acropora started to come back over
> the next 3 years, but then the Coraliophila snails ate the smaller amount
> remaining, just as you describe.  After that, the reef there has stayed
> stuck in a low-coral, high-algae phase for decades.
>      Killing crown-of-thorns is very practical, and every kill saves
> coral.  Crown-of-Thorns as a species will survive, you can't get the last
> ones, but you can return them to close to their natural, very-low densities
> that are present between outbreaks.
>      Further, the best empirical support for the cause of outbreaks is
> nutrients that fuel phytoplankton that feeds starfish larvae, increasing
> larval survival.  If humans add to the nutrients, then part of the cause of
> outbreaks may be human impacts.  Removing the starfish is helping restore a
> natural ecosystem.  Plus save more of the temperature-tolerant corals that
> survived, we need all of those we can get!
>      So, splendid idea!!  I understand that injection kits are currently
> the most efficient way to kill them.  Managers rarely get to benefit the
> reef directly, this is one of the few instances.  In the long run, if an
> area is impacted by human-produced nutrient runoff, then reducing that
> nutrient runoff may reduce crown-of-thorns outbreak frequency and benefit
> the reef that way.  The ability of the coral community to recover from
> bleaching mortality is resilience, so removing crown-of-thorns is
> increasing reef resilience.  Good thing to do.
>
> Cheers,  Doug
>
> Knowlton N, Lang JC, Keller BD  (1990)  Case study of natural population
> collapse: post-hurricane predation on Jamaican staghorn corals.
> Smithsonian Contributions in Marine Science, 31: 1-25
>
> Birkeland C  (1982)  Terrestrial runoff as a cause of outbreaks of
> *Acanthaster
> planci*.  Marine Biology 69: 175-185.
>
>
>
> Birkeland, C.  1989.  The Faustian traits of the crown-of-thorns starfish..
> American Scientist 77: 154-163.
>
>
> Brodie, J., Fabricius, K., De'ath, G., Okaji, K.  2005.  Are increased
> nutrient inputs responsible for more outbreaks of crown-of-thorns
> starfish?  An appraisal of the evidence.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 51:
> 266-278.
>
> On Wed, Sep 16, 2015 at 8:23 AM, Austin Bowden-Kerby <
> abowdenkerby at gmail.com
>
> wrote:
>
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> The reports of massive bleaching developing in both the Pacific and
> Caribbean are quite concerning to us all.   Is there nothing we can do but
> stand by and passively watch?  I propose an alternative approach.
>
> In Fiji, the massive bleaching event of 2000 killed 90% or more of the
> corals on some of our Southern Reefs. The few surviving unbleached corals
> provided hope that the reefs could adapt over time, however
> *Acanthaster *(COTS)
> subsequently killed most of these surviving corals on many of these reefs..
> The probable explanation is simple:  before the bleaching, COTS were in a
> state of low relative abundance, but once most of the corals were gone,
> their relative abundance with respect to the corals became extremely high
> and thus deadly for the surviving bleaching resistant corals, particularly
> their favored prey *Acropora* and *Pocillopora*.   In the Dominican
> Republic, we saw a similar post-bleaching scenario in 2005, but with
> *Coraliophila* snails and *Hermodice* fire worms as the predators.
>
> Might this be the ideal time to mobilize community groups to conduct major
> COTS removal programs in the Pacific- at least for reefs with high
> recreational value?   The alternative is for concerned people to stand by
> and watch in horror, as their precious reefs die of causes that (for the
> most part) they are powerless to control.   If COTS removal were done in a
> systematic manner, control reefs (without COTS removal) could be
> established for comparative purposes to get an indication of the relative
> effectiveness of COTS removal as a proactive climate change adaptation
> strategy for bleaching stressed reefs.
>
> A single COTS can kill a fist-sized coral every day, and that translates to
> massive amounts of corals consumed.  Every coral that survives this
> major                    bleaching event represents a genetic treasure
> vital for the future survival of coral reefs on the planet.  Now is the
> time to act, to ensure that these corals survive the post-bleaching
> predator plagues that can be expected nearly everywhere.
>
> I recently submitted a proposal to USAID PACCAM that was turned down, to
> assist Kiribati with their bleaching emergency.  The proposed strategy
> involved three components:  1. Protecting surviving (bleaching resistant)
> corals through a systematic coral predator removal program carried out on
> specific reef patches, 2. Collection of small fragments of surviving,
> non-bleached (heat-adapted) corals and establishment within coral nurseries
> secure from predation, and 3. At one year and beyond the nursery corals are
> trimmed to produce second-generation, bleaching resistant corals for
> out-planting into selected reef patches.
>
> Where possible, the bleaching resistant corals are planted into no-take
> Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), to take advantage of the greater ecological
> balance and lower abundance of coral predators there. Communities should be
> very much a part of this process, and should be engaged and mobilized. The
> result will be increased human resources involved in nurturing pockets of
> exceptional coral reef health that are composed of bleaching resistant
> corals that have a higher probability of surviving into the future.
>
> All the best,
>
> Austin
>
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> P.O. Box 649 Samabula
> Fiji Islands
> abowdenkerby at gmail.com
> Facebook: Corals for Conservation
>
> On Thu, Sep 17, 2015 at 6:14 AM, Austin Bowden-Kerby <
> abowdenkerby at gmail.com
>
> wrote:
>
>
> Sorry, Gmail won't let me change the subject heading.
>
> Responding to Coral Bleaching
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> The reports of massive bleaching developing in both the Pacific and
> Caribbean are quite concerning to us all.   Is there nothing we can do
>
> but
>
> stand by and passively watch?  I propose and alternative approach.
>
> In Fiji, the massive bleaching event of 2000 killed 90% or more of the
> corals on some of our Southern Reefs. The few surviving unbleached corals
> provided hope that the reefs could adapt over time, however
> *Acanthaster *(COTS) subsequently killed most of these surviving
> corals on many of these reefs.  The probable explanation is simple:
>
> before
>
> the bleaching, COTS were in a state of low relative abundance, but once
> most of the corals were gone, their relative abundance became extremely
> high and thus deadly for the surviving bleaching resistant corals,
> particularly their favored prey *Acropora* and *Pocillopora*.   In the
> Dominican Republic, we saw a similar post-bleaching scenario in 2005, but
> with *Coraliophila* snails and *Hermodice* fire worms as the predators.
>
> Might this be the ideal time to mobilize community groups to conduct
>
> major
>
> COTS removal programs in the Pacific- at least for reefs with high
> recreational value?   The alternative is for concerned people to stand by
> and watch in horror, as their precious reefs die of causes that (for the
> most part) they are powerless to control.   If COTS removal were done in
>
> a
>
> systematic manner, control reefs (without COTS removal) could be
> established for comparative purposes.
>
> A single COTS can kill a fist-sized coral every day, and that translates
> to massive amounts of corals consumed.  Every coral that survives this
> massive bleaching event represents a genetic treasure vital for the
>
> future
>
> survival of coral reefs on the planet.  Now I the time to act, to ensure
> that these corals survive the post-bleaching predator plagues that can be
> expected nearly everywhere.
>
> I recently submitted a proposal to USAID PACCAM that was turned down, to
> assist Kiribati with their bleaching emergency.  The proposed strategy
> involves three components:  1. Protecting surviving (bleaching resistant)
> corals through a systematic coral predator removal program carried out on
> specific reef patches, 2. Collection of small fragments of surviving,
> non-bleached (heat-adapted) corals and establishment within coral
>
> nurseries
>
> secure from predation, and 3. At one year and beyond the nursery corals
> are trimmed to produce second-generation, bleaching resistant corals for
> out-planting into selected reef patches. Where possible, the corals are
> planted into no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), to take advantage of
> the greater ecological balance and lower abundance of coral predators
> there. Communities should be very much a part of this process,
> and should be engaged and mobilized. The result will be increased human
> resources involved in nurturing pockets of exceptional coral reef health,
> composed of corals that are bleaching resistant and that have a higher
> probability of surviving into the future.
>
> All the best,
>
> Austin
>
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> P.O. Box 649 Samabula
> Fiji Islands
> abowdenkerby at gmail.com
> Facebook: Corals for Conservation
>
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 06:10:56 -0400
> From: Shelly-Ann Cox <scox at cimh.edu.bb>
> Subject: [Coral-List] September Issue of the Caribbean Coral Reef
>        Watch   Bulletin Available!
> To: coralwatch at cimh.edu.bb
> Message-ID: <bc9ce0f518b1baf2af640c84d7756c25 at cimh.edu.bb>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> We're pleased to announce the release of the latest issue of the Coral
> Reef Watch Bulletin.
>
> Notable observations include:
> - A strong El Ni?o has developed.
> - Alert level 1 issued for Central Bahamas and Northwest Cuba. Bleaching
> warnings issued for Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands and all the islands
> in the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
> - Reports of paling and disease outbreaks have begun in Florida. Partial
> bleaching signs observed in Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
>
> Read the full issue: http://bit.ly/CRW_Sept_Issue4
>
> Best wishes,
> Shelly-Ann
>
> --
> Shelly-Ann Cox
> Research Associate
> The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH)
> Address: Husbands, St. James, Barbados
> Tel: 1(246)425-1362/3
> Fax: 1(246)424-4733
> Skype ID: shellyanncox
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
> https://www.facebook.com/C4Conservation
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009j6wb
>
> Sustainable Environmental Livelihoods Farm
> Km 20 Sigatoka Valley Road, Fiji Islands
> (679) 938-6437
>
>
> http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
> https://www.facebook.com/teiteifarmstay
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
>
>
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Contractor with Ocean Associates, Inc.
> PO Box 7390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>
> phone 1 684 622-7084
>
> Join the International Society for Reef Studies.  Membership includes a
> subscription to the journal Coral Reefs, there are discounts for pdf
> subscriptions and developing countries.  www.fit.edu/isrs/
>
> "Belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."- Jim Beever..
>  "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts."-
> Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
>
> Energy policy: push renewables to spur carbon pricing.  (the world
> subsidizes fossil fuels a half Trillion dollars a year!)
>
>
> http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7567/full/nature14876.html?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20150904&spMailingID=49465812&spUserID=MjA1NTA3MjA0OQS2&spJobID=760401953&spReportId=NzYwNDAxOTUzS0
>
> Worst-case scenario: if we burn all remaining fossil fuels, Antarctica
> would melt entirely, raise sea level 200 feet.
>
>
> http://www.newsweek.com/worst-case-scenario-if-we-burn-all-remaining-fossil-fuels-antarctica-would-371280
>
> 5 trillion tons of ice lost since 2002.  (that's trillion with a "T".
> Check the steady loss in the graphs.)
>
>
> http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/09/03/ice_loss_greenland_and_antarctica_lost_5_trillion_tons_since_1992.html
>
>
> website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
>
> blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
>
>


-- 
Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
Corals for Conservation
P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
https://www.facebook.com/C4Conservation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009j6wb

Sustainable Environmental Livelihoods Farm
Km 20 Sigatoka Valley Road, Fiji Islands
(679) 938-6437
http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
https://www.facebook.com/teiteifarmstay