[Coral-List] New paper reporting ten years of coral reef and seagrass monitoring in Anguilla BWI

[Dr Stuart P Wynne]

Dear Coral-listers,

The Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources is pleased to announce 
the publication of the latest Anguilla Fisheries and Marine Resources 
Research Bulletin (No. 6). This report details findings from ten years 
of monitoring by the Department at ten coral reef and five seagrass 
permanent monitoring sites around the island. The Anguilla Marine 
Monitoring Programme (AMMP) was established in 2007 to quantify change 
in near-shore marine habitats. Findings are a cause for concern, with an 
11% drop in hard coral cover, a 9.5% increase in macroalgae, a 21% drop 
in fish species number, a 27% drop in fish abundance, and 24% drop in 
size of commercially and ecologically important fish species. It is 
hoped that this first ever consistent temporal data for Anguilla will 
finally provide the proof needed to drive legislative change and promote 
marine conservation measures. Without these changes the report finds 
that "If marine habitat health continues to decline, beach erosion will 
increase, coastal fisheries will collapse, and almost all livelihoods 
around the island will be negatively impacted." The full report can now 
be downloaded from the Anguilla Government website at:

http://www.gov.ai/documents/fisheries/AFMR%20Research%20Bulletin%2006%20(2017)%20-%20AMMP%20Temporal%20Trends%202007-2016.pdf


-- 
Dr Stuart P Wynne
Former Deputy Director
Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources
Government of Anguilla
PO Box 60
The Valley
Anguilla
AI-2640

www.stuartwynne.co.uk