[Coral-List] Florida bleaching threatens coral; trying to save corals in nurseries

Mon Aug 21 20:21:53 UTC 2023

Excellent paper Steve,

An example of corporate interests edging their way into conservation is the
dominance of investment fund based projects. GFCR is investment based, and
while the approach may sound realistic and practical to many, it excludes
the many coral reef nations with poor investment potential, such as
Kiribati and Tuvalu.  The second strike against these nations with GFCR is
that they are ranked low by the 50 Reefs Initiative, which has been adopted
by GFCR as the basis for site selection, which in essence has abandoned
these most impacted frontline nations.  GFCR and investment based
approaches also bypass our community-based (LMMA) model, where indigenous
youth are reinforcing traditional tabu areas (MPAs) with
bleaching-resistant corals as an adaptation and coral conservation measure,
carrying out the work with high level of committment and without pay, based
on seeing the enhanced fisheries habtat which has resulted. While local
volunteerism is at its core, facilitating the work requires funding, which
has proven very difficult to access in the present investment-based
climate, so crowd funding has been our mainstay, and I have also become an
unpaid volunteer.  So in response to Luiz Rocha, who started a new thread,
it actually is a funding crisis for many of us, because we can not access
the funding required to implement our breakthroughs.  And now that the
world's best funded restoration work is severely impacted by mass bleaching
and is in danger of failure, will this further impact our prospects for
funding?

Related to this, UN level non-scientists and GFCR have now adopted the 50RI
model as the only widely recognized adaptation paradigm. However, coral
focused adaptation is clearly not part of that model. This is why I
proposed a coral focused paradigm in my recent paper, which I call "Reefs
of Hope"  https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/2/pdf   With GFCR, the initial
investors shyed away from funding any restoration components due to the
negativity and resistance towards restoration which continues in the wider
scientific community.  Now, with this major setback to restoration efforts
in Florida and the Caribbean, I doubt that there will be any change in
people's attitudes.

I have suggested to the authors of the 50RI paradigm that they re-work
their model, as in its present form it is outdated and is misleading the
high level decision makers. Much information has come in since the paper
was published in 2018.
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12587
Unfortunately the model missed the fact that both resistant and resilient
(pre-adapted and quick to recover) coral populations already exist,
particularly on expansive coral reef systems with wide shelves and
extensive shallow waters with strong thermal gradients which provide strong
selective pressures for adaptation. These special reef areas need special
attention. Neither does not consider the present ecological condition of
coral reefs, with chronic stressors such as population pressure,
overfishing, and water quality issues not considered and so some highly
altered reefs with poor prospects for the future are ranked highly.
Another oversight is that the model considers cyclones as 100% negative,
when cyclones are the primary cooling mechanism for over-heated waters, the
most important factor in downgrading NOAA bleaching forecasts.  A very
different set of conservation priorities for reefs will emerge if these
missing factors and others are included.

I am hoping that an increased clarity of purpose for coral reef restoration
scientists and practitioners will emerge from this crisis, with a
redirection of efforts away from numbers of corals outplanted and towards a
focus on rebooting natural recovery and sexual reproduction via outplanting
into nucleation patches, with a stronger focus on bleaching resistance and
climate change adaptation. Healthy coral reefs and less healthy reefs alike
must be assisted so that they can better survive into the future, until
such time as climate change is effectively addressed. Working to keep the
most vulnerable ecosystem on the planet from collapse in the face of
climate change is not going to be easy.  And there will be many losses. But
the front line nations and reefs shoud never be abandoned, as this is where
many vital lessons will be learned, as well as where communities are most
impacted.

Humanity is clearly at a crossroads.  We are entering the dark heart of the
greatest crisis we have ever faced. Climate change and so many deep
environmental and social problems are the harvest of a badly flawed and
exploitative global economic order, and transforming this order is vitally
important.  It is not only about carbon, it is about climate justice,
environmental justice, and social justice.  Our international monetary
system is based on fiat currencies whereby rich nations like the USA can
create vast amounts of wealth out of thin air, while other nations can only
survive by submitting to horrific environmental and social exploitation.
Here in Fiji, the woman cleaning ten rooms in a resort earns just $4,500.
per year, while those ten rooms will earn the foreign company who owns it
over one mllion USD!  The Fiji government has been forced to borrow
billions of dollars from China in order to stay afloat, and every loan is
attached to collateral, which has undermined the future prosperity of the
nation, as these loans can not be repaid, so we will lose our ports,
airports, and hydrodams etc. The poorer nations and peoples will never have
access to prosperity in the present model, and the pressures resulting from
this unjust order are undermining ecological, political, and social
stability, further impacting people's ability to survive.  The reality of
the newly created wealth amounts to the biggest transfer of wealth from the
poor to the rich in history, and so in that context, it amounts to
institutionalized theft by the rich nations, even though few see this
reality.  It is no wonder that unfairly advantaged nations face an ocean of
immigrants as multiple systems collapse, and it is bound to worsen.

How on earth can the unjust economic order which is behind so much
environmental destruction be transformed?   A universal currency would do
much to establish justice at social and ecological levels.  Presently the
system rewards short sellers and currency traders- those who do absolutely
nothing of value to the greater good, but who get the highest monetary
returns.  It is the equavalent of rewarding parasites with the greatest
share of resources, while those more essential to society like teachers,
farmers, and production workers, are under-paid.  And in the less developed
world, how can a nation prosper when the cream of the crop is constandtly
drained off to the rich nations, with all of our best doctors, nurses,
mechanics, etc moving to the developed world, where they can make ten times
the pay!

Solving the climate crisis is all about justice.  This is why we are
focusing on addressing the needs of the poor fishing communities- who
retain the power to set aside no-take areas and to work corals without any
obstaces. This is a reality far removed from the Florida situation, however
both your failures and victories will impact our eforts.

ONE PLANET, ONE PEOPLE, ONE ATMOSPHERE, ONE OCEAN

Sorry for rambling,

Austin

Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
Corals for Conservation
P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands

https://www.corals4conservation.org
Publication on C4C's coral-focused climate change adaptation strategies:
Film on our "Reefs of Hope" coral restoration for climate change adaptation
strategies:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG0lqKciXAA
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
<https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/>

Teitei Livelihoods Centre
Km 20 Sigatoka Valley Road, Fiji Islands
(679) 938-6437
http:/www.
<http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji>
teiteifiji.org
http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/happy-chickens-for-food-security-and-environment-1/

On Mon, Aug 21, 2023 at 1:51 AM Steve Mussman via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>
> “When money and science fight, science usually loses-but often that's
>
> because we don't make enough noise. Or because some of us were bought
>
> or rented”.
>
> Hi Mike and all,
>
> Isn’t that ultimately what all our discussions on this subject boil down
> to? We continuously chase our tails debating how best to save coral reefs
> all the while averting our attention from the discomfiting fact that there
> has been a long-standing disconnect, a dichotomy if you will, between our
> socioeconomic preferences, the way most of us have chosen to live our lives
> and the conservation of nature.
>
> This paper, from ScienceDirect, spells it out more clearly. If you don’t
> have the time to read it all, drop down and read the conclusion, but the
> author raises the poignant question of whether or not nature can be
> adequately protected without first “actualising alternative
> social-ecological economic systems”.
>
> https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320722000817
>
> Regards,
>
> Steve
>
> On 8/17/23, 10:42 AM, Risk, Michael via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> Hi Phil.
>
> Maybe it's just the old guys that really see the damage? But all the
>
> data remain out there...yes, it has been amusingly depressing to see
>
> all the folks running around with their hair on fire, trying to "save"
>
> reefs that went from >60% cover to 2%, 1960-2000.
>
> I recall writing a summary report for one of your agencies (NOAA?) in
>
> 2000, on the monitoring programs in the Keys. My first salt-water dive
>
> was at Dry Rocks in 1961, and I was horrified by the results that were
>
> presented in 2000. (The best of which, it must be said, being from the
>
> FMRI program in which you were involved.)
>
> In my report, I characterized the situation as a "regional mass
>
> extinction." That comment was removed by the editors.
>
> When money and science fight, science usually loses-but often that's
>
> because we don't make enough noise. Or because some of us were bought
>
> or rented.
>
> Mike
>
> __________________________________________________________________
>
> From: Coral-List on behalf of
>
> Phillip Dustan via Coral-List
>
> Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2023 8:19 AM
>
> To: Douglas Fenner
>
> Cc: coral list
>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Florida bleaching threatens coral; trying to
>
> save corals in nurseries
>
> Caution: External email.
>
> Dear Listers,
>
> The Florida Keys are pretty much gone having lost over 95% of their
>
> coral
>
> cover BEFORE 2000.
>
> The fuse was lit before Global Warming reared its head when the
>
> enlarged
>
> water pipeline and new bridges were built in the 1980's, maybe even
>
> before
>
> that when the Army Corps "ditched" South Florida and Diadema died. The
>
> Sanctuaries Program was a good idea but it was never really
>
> implemented,
>
> nor meant to protect the reefs. It supported the economic growth of
>
> tourism. The massive influx of tourists DOUBLED the flush rate in Key
>
> West
>
> during the "mini" lobster harvest in August. Nutrients and fecal matter
>
> flowed into the sea. Overdevelopment generated massive amounts of water
>
> and
>
> aerial-bourne fine sediments and the slaughter of fish and crustaceans
>
> only
>
> increased as the Tourist Board kept screaming "Come on Down".
>
> We know this, we watched it happen. we measured it from space to
>
> underwater.......It was a triumph of economic interests over biological
>
> principles. Now, there is great concern over saving the very last bits
>
> and
>
> pieces when we should have been concerned with saving the ecosystem.
>
> Saldy,
>
> SCLD and hot water are now simply mopping up what's left. There were
>
> Iconic Reefs in the Keys but no longer. But these funding efforts begin
>
> to
>
> support a "scientific" economy. Humpty Dunpty can't simply be put back
>
> together again without restoring the environmental conditions that
>
> supported the original development: clean water, intense sunlight, high
>
> rates of herbivory, complex food webs........ The idea that we can
>
> restore
>
> the Keys is hubris with a heavy dash of politics, a "Let them eat cake"
>
> approach..
>
> Sadly, the plague of humanity has spread into the far reaches of the
>
> Caribbean and the region is looking more and more like the Florida
>
> Keys.
>
> Perhaps we should begin to realize that there are no safe refugia for
>
> coral
>
> reefs in the Caribbean and efforts should begin to save the region, not
>
> simply the Keys.
>
> Phil
>
> On Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 8:04AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
>
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> [1]https://www.yahoo.com/news/floridas-coral-reef-danger-scientists-090
>
> 340658.html
>
> >
>
> > Cheers, Doug
>
> >
>
> > --
>
> > Douglas Fenner
>
> > Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
>
> > NOAA Fisheries Service
>
> > Pacific Islands Regional Office
>
> > Honolulu
>
> > and:
>
> > Coral Reef Consulting
>
> > PO Box 997390
>
> > Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298 USA
>
> >
>
> > One recent study estimates over 61,000 people died from heat during
>
> > Europe's record-breaking summer last year.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> [2]https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-breaking-heat-bakes-us-014459083.h
>
> tml
>
> >
>
> > 1 million Florida buildings will be overrun by sea-level rise, new
>
> study
>
> > shows, at a cost of $261-624 BILLION
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> [3]https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-million-florida-buildings-overrun-09120
>
> 3340.html
>
> >
>
> > Scientists size up human predatory footprint
>
> > Humans are the ultimate predators, trapping, hunting, or otherwise
>
> > exploiting 15,000 species of vertebrates--300 times more species than
>
> > jaguars and 113 times more than great white sharks.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> [4]https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-muscular-dystrop
>
> hy-therapy-lab-grown-chicken-and-humans-toll-wildlife
>
> > _______________________________________________
>
> > Coral-List mailing list
>
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>
> > [5]https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> --
>
> Phillip Dustan PhD
>
> Charleston SC 29424
>
> 843-953-8086 office
>
> 843-224-3321 (mobile)
>
> "When we try to pick out anything by itself
>
> we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords
>
> that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "
>
> * John Muir 1869*
>
> *A Swim Through TIme on Carysfort Reef*
>
> [6]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
>
> *Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video*
>
> [7]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6
>
> LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
>
> *Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video*
>
> *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
>
> <[8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo>*
>
> TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
>
> [9]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
>
> Google Scholar Citations:
>
> [10]https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Coral-List mailing list
>
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>
> [11]https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> References
>
> 1.
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/floridas-coral-reef-danger-scientists-090340658.html
>
> 2. https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-breaking-heat-bakes-us-014459083.html
>
> 3.
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-million-florida-buildings-overrun-091203340.html
>
> 4.
> https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-muscular-dystrophy-therapy-lab-grown-chicken-and-humans-toll-wildlife
>
> 5. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
>
> 7.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
>
> 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
>
> 9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
>
> 10. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
>
> 11. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Coral-List mailing list
>
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list