[Coral-List] NOAA ´s Report about Port of Miami Dredging Impact on Corals.

[International Coral Reef Observatory]

Dear Colleagues,

In messages of last year, some restoration practitioners were mentioning
that it is not proven the negative impacts of dredging on coral reefs.
Other coral-listers were asking about the final report on Port of Miami
Dredging Impact on Corals written by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS). Here we share it:
https://es.scribd.com/document/669975874/NOAA-report-on-Port-Miami-dredging-impact-on-corals

NOAA, NMFS, 2023, Report,
Examination of Sedimentation Impacts to Coral Reef along the Port Miami
Entrance
Channel, December 2015 and April 2016. *Released *
August 29, 2023 It provides empirical field-based evidence linking deeper
sediment deposits and changes in coral reef bottom cover to dredging that
occurredat Port Miami from 2013 to 2015. reflects a finding that 278 acres
of corals were killed in the Phase III dredging project in Port Miami in
2015.

Sediments can play a role in SCTLD transmission.

The reefs examined are fishery habitats protected under the Endangered
Species Act and the
Magnuson-StevensFishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens
Act).

Interesting quotes to learn that dredging and depositing related sediments
in coral reef areas should not be advisable anywhere in the world:  "Dredging
and related activities, such as transportation of dredged materials or
pretreatment of rock, can result in widespread damage to coral colonies and
coral reef communities (Bak 1978; Dodge and Vaisnys 1977; Erftemeijer et
al. 2012; PIANC 2010; Rogers 1990). Sediment released into the water column
during dredging can settle onto the hard bottom,displacing space available
for settlement, recruitment, and survival of coral larvae (Erftemeijeret
al. 2012). Nelson et al. (2016) found sediment layers greater than 0.5 cm
in depth can cause moderate stress in corals, potentially leading to death
of some corals and recovery in others, and that sediment layers greater
than 1 cm in depth can cause severe stress leading to coral mortality.
It is possible that concurrent stressors, including sedimentation from Port
Miami dredging, contributed to theemergence of SCTLD (Aeby et al. 2019)".


Some of the Citations about Dredging impacts on coral reefs:

Aeby GS, Ushijima B, Campbell JE, Jones S, Williams GJ, Meyer JL, Hase C, Paul
VJ. 2019.
Pathogenesis of a tissue loss disease affecting multiple species of corals
along the FloridaReef Tract. Frontiers of Marine Science 678. https://doi.or
g/10.3389/fmars.2019.00678

Bak R. 1978. Lethal and sublethal effects of dredging on reef corals. Marine
PollutionBulletin 9:14-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-326X(78)90275-8

Dodge RE, Vaisnys JR. 1977. Coral populations and growth patterns:
responses to
sedimentation and turbidity associated with dredging. Journal of Marine
Research 35:715-730.

Erftemeijer P, Riegl B, Hoeksema B, Todd P. 2012. Environmental
impacts of dredging
andother
sediment disturbances on corals: a review. Marine Pollution Bulletin
64:1737-1765.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.05.008

PIANC. 2010. Dredging and Port Construction Around Coral Reefs. The World
Associationfor Waterborne Transport Infrastructure. Dredging and port
construction around coral reefs,Report 108. 94 pages.


Pollock FJ, Lamb JB, Field SN, Heron SF, Schaffelke B, Shedrawi G, Bourne
DG, Willis BL.2014.
Sediment and turbidity associated with offshore dredging increase coral
diseaseprevalence on nearby reefs.
PLoS ONE e102498. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102498

Rogers C. 1990. Responses of coral reefs and reef organisms to
sedimentation. MarineEcology Progress Series 62:185-202. http://dx.doi.or
g/10.3354/meps062185

Kind regards,
Nohora Galvis
ICRS World Reef Award Winner
ICRO Transdisciplinary Researcher


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