Coral Reefs Decline, Impacting Seafood

by Clare Leschin-Hoar, Posted Mar 26th 2010 @ 4:00PM

For most seafood eaters, the connection between healthy coral reefs and what's on their dinner plate is pretty much non-existent. Consider coral, and things like jewelry, souvenirs, or home aquarium tank decorations come to mind first. But scientists warn they're worth significantly more alive and healthy than they are as fancy wall hangings for your guestroom.

Coral reefs make up only one percent of the vast ocean floor, but support 25 to 33 percent of all marine life, and provide important habitat and nursery grounds for many fish, including some favorites like grouper and red snapper. Coral is also used in medicines, it provides income through tourism, and protects fragile fine sand beaches from storm damage. And while coral may look like just a rock or a plant, they are actually formed by tiny colonies of animals called coral polyps, whose skeletons form the coral we recognize.

But serious pressure from the jewelry and home-decorating trade, damage done by unsustainable fishing practices, and climate change (which is contributing to ocean acidification), means their continued survival is in serious question, and has some scientists sounding alarm bells, including dire warnings of severe hunger for coastal populations and political instability should coral reef declines continue.

For the valuable, deep-water red and pink corals, last week's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Doha, Qatar, was a major blow. A proposal listing them as an Appendix II species (which means countries would be required to monitor and regulate trade) was voted down, disappointing environmentalists.

According to a statement by conservation group SeaWeb, "Intense and misleading lobbying by countries with red and pink coral industries appeared to trump sound science and may have sealed the fate for these precious deep-sea animals."

Kristian Teleki, VP, Science Initiatives for SeaWeb says, "We are harvesting these corals before we have the opportunity to understand their environmental and economical role. We don't know yet its broader importance to the ocean."

Filed Under: Food Politics
Tags: CITES, fishing, SeaWeb, sustainability

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-26-2010 @4:29PM Chad said... Pollution is a liberal lie. God put the earth here for humans to destroy before we're all raptured up into the magical cloud land where we'll live with baby Jesus forever.
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4-02-2010 @2:29AM Kevin Lin said... LOL....what you said made NO logical sense at all....I'm sorry, it just doesn't...who the hell says the world is for us humans to destroy? We were NOT the first living things to inhabit the Earth, and whatever the hell you're saying is simply, I guess, too selfish