Reviving the Reefs Reviving the Reefs
A coral's basic needs are simple: clear, temperate water; the
elimination of poisons such as cyanide and excessive nutrient
runoff; protection from fishermen, tourists, and boaters; and
limits on coastal development.
Last year, activists declared 1997 the International Year of the
Reef, launching a global public education campaign. Today,
campaigns for responsible tourism and other "good reef
practices" (such as placing mooring buoys in reef waters to
prevent damage from heavy anchors) abound:
Contrary to popular wisdom, old ships, cars, and bicycles
dumped into the ocean to serve as artificial reefs don't foster
coral growth (the iron actually stimulates algae growth). Reef
Ball Development Group, based in Sarasota, Fla., has instead
created reef balls, concrete structures with a pH level that
corals prefer and a "Swiss cheese" design to allow young fish
multiple escape routes from predators.
? The Philippine fishing industry has lost more than 125,000
jobs due to reef degradation from cyanide fishing. The
chemical stuns fish, enabling live capture for restaurants
and aquarium retailers, but kills corals. In response, the
International Marinelife Alliance established a
government-endorsed, cyanide-free export certification
program (similar to dolphin-safe tuna programs) in 1992.
The program, which gives fishermen a higher price for
cyanide-free fish, has decreased cyanide use by 40 percent.
? Once a year when the corals spawn at the Flower Garden
Banks National Marine Sanctuary, a half-dozen University
of Texas divers descend to collect the bounty. Researchers
take about 1,000 eggs and sperm and grow them on
ceramic tiles in stainless steel racks bolted to the reef,
where the test-tile babies begin forming colonies. Scientists
hope to transfer them onto the reef to replace dying corals......
