|
| Reef Check serves as the
community-based volunteer arm of the United Nations (UNESCO/IOC) Global
Coral Reef Monitoring Network. Reef Check also works closely with the
United Nations Environmental Programme to carry out training programs in
reef monitoring and management and to promote the development of national
coral reef programs. The collaboration between Reef Check and Quiksilver
has served as a bright spot of corporate environmental vision at numerous
UN workshops, at World Bank and scientific meetings. |
|
| During the first leg, the
Quiksilver Crossing has served as a platform for carrying out critically
important research on the status of coral reef health throughout the
Indo-Pacific region. Thirteen Reef Check scientists from Australia,
Hawaii, California, Fiji, and Egypt have been hosted on the Indies Trader
and were able to collect data from about 50 remote reefs. Why are these
data important? |
|
| One of the major problems Reef
Check faces is to determine the baseline condition of pristine reefs, so
that this can be compared with the condition of reefs degraded by human
activities. One difficulty is that most reefs far from population centers
are difficult to access other than by boat. The high cost of boats
sufficiently seaworthy to visit reefs as remote as the Northern Lau Group
of Fiji or the Maldives is a major deterrent to adequate data collection. |
|
| The results of these Quiksilver
surveys have documented the following patterns: |
1)
Most reefs show some signs of human impacts,
underscoring the global
nature of the coral reef crisis. |
2)
Many remote reefs have been overfished in a similar manner to reefs
near to population
centers. We have previously underestimated the far reach of
long-distance fishing fleets.
Overfishing has been underestimated as
a general problem facing most coral reefs. |
3)
Global bleaching events that can kill corals are increasingly common
and appear to be
related to global warming. |
| 4)
Many mildly bleached reefs can and do recover. |
5) The
massive forest fires in Indonesia that were started in 1998 by
people clearing land,
led to increased runoff, nutrient enrichment of coastal waters,
algal blooms and die-offs
(eutrophication), low oxygen (hypoxia),
resulting in the death of hundreds of square
kilometers
of coral reefs - most of which have not recovered. |
|
|
| These results of Reef Check
surveys were incorporated in the Reef Check international press conference
covered by CNN and BBC and United Nations Global Status of Coral Reefs
Report 2000. This report has been presented at numerous scientific and
high-level government meetings around the world including Rio +10. |
|
| In addition, the collaboration
between Reef Check and Quiksilver has resulted in the education about
basic coral reef ecology of dozens of surfers who are role models for
millions of young people. This is one of the more enjoyable aspects of The
Crossing and the environmental education achievement fits well with both
the corporate goals of Quiksilver and the strategic goals of Reef Check to
reach all stakeholder groups. |
|
| The use of the Quiksilver
Crossing as support for a National Geographic film crew in the Indian
Ocean provided an opportunity to obtain coverage of Reef Check training
and survey activities that will be broadcast internationally. This public
awareness component is a major achievement in educating the far-flung
public about the value of coral reefs, threats to their health and
solutions to these problems. |
|
| The recent decision to extend
the duration and geographic coverage of the Quiksilver Crossing presents
an unparalleled opportunity to carry out long-term research that could
solve one of the major problems affecting coral reefs today. This is the
problem of the marine aquarium trade wherein reef fish and shellfish are
harvested, often with the aid of poisons, for sale to US or European
collectors. This unregulated fishery has grown to the extent that
deleterious effects have been increasing. However, banning the industry
would just drive it underground and deprive poor villagers of an important
income source. The middle course is to try to regulate the existing
industry based on sound scientific management. The Honolulu-based Marine
Aquarium Council is attempting to do this with help from Reef Check
scientists. |
|
| Over the next year, the
Quiksilver Crossing will serve as the temporary home of Craig Shuman, a
University of California at Los Angeles graduate student, who will be
seeking to determine what level of harvest of several species of fish and
shellfish can be supported at various different reefs. Almost no previous
work has looked at the question of estimating total allowable catch for
aquarium fish. Major problems include the small size of the fish, their
unconventional shapes, and sex changes as they age. A major problem with
some invertebrates is an asexual form of reproduction by fragmentation
that effectively allows them to live forever. |
|
| Thus the Crossing will be
supporting what is effectively a new branch of fisheries science - the
development of fishery management models for aquarium fishery. By looking
at fish densities on many different reefs, Craig will be able to examine
the question of variation in target fish populations in relation to the
type of reef. This information will be particularly valuable in years
hence when others attempt to estimate allowable catch rates from reefs
where little previous research has been carried out. |
|
| In addition to the
opportunities described above, the circumnavigation will provide a unique
opportunity to examine fundamental ecological questions such as
biogeographic patterns in species distributions. |
