Good coral reefs yield abundant fish catch
By Connie Nibaten
Sun.Star Baguio News - Philippines
March 25, 2003
A SQUARE kilometer of good coral reefs can produce 20 tons of fish per year and cyanide fishing for the gold fishes in your aquarium might have cost hectares of dead coral reefs.
Coral reefs are massive structures made of limestone deposited by living things. Coral reefs are one of the most spectacular and fragile underwater environments that cover less than one percent of the ocean floor but support and estimated 25 percent of all marine life. They cover and estimated 284,300 square kilometers of ocean floor worldwide.
Likewise, coral reefs are rainforests of the sea and serve as home to over 4,000 different species of fish, 700 species of coral and thousands of other marine plants and animals. As breeding grounds and nurseries of fish, coral reefs are major food resources and bulwarks of food security.
Further, coral reefs supply a fifth of all animal protein consumed by the world's population. In the country, 80 percent of the people depend chiefly on fish for protein. Protein and iodine that are provided in big portion by the catch of the seas are sources of good and necessary nourishment.
In Asia alone, the coral reefs provide food for over a billion people and great sources of livelihood and income. Coral reefs are also sources of medicines.
Moreover, various pressures have destroyed a tenth of the earth's coral reefs and seriously degraded almost one third. Among the threats to coral reefs are trawling, blast, cyanide and other destructive fishing methods, over fishing and coral mining. Sedimentation and pollution from inland resources also wreak havoc on coral reef ecosystems. Marine pollution, especially from oil spills and oily ballast water put coral reefs in serious unhealthy state as well.
The population growth is a threat together with coastal developments that include dredging, land reclamation, housing and industrial development. A more recent finding brought scientific evidence of global warming, which resulted to massive coral bleaching in huge areas worldwide. Increased carbon dioxide concentrations damage and kill corals by including incidents of chemical imbalance in seawater.
By Connie Nibaten
Sun.Star Baguio News - Philippines
March 25, 2003
A SQUARE kilometer of good coral reefs can produce 20 tons of fish per year and cyanide fishing for the gold fishes in your aquarium might have cost hectares of dead coral reefs.
Coral reefs are massive structures made of limestone deposited by living things. Coral reefs are one of the most spectacular and fragile underwater environments that cover less than one percent of the ocean floor but support and estimated 25 percent of all marine life. They cover and estimated 284,300 square kilometers of ocean floor worldwide.
Likewise, coral reefs are rainforests of the sea and serve as home to over 4,000 different species of fish, 700 species of coral and thousands of other marine plants and animals. As breeding grounds and nurseries of fish, coral reefs are major food resources and bulwarks of food security.
Further, coral reefs supply a fifth of all animal protein consumed by the world's population. In the country, 80 percent of the people depend chiefly on fish for protein. Protein and iodine that are provided in big portion by the catch of the seas are sources of good and necessary nourishment.
In Asia alone, the coral reefs provide food for over a billion people and great sources of livelihood and income. Coral reefs are also sources of medicines.
Moreover, various pressures have destroyed a tenth of the earth's coral reefs and seriously degraded almost one third. Among the threats to coral reefs are trawling, blast, cyanide and other destructive fishing methods, over fishing and coral mining. Sedimentation and pollution from inland resources also wreak havoc on coral reef ecosystems. Marine pollution, especially from oil spills and oily ballast water put coral reefs in serious unhealthy state as well.
The population growth is a threat together with coastal developments that include dredging, land reclamation, housing and industrial development. A more recent finding brought scientific evidence of global warming, which resulted to massive coral bleaching in huge areas worldwide. Increased carbon dioxide concentrations damage and kill corals by including incidents of chemical imbalance in seawater.
