Low reef health: While reports indicate a worldwide reduction in coral reef covering, in the Caribbean the problem is compounded by the reefs' increasingly slow rate of recovery,
Credit: iStockphoto
Reef recovery program
Nonetheless, he said the University of Miami has a coral reef recovery program.
"We extract some corals, help them to grow and get stronger and return them to their communities in better condition so they can reproduce, or we take them to places where (coral reefs) have died off."
Development and overfishing also pose a threat to coral reefs, said Chantal Collier, with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. "In Florida, which has the third longest reef system in the world, coastal population has grown by 64 per cent in the past two decades, putting pressure on the reefs from development," Collier said.
"Fishing is an activity of major concern in Florida, which is known as the fishing capital of the world," he added, noting that fish keep coral reefs healthy by cleaning them of algae that can overgrow and choke off nutrition.
The five-day Coral Reef Symposium, ending Friday, brings together some 2,500 scientists, conservationists and government officials from 114 countries.
'Decimation' of coral reefs
When alleged "experts" or media-prone scientists use the word 'decimate' I wonder if they mean killing every 10th person in the group [the Roman use of the word] or do they mean only 10% survive with 90% being killed off? Neither rule applies to "only 20% (of the coral reefs are) healthy".
Evan Holt