The Mesoamerican Coral Reef
Known as the jewel of the Caribbean, the Mesoamerican Reef region lies within the Caribbean Sea and touches the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. It contains the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, stretching nearly 1000 kilometers from the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula down through the Honduran Bay Islands. Dazzling arrays of different types of coral form this underwater wilderness, and provide homes and food to 500 species of fish, 45 hydroids, 65 Scleractinia corals, and 350 molluscs along with a great diversity of sponges, marine worms and crustaceans. Along the shores, mangroves provide habitat for fish and shorebirds as well as protect coastal areas from the damage associated with hurricanes and strong storms.
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The scenic beauty of the region’s coastal areas makes it a prime tourist destination, which can put pressure on fragile reef environments. Further inland, rich soils attract large-scale agriculture, whose run-off can severely impact reefs. And increasing sea levels and water temperatures from climate change threaten corals and other marine animals such as turtles, as well as the communities that depend on the reef for their livelihoods and food security.
Although the reefs have survived seasonal onslaughts of hurricanes and other natural disasters, they may not be so well prepared to withstand the impact of human activity. It is also home to one of the world's largest population of manatees, mammoth whale sharks, several species of marine turtles and other amazing marine life.
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Reef protection
Coastal development, unregulated tourism, pollution and overfishing threaten the reef system.
Climate change is another serious problem.
We are working in Mexico with coastal communities on the ground and in the water to reduce the reef's vulnerability to these ongoing threats.
Protecting this Caribbean treasure is a conservation priority.
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Surviving Climate Change
Climate change is expected to have a significant impact on the Great Mayan Reef, ranging from coastal flooding linked to rising sea levels to increased mass coral bleaching due to warming seas.
This will affect the reef's fragile biodiversity and the millions of people who depend on it for their livelihoods.
We are working with coastal communities along the reef to develop climate change adaptation strategies. This includes coral reef and mangrove forest conservation and restoration, and establishing marine protected areas.
The different kinds of Reefs
Coral Reefs
A natural Reef can be characterized as an elevated hard surface on which sedentary or encrusting animals live, such as sponges, hydroids, anemones, and bryozoans; These animals increase the opportunities to catch plankton while minimizing the smothering effect of settling sediments. Most animals with sessile adult stages produce pelagic eggs and larva that live in the water column in order to distribute their offspring into areas suitable for colonization. Consequently, any new hard surfaces are quickly occupied.
Mid water fish are often attracted to rocks or wrecks that give some shelter from tidal currents and predators, and increase feeding potentials. Such hard substratum sometimes contain crevices that can also provide shelter for crabs and lobster. Rocks on reef offer valuable sediment sites for seaweed and invertebrates, and shelter for mobile bottom dwelling forms and fish, so providing additional feeding opportunities for many animals.
Any extension of such a habitat, construction of an artificial reef, increases the quantity of animals able to live within a given area of seabed.
Artificial Reefs
Artificial reefs have potentials as a positive management tool that can be used to allow the stressed natural site to recover, and to develop quality fishing grounds close to access points. With the concomitant beneficial effects for recreational divers, anglers and the economies of local communities by increasing stock sizes of reef fishes as well as enlarging overall population numbers of species present in a particular area.
Is there a difference between an artificial and a natural reef? Reefs no simple things from stone and rock separate living structures. Corals are the only organisms, which build themselves their foundation and that the following generations.
What is an artificial reef?
Artificial reefs are man-made or natural objects placed in selected areas of the marine environment to provide or improve solid and rough bottom habitat and thereby increase the productivity and harvestability of certain fish valuable to man.
Most exploitable fishes inhabit the continental shelves, but much of the shelf area consists of unproductive sand or mud bottom. Coral reefs and rock outcrops are desirable recreational fish sites, but are found only in limited areas along most coasts.
Advantages of an Artificial Reef
Artificial Reefs provide shelter, calm waters, influence water currents so that fish save energy while swimming against the current.
Attract smaller organisms which are vital sources of Food for different marine species.
They also serve as visual reference points for fish that forage away from the reef and increase the all over reef area which can host a larger number of reef fish.
These reefs, if properly constructed and properly buoyed, can be used to enhance existing rough bottom habitat, develop quality fishing ground close to access areas.
Development of aquaculture along with the constructions of artificial reefs, helps in fisheries management, to enhance the wild population in aquaculture systems.
In short, the development of environmental friendly alternatives as well as the potential of artificial reefs favors the epifauna filter-feeding community to act as biofilters; enlarge and allow rehabilitation of stressed natural habitats, and quantitatively boosts many marine species.
Disadvantages of an Artificial Reef
Although artificial reefs usually do not have that many negative impacts, they can cause troubles if poorly designed and mounted.
Insufficiently weighted materials which end up miles away from the reef site by strong winter storm (such as tires, etc.) can damage sedentary organisms of nearby natural reef sites and play havoc with the nets of commercial fisherman?s bottom trawl.
Inadequate buoys and buoy chains, lost buoys, increase the amount of materials dumped into the sea, interfere with shipping or mineral development, apart being difficult to find.
Use of toxic materials that pollute the aquatic environment (benzene-, heavy metals containing substrate) increase the already huge antropogenic impact.
Artificial reefs are not marked so fishing or other vessels can?t avoid them.
Artificial Reefs around the world (http://www.artificialreefs.org/)
The majority of they have been built by artisan fishermen in tropical countries. The purpose of such a reef is to increase catches in local fishing grounds using simple, readily available materials like rocks, trees, bamboo, scrap tires, etc.
The Japanese are the world leaders in artificial reef technology for commercial fishery enhancement and have been creating artificial reefs since the 18th century; the materials used are of high quality like concrete, steel and glass-reinforced plastic.
In the USA, the artificial reef programs of many maritime states are run for the benefit of recreational sports fishing, (SCUBA) diving, commercial fishing, waste disposal, and environmental mitigation; the materials used are mostly waste, including: concrete, rock, construction rubble, scrap tires, cars, railway carriages and ships. Only Japan and the USA have a national development plan.
Malaysia and the Philippines use waste tires to build many of their artificial reefs. The central Visayan Islands of the Philippines have known to use 1600 pyramid bamboo modules.
Australian reefs have been built from materials of opportunity such as tires and redundant ships; these reefs are used primarily as a focus for recreational angling, and SCUBA diving.
In Taiwan many fishing vessels (made absolete by government policy to reduce the size of the fishing fleet) were sunk to provide new habitats.
In Europe artificial reefs were pioneered along the Mediterranean coast in the late 1960?s. At present, most reefs are still associated with scientific research.
Italy, France and Spain have been the most active reef building countries since 1970. Spain is placing more artificial reefs into its coastal waters than other EU country. In 1991, Italian artificial reef scientists for the 1st time formed an inter-European reef group to encourage liaison between research groups and other association of the Mediterranean. Current initiatives include a network of European artificial-reef research to establish a coordinated direction for artificial reefs within the EU.
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Planning and Construction of an Artificial Reef
Comprehensive planning is essential to a successful reef-building effort. Materials, reef location, buoys, permits, assembly area, labor, financing, transportation and possible conflicts of interest must be carefully considered at the beginning of each project. Solutions of these considerations are best worked out by a committee representing local and State governments, State and Federal fishery biologists, sport and commercial fishermen, tourism board, and interested individuals.