Coral reef loss in Caribbean leads to ongoing fish declines

[Anthony]

This is a pretty sobering story - http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0430-hanc ... nfish.html

“Caribbean coral reefs have experienced drastic losses in the past 30 years - previous research revealed that live coral in the Caribbean has declined 80 percent since 1977. This loss may not have initially impacted fish because the structural complexity of reefs may have been slow to decline,” Paddack explains. “When coral is first killed, by for example bleaching or disease, the coral skeleton is still intact. Fishes use the structure of corals for shelter, so at first, they may not be greatly impacted by the fact that the coral is dead. However, if no new coral recruits to replace the dead coral, the coral skeleton will begin to become covered in algae, erode and break apart - due to water motion, storms, and bioeroding animals such as boring sponges. This may be making reefs less structurally complex, resulting in fewer places of refuge for fish from predation, and fewer spaces for prey to occur.”

[caribechris]

Sadly, my husband and I have noticed the decrease. We have been going to STJ and snorkeling since 1991. The amount of fish we saw when we first went is significantly larger than the amount we see now.