#Status of Coral Reefs 2002 - International Coral Reef Action Network

Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2002
particularly those on ships and yachts. The island of Barbados differs from the other
islands by being an uplifted reef surrounded by a narrow 2-3km wide shelf with several
bands of fringing reefs. These are better developed on the relatively calm west coast which
is the basis for a large tourist industry. The French Caribbean has reefs on Guadeloupe
and Martinique, which are similar to others in the Eastern Caribbean States growing on
narrow shelves around high islands. There are a mix of fringing and barrier reefs, which
are better developed on the western protected coasts.
THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
There are 2 distinct island groupings in Netherlands Antilles. Bonaire and Curaçao are
small oceanic islands 70km north of Venezuela that are exposed to persistent trade winds.
Continuous fringing reefs surround the islands, particularly on the leeward sides. The
islands of St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius are in the northern part of the Lesser
Antilles Arc and similar to other islands in that area. The Saba Bank is a submerged bank
in Netherlands Antillean waters that is considered to be a submerged atoll with actively
growing reefs on its eastern and south-eastern edges.
Trinidad and Tobago are on the edge of the South American continental shelf, and under
the direct influence of the Orinoco River. Thus, there are comparatively fewer coral reefs
in Trinidad than Tobago. There is a single fringing reef on the northeast coast of Trinidad,
and many patch reefs near the offshore islands, and particularly around Tobago. These
reefs are heavily used for fishing and tourism with up to 200 tourists visiting Buccoo reef
per day. In southwest Tobago, there are 1,654 hotels, and another 1,372 rooms are
approved for construction.
STATUS OF CORAL REEF BENTHOS
For many of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean, there has been no new information
provided for this 2002 report. For more details, see the Status report published in 2000.
Dominica
Most of the reefs are considered very healthy.
Anguilla
In late 2002, Reef Check surveys of an exposed reef 5m deep and 100m off the north of
Blackgarden showed 15% live coral cover, 4% macroalgal cover, 46% rock and low
numbers of key fish species and black spined sea urchin. Coral cover is considered to be
comparatively high for the island.
St. Lucia
Reef Check surveys in St. Lucia (Maria Island Nature Reserve, Anse Chastanet, Coral
Gardens, Malgretoute and Turtle Reef) in 2001 show that the shallow reefs (3m) continue
to be under stress with further declines since the 1999 surveys. The shallow sites were
dominated by standing dead Acropora palmata, which contributed to more than 50% of
the total benthic cover. Live coral cover averaged 6.9%, ranging from 2-10.6% and fleshy
algal cover averaged 15.8%, ranging from 12-19.4%. The deeper reefs (10m) appeared
healthier than the shallow reefs with 17% cover, although this is still a decline from 1999.
Algal cover averaged 22.2%.
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