Stimulating investment in pearl farming in ... - World Fish Center

Suitability of Habitats for Growth of Black-Lip and Silver-Lip Pearl Oysters Final, June 20084.8 ConclusionsThe coral reef habitats in the Solomon Islands are similar to those found in association withother high Melanesian islands (i.e. Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu) and off mainlandAustralia, but different from those found in the Cook Islands and French Polynesia. InMelanesia, the coral reefs generally either fringe the high islands or occur in shallow,sublittoral areas (Wells and Jenkins 1988). These reefs have a relatively ‘open’ structure andconsiderable exchange of water occurs through the numerous passages linking patch,fringing and barrier reefs with deeper water. On the north-east Australian coast, the majorreef structure is the Great Barrier Reef, which comprises about 3,000 fringing reefs,submerged reefs, platform and barrier reefs. There are also substantial fringing reefs alongthe Northern Territory and West Australian coasts and 'shelf-edge atolls' and an atoll-likestructure in the north-west. There are also coral reefs and areas of coral growing on rockyreefs in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, 400 km north of Perth. In the Cook Islands andFrench Polynesia, atolls are the predominant coral reef habitat and it is in their ‘enclosed’ or‘semi-enclosed’ lagoons that the majority of black pearl farms are located. This type of coralreef structure is scarce in the Central West Pacific region and there is only one true atoll inAustralian waters, the Cocos (Keeling) Atoll in the eastern Indian Ocean.The Ecology Lab Pty Ltd – Marine and Freshwater Studies Page 20