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Irprcvcd hervcrtlng tcctnologicr
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TfE increasing demand of gnowing populations on coral reef s for food and other
amenities has spurred the developnnnt or inportation of new and better technology to
facilitate the harveet of neef nesources, often exceeding the capecity of thege regources for
renewal or replenishment. Thus, rnoat native fishing equiprnant, for exanple, has been
replaced by nntal hooks and lures, nylon lines and throw nets, spear guns, diving gear, plastic
boats, and gasoline-powered engines. The advent of the Second World War, in addition, has
introduced Pecific islenders to the use of explosives and chemicals for catching fiah (Mason,
L979\
In e senserthe following issues are also an offshoot of the general problem of increased
human populations m Pacific islands.
Devalqmnt of ncw rucf urer
There hes ccurred over time a decline in the use of food of reef origin. The latter has
been supplanled by other reef uses, urch as handicraft industries bssed on products from the
reefs, md pearl c,ulture (Salvat, I98lb! Trade in reef products has grown to be a major
commereial activity (Salvat, 1980; WeUs, 1981). This has resulted in ihe depletion of stocks
of many reef organisms such as mother-of-pearl, Trochus, Turbo mermoratus, other decorative
shells, and verious scleractinian eorals. The coral trade and its implications for management
have been discussed elsewhere (Ganez, f98l).
Tourism has grown to be ihe most important industry on many Pacific islands (Mason,
L979). Because they are small in scale, fragile, and easily degraded, tropical island
environments are particularly threatened (Dahl, 1982; Salvat, L97t). With careful planning'
however, much of the impact from tourism may be offset (Ryland' f98l).
In the face of the new and mostly unforeseen stresses inflicted on conal reefs with the
onset of modernization, efforts have been made to develop reef resources on a planned and
controlled basis, but on a larger scale then has hi[herto been carried out, Unfortunatelyt
there are indications that the fishenies developnnnt efforts currently underway are not
eppropriate to the natural and human environments of the tropical Pacific (Gawel' f98I).
Among others, problems in marine resource development involve manpower, infrastrucluret
marketing, processing, hrsiness management, financing, and fuel eosts. It is anticipaled !hat
these problems will continue to preoccupy resource managers for a long time t.o come.
Reaourcc degradation
Perhaps me of the most serious problems to arise wilh respect to reef resources is
that of degradation from human activities. A list of current causes of reef degradation is
presented in Table 5. Salvat (l98la) notes that all of the items listed in this lable have been
originally absent in subsistence settings, except for lhe use of poisons for fishing. A general
discussion of destructive human acLivities is provided by Salvat (1978' l98la). Of these' the
most serious damage appears to be caused by collection of the reef biota, sedimentation, and
dredging. In an overview of reef degradation in the Pacific, Dahl and Baumgart (f982) repoct
blasting, the use of poisons in fishing, pollution, and siltation to be major eausative fac[ors.
Murrell (1982) reports at least three-quarters of Pacific countries as now having manine
pollution problems, although these are mostly concentrated in the coastal zones. An
additional source of degradation in the Pacif ic is the use of several Pacific islands as sites
for the construction of military installations, so that a number of reefs are contaminaLed by
radioactive pollution (Ymge, 1969). Mining on coral reefs occurs in Fiji, Papua New Guinea,
the Solomon Islands, the Trust Territories, and Western Samoa (Cruickshank' I98I)' mainly for
coral sand and other construction malerials. Causes of reef degradation in Micronesia as a
whole are documented by Owen (1969), Nolan (1979) and Tsuda (I98f). Short. discussions on
the specific problems of each island or country are available for American Samoa (Swerdloff'
IgTt), the Cook Islands (Hambuechen, I97t), Fiji (Richmond, l98l), Guam (Jones and Randall'
l97t), Moorea in French Polynesia (Naim, I98I), New Caledonia (Parrat, I97t), the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands (Division of Lands, I98I; Owen, I97J), and Westenn Samoa
(Hewson et {.r I9SI). Reef degnadation in Southeast Asia is diseussed elsewhere in this
volume (Y-ap-and Gomez, 1984). Annng other things, the above factors have resulted in
serious depletion of reef organisms zuch as fish (Randall, 1979).