Today, the Pacific Fishery Management Council will consider what sites of the Monterey Bay coral reefs to restore and preserve. The areas of Sur Ridge, Ano Nuevo, and Ascension canyons are all in essential fish habitat conservation areas, making efforts to preserve these regions strong.
The effort comes as result to an incident back in 2016 when trouble struck the towing voyage of a 528-foot dry dock (for us land lubbers it’s a dock that can be drained to inspect a ship). Deep-sea coral about 40 miles offshore the San Francisco Bay was crushed and is still striving to recover. The three sites being considered for protection are currently protected from bottom trawling - that is... dragging a fishing net along the bottom of the ocean - but not other forms of traps.
Coral reefs are crucial to our Earth’s ecosystem, both in and out of the water. Making up 50% of the Earth’s oxygen, the rapid decline of reefs throughout the globe could have a huge impact on the world’s population.
Commercialized fishing is progressively destroying our reefs. Other causes of coral destruction include increased temperatures, pollution, and ocean acidification. Phyllis Grifman is the Executive Director of USC’S Sea Grant Program.
GRIFMAN: If we lose our coral, we lose such an important number of species. And every species in the ocean is important in the sense of farming an ecosystem.
Coral is the basis for practically all ocean life. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, about a quarter of all marine life is dependent on coral reefs at some point in their life. Thousands of fish rely on coral as a source of protection, food, and breeding grounds. Without it, entire ecosystems will die.
Organizations like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, better known as NOAA, have programs set in place to protecting and rebuilding coral reefs. With regard to the Monterey Bay coral reefs, part of the Council’s plan would implement annual catch limits to prevent overfishing and continuous invasion of the reefs. Grifman notes that protecting coral increases the number of fish on both sides of the equation,
GRIFMAN: If you restrict fishing in certain areas, those areas are allowed to come back and return and become healthy, and then they produce more fish.... When we protect certain areas, you know restrict fishing, and we let those areas just get back to where things should be. Then there’s more fish for fishermen to catch.
The project also plans to replant healthy coral in the hopes of allowing more growth throughout the reef. Both hard and soft coral only grow a couple centimeters per year, making the recovery a long one. It is currently predicted that complete restoration would take about 10 years!
Although that seems like forever ways away, Grifman sees hope for the future of our reefs.
GRIFMAN: There are a lot of reasons to worry, But, you know, there’s also reason to be optimistic because there are scientists and activists who are working really hard on developing mechanisms to protect and restore.
If we want to see our oceans flourish and keep Kasunori in business, let’s protect our reefs before it’s too late.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Nicole Bednar.