8/7/2019 Cayman Islands Marine Research News - 25 Years of Marine Parks

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Department of Environment

Marine Research News

25 Years of Marine Parks The Cayman Islands are home to priceless naturalresources: coastal ecosystems (coral reefs, seagrass beds andmangroves) and abundant marine life are vital to our economy and quality of life. Inan effort to protect these resources, our Marine Parks were founded in 1986 underthe forward-thinking slogan “Save Our Tomorrow—Today.” Now as we near theMarine Parks 25th Anniversary, Department of Environment (DoE) and BangorUniversity have launched a Darwin Initiative project to evaluate the success of ourMarine Protected Area system and plan for the future.

Marine Parks: ThenIn the 1960s the Cayman Islands began to experience tremendous growth inpopulation size and visitor numbers. By the 1980s, dive operators and fishermen

were complaining to the Natural Resources Laboratory (now the DoE) aboutdegradation of reefs and declining numbers of conch, lobster and fish. Recognizing that our marine resources were increasingly threatened, Government passed theMarine Parks Law in April 1986 – putting into place on all three islands a system of

reserves which was hailed as cutting edge for its time.Marine Parks: NowOver the past 25 years there has been increasing international recognition of theecological and economic importance of Marine Protected Areas. In the CaymanIslands, the success of our Marine Parks and our reputation for healthy reefs drawsmillions of visitors to support our economy. Now DoE has partnered with BangorUniversity and The Nature Conservancy to conduct a comprehensive scientificreview of the Cayman Islands Marine Protected Areas — evaluating reef health, fishand invertebrate biomass, and fishing pressure inside and outside the Marine Parkson all three islands.

Marine Parks: FutureSince our Marine Parks were established 25 years ago, threats to the marineenvironment have changed. Inaddition to increased fishing pressure and habitat destruction,our reefs are now threatened by invasive lionfish and by thepotentially catastrophic effects of climate change. Will our reefs beresilient enough to survive thenext 25 years? Now is the time toensure their protection.

!" 25 Years of Marine Parks…………… p. 1!" Why Marine Parks?…………………. p. 2 !" Cayman Marine Parks………………. p. 3!" Wanted: Acropora sightings.................... p. 4!" Coming soon……………………….. p. 4

In this issue...

Contact DoE@gov.ky to be added to the DoE newsletter email list

Photos: Gary Tayler, DoE, Nancy Nutile-McMenemy , Dora Valdez, DoE

Volume 5. March/April 2011

Marine Parks 25th Anniversary“Save our Tomorrow—Today”

8/7/2019 Cayman Islands Marine Research News - 25 Years of Marine Parks

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Why Marine Parks?Coral reefs are one of the most diverse and fragile ecosystems onearth. Around the world, threats such as sedimentation, nutrification,anchor damage, and overfishing have led to huge declines in coralsand reef fish populations. Persistent human impacts have reduced the

capacity of reefs to cope with continuing impacts and with emerging threats such as invasive species and climate change. However, MarineProtected Areas have been increasingly recognized as part of apossible global solution.

It has been found that Marine Parks promote healthy corals andincrease biodiversity , biomass , size , and abundance of fish: withinMarine Parks, there are more species of fish and they are larger andpresent in greater numbers.

Benefits are also seen outside the boundaries of Marine Parks .Research suggests that fish move across the boundaries of Marine

Parks to colonize the areas outside them. This “spillover” of adult fishand export of eggs and larvae creates more productive fisheries, more vibrant reefs, and healthier ecosystems around Marine Parks.

Marine Parks provide economic advantages. In addition toincreasing catch of fish outside their boundaries, Marine Parks protectagainst the extinction of vulnerable species and are beneficial fortourism: while corals and fish populations on many Caribbean Islandshave already been destroyed, visitors are attracted to the CaymanIslands by our famous Marine Parks and by the promise of beautifulcorals and an abundance of marine life.

Protecting fish leads to healthier reefs. Herbivorous fish play acritical role on Caribbean reefs: grazing algae and preventing it fromoutcompeting coral. By maintaining the natural variety and abundanceof herbivorous and carnivorous species, Marine Parks preserve adelicate balance in coral reef systems. One of the most serious threatsto reefs is loss of fish populations through overfishing. Because thefish in Marine Parks are protected, reefs within and near park boundaries are healthier.

Healthy reefs are more resilient: they have the capacity to recoverfrom major impacts such as coral bleaching, disease, and storms. Forexample, hurricanes can catastrophically damage corals on the reef. Ina healthy ecosystem, fish graze algae after a storm, clearing substratesfor coral larvae to settle and re-establish the reef. In contrast, on afished-out reef, algae takes over and coral may not recover.

As a country, we are fortunate that the early institution of MarineParks has helped our coral reefs survive until now. However, since the1980s our reefs have been seriously degraded. As part of a growing network of Marine Protected Areas around the globe, we must work to ensure that marine ecosystems in the Cayman Islands are healthy enough to cope with current impacts and coming challenges such asclimate change.

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Photos: Croy McCoy, Gary Redfern, Dora Valdez,Chris Burrows-Wood

8/7/2019 Cayman Islands Marine Research News - 25 Years of Marine Parks

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Photos: Jimmy Squire, NOAA, Croy McCoy

Cayman Islands Marine Parks

Map: Cayman Islands Department of Environment. See the Marine Parks Brochure for a key to the Marine Park Zones.

Interconnected ecosystems... As reflected in the Marine Parks 25th Anniversary logo, coastal ecosystems are intricately connected. Seagrass bedsand mangroves serve as nurseries for juvenile fish: in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere research has shown that fishabundance and diversity is greater on reefs connected to these habitats. Reefs can also be damaged by land-basedthreats such as sedimentation and sewage. The proposed Cayman Islands National Conservation Law would allow integrated coastal zone management, taking connections between ecosystems into account.

Protected Areas in the Cayman Islands include Marine Parks, Replenishment Zones,Designated Grouper Spawning Areas, Wildlife Interaction Zones, No Diving Zones,and an Environmental Zone. Regulations for these zones, as well as catch limits forprotected species, are available in the DoE Marine Parks Brochure.

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DoE is collecting sightings of staghorn and elkhorn coral around GrandCayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac. These species were oncecommon reef building corals in the Caribbean but their populations havebeen decimated by threats such as coral bleaching, disease, hurricanes,sedimentation, nutrient enrichment and habitat damage. Please help usmap the distribution of rare branching corals in the Cayman Islands— email DoE@gov.ky with the following information:!" Which species did you see (staghorn or elkhorn)?!" Location of the sighting : please give a detailed description including

distance from shore and depth of the water.!" When (how long ago) did you see the coral?!" How abundant was the coral (approximate area covered)?!" What was its condition (healthy, diseased, bleached, etc)?!" Any notes? Can we contact you with follow-up questions?

(Please include a daytime phone number.)

P h o t o s :

C o r a l p e d i a g u i d e

Coming soon...!" We are preparing an update on the Marine Animal Sighting Programme. Please continue to report

sightings of mantas, whales, dolphins, sharks, large turtles (more than 3 ft shell length) and other largemarine animals to our DoE sightings database! (Email DoE@gov.ky or post to our Sharks and Cetaceans Facebook page ).

!" Get certified as a Lionfish Culler—see our DoE Lionfish Culling Group Facebook page for more info andemail DoE for a schedule of training sessions.

What’s next? DoE staff will visitreported locations to map thedistribution of living elkhorn andstaghorn corals, assess theircondition and identify potentialthreats. Photo: Pedrin Lopez

Acropora cervicornis a.k.a. staghorn coral Acropora palmata a.k.a. elkhorn coral

Contact us: Email doe@gov.ky or call 949-8469 (office hours or for emergency contact numbers)

~Questions, comments or suggestions for the newsletter—or to be added to the email list—contact Janice Blumenthal at Do