NOAA's Reporter's Coral Reef Tip Sheet
July 7, 1997 - Week 27

The social, cultural, and economic prosperity of the Pacific islands region has been, and will continue to be, directly dependent upon the health of coral reefs and associated ecosystems (mangroves and seagrasses). For example, in some Pacific islands, coral reef fisheries provide over 80% of animal protein intake for humans. In the Pacific, there are approximately 160,000 people who live on coral atolls and more than two million who live on high islands that are surrounded by significant coral reefs. Unfortunately, the coral reefs in the Pacific face many of the same threats as coral reefs elsewhere in the world. If these threats are not addressed, Pacific coral reefs may soon disappear, taking with them an integral part of the Pacific's cultural identity and socio-economic fabric.

A large gathering of coral reef scientists is taking place this week at one of the major scientific events during the International Year of the Reef -- a joint symposium of the Pacific Science Association’s Scientific Committee on Coral Reefs (PSA-SCCR) and the 1997 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS). The coral reef symposium is taking place during the 8th Pacific Science Association Inter-Congress, in Suva, Fiji July 13-19, 1997, one year after the launching of the International Year of the Reef at the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium in Panama.

The results of the PSA-SCCR assessment of the state of Pacific coral reefs, funded by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), will be presented at the symposium. More than 20 papers will be presented during the symposium that address the health of corals around the Pacific, from French Polynesia to Guam to Hawaii. These papers will be compiled into a book entitled "Status of Coral Reefs in the Pacific". A complementary project called the Global Coral Reef Assessment, or GLOCOR, will also be presented at the symposium. The GLOCOR project has produced a bibliography of all previously surveyed coral reef transects in the central and western Pacific, some of which were originally surveyed in 1917. Under GLOCOR, many of these transects have been resurveyed. The findings from these resurveys will be presented at the symposium. The results from the resurveys will indicate changes in coral reef health over long periods of time and may provide answers to maintaining and improving the health of Pacific coral reefs in the future.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE REEF PLEASE CONTACT:

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PACIFIC CORAL REEFS OR THE UPCOMING CORAL REEF SYMPOSIUM IN FIJI PLEASE CONTACT:

Charles Birkeland University of Guam Marine Laboratory Mangilao, Guam 96923 USA fax: (671) 734-6767 e-mail: birkelan@uog9.uog.edu

Richard W. Grigg Department of Oceanography University of Hawaii at Manoa 1000 Pope Road Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 USA fax: (808) 956-9225 e-mail: rgrigg@soest.hawaii.edu

Pacific Science Association http://www.usp.ac.fj/~psa e-mail: psa@usp.ac.fj