NOAA's Reporter's Coral Reef Tip Sheet
October 20, 1997 - Week 42

U.S. National Marine Sanctuary System Celebrates 25 Years of Protection

Twenty-five years ago this month, the nation got its "Acts" together to protect our oceans and coasts. With the passage of The Marine , Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act and The Coastal Zone Management Act in 1972, the United States made a commitment to stronger protections and a more aggressive stewardship of our marine resources under the newly created National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Sanctuaries Act, which established the National Marine Sanctuary Program, signaled a new approach to natural resource management. The program balances recreational and commercial uses of oceans and coastlines with long-term protection of their natural and cultural bounty. This new national network of marine sanctuaries would achieve this delicate balance by working with local citizens and by joining forces within the federal government to serve our nation’s waters and its inhabitants. With the establishment of the new Hawaiian Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary early next year, the system will boast a string of twelve national treasures, including priceless coral reef systems.

The marine ecosystem of The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary supports one of the most diverse assemblages of underwater plants and animals in North America. The Keys are best known for coal reefs though there are many other significant interconnecting and interdependent habitats. These include fringing mangroves, seagrass meadows, hardbottom regions, path reefs, and bank reefs. This complex marine ecosystem is the foundation for the commercial fishing and tourism based economies that are so important to Florida.

One hundred miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, a pair of underwater coral gardens emerge from the depths of the gulf of Mexico like oases in the desert. The Flower Garden Banks are surface expressions of salt domes beneath the sea floor. This premiere diving destination harbors the northernmost coral reefs in the United States and serves as a regional reservoir of shallow water Caribbean reef fishes and invertebrates.

The Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary comprises a fringing coral reef ecosystem nestled within an eroded volcanic crater on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa. Nearly 200 species of coral on the reef are recovering from a devastating crown-of-thorns starfish attack in the late 1970s, which destroyed over 90% of the corals. Since then, new growth has been compromised by two hurricanes, several tropical storms, and coral bleaching. This cycle of growth and destruction is typical of tropical marine ecosystems.

Contact:
Justin Kenney
National Marine Sanctuary Program
1305 East West Highway
Silver Spring MD 20854
301-713-3140
justin.kenney@noaa.gov

On the international front, The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has recently completed negotiating and signing a contract with the World Bank/GEF to develop proposals for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Tanzania, Western Samoa, and Vietnam. This is one component to implement recommendations in the landmark MPA publication "A Global Representative System of Marine Protected Areas."

The first step in the GEF MPA Project was a visit to Samoa by the project coordinator (Graeme Kelleher) and the project officer (Chris Bleakley) in October this year. The visit aimed to help the Samoan community select the site for a demonstration MPA, which may serve as a model for the South Pacific. The people from more than 20 villages were interviewed. All showed most heart-warming enthusiasm for the project, to the extent that those villages in sites which will not be selected will be very disappointed.

The project will build on a series of small fishery reserves which have been established with great success around Samoa by the villages with help from the Fisheries Division of the Samoan government and funding from AusAID. The MPA will be designed to allow for all sustainable human activities under a zoning system. Particular attention will be given to village-based tourism, focusing on the well-preserved coral reefs and mangrove resources in Samoa.

The overriding requirements are that the project contributes to global biodiversity and that it is self-funding after the initial establishment phase.

As part of the overall project, similar design exercises will be carried out in Tanzania and Vietnam.

CONTACT

Graeme Kelleher
Vice-Chair, Marine
World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN)
Tel: 61-6-2511-402
Fax: 61-6-2475-761
E-mail: g.kelleher@gbrmpa.gov.au

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