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The Caribbean's coral reefs will cease to exist in 20 years if a conservation effort is not made. [127] In 2005, 34 percent of Jamaica's coral reefs were bleached due to rising sea temperatures. [128] Jamaica's coral reefs are also threatened by overfishing, pollution, natural disasters, and reef mining. [129]
Overfishing can deplete key reef species and damage coral habitat. Coral reef fish are a significant food source for over a billion people worldwide. [13] Growth overfishing occurs when fish are harvested at an average size that is smaller than the size that would produce the maximum yield per recruit.
Coral reefs are among the more productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet, but one-fifth of them have been lost in recent years due to anthropogenic disturbances. [14] [15] Coral reefs are microbially driven ecosystems that rely on marine microorganisms to retain and recycle nutrients in order to thrive in oligotrophic waters.
Dec. 8—Aquatic biologists have long known the importance of algae-eating fish to the overall health of coral reefs. But new research documents just how important species like surgeonfish and ...
Overfishing affects the ecological balance of coral reef communities, disrupting the food chain and causing effects far beyond the directly overfished population. Tourism such as careless boating, diving, snorkeling, and fishing, with people touching reefs, stirring up sediment, collecting coral, and dropping anchors on reefs, can destroy the ...
The coral reefs are under threat due to environmental issues such as overfishing, pollution, hurricanes, and disease. Since the the beginning of their moderation in 1972, Jamaica's coral reef cover has declined more than 50%. [10] In 2005, up to 95 percent of the coral was bleached in some locations. [5]
A major coral bleaching event took place on this part of the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef systems, stretching along the East coast of Australia from the northern tip down at Cape York to the town of Bundaberg, [1] [2] is composed of roughly 2,900 individual reefs and 940 islands and cays that stretch for 2,300 kilometres (1,616 mi) and cover an area of ...
Every year, reefs provide about $2.7 trillion in goods and services, from tourism to coastal protection, according to a 2020 estimate by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.