1998 Year of the Ocean Ocean Living Resources 



Coastwide reviews of all chinook, sockeye, cutthroat, chum (O. keta) stocks will be completed in 

 1998. Listing determinations will follow immediately after the status reviews are completed. The 

 ESA provides strict prohibitions on taking endangered salmonids and provides for the 

 responsible federal agency to put rules in place that will reduce, or in some instances prohibit, 

 takes of threatened species as well. The ESA has flexibility that allows both state conservation 

 plans and Habitat Conservation Plans with private parties to aid in conservation and recovery of 

 listed species. The Oregon Coastal Salmon Restoration Plan is a positive model for other states 

 to follow as it provides scientifically based strategies for conservation and couples those 

 strategies with funding to implement them. The Oregon Plan was developed as a grassroots effort 

 with stakeholders. Habitat Conservation Plans with large industrial land owners and state 

 agencies are in place in the west and more are in the development phase. 



Coral Reefs 



As the world's most biologically diverse marine ecosystems, coral reefs are home to one- 

 third of all marine fish species and tens of thousands of other species. Recent estimates suggest 

 that while nearly 100,000 species are known to occur on coral reefs, the number may be 

 underestimated by a factor often (Reaka-Kudla, 1997) Coral reef areas under U.S. jurisdiction 

 cover approximately 16,879 square kilometers (NOAA 1998). They are home to approximately 

 550 coral-dependent species of commercially valuable fishes are under federal management, with 

 an annual commercial value of nearly $75 million. The value of recreational fisheries is at least 

 this much (Spurgeon, P.O. 1992, NMFS 1996). Coral reefs provide critical protection to 

 shorelines and attract SCUBA divers and other forms of tourism. Despite their importance, 

 shallow water coral health and cover has declined worldwide over the last two decades. This 

 decline is directly attributable to human influences, including: siltation from onshore 

 deforestation and construction, pollution, physical damage, dredging, overfishing and destructive 

 fishing practices, and other abuses. Although the collection of live corals is largely prohibited in 

 the United States, a growing international trade in corals and coral reef species is contributing to 

 the degradation and destruction of coral reef ecosystems worldwide. 



Concomitant with increasing human pressures on coral reefs, the last decade has seen an 

 alarming increase in coral diseases, with growing evidence that susceptibility to disease is in part 

 linked to human-induced stresses. It has been estimated that 10 percent of the earth's coral reefs 

 have been degraded beyond recovery, and another 30 percent are likely to decline significantly 

 within the next 20 years (Jameson et al. 1995). It is difficult to generalize about the condition of 

 coral reefs in the United States. There is agreement, however, that coral reefs are threatened 

 wherever they are close to large concentrations of people, and that data are available to evaluate 

 the status and trends of coral reefs in only a few sites (NOAA 1998). The International Year of 

 the Reef, 1997, provided impetus to several international reef monitoring programs, such as the 

 International Coral Reef Initiative's Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and the all volunteer 

 ReefCheck. These efforts will serve to greatly increase understanding of the status and outlook 

 for coral reefs worldwide. 



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