LA Assignment: My blog prompt

I am referring to the article "Fishing for trouble" from The Straits Times. This article is about the coral reefs in South-East Asia which are under serious threat from over fishing and pollution. I decided to post about this cause I am concern about the welfare of this natural wonders.

We are cooking up trouble in the paradise. The live seafood trade, driven by growing demand in an increasingly affluently China, poses the latest of many threats to South-East Asia's coral reefs. Pollution from a growing coastal population are degrading them, increased carbon dioxide levels are making the waters inhospitaby warm and acidic, bleaching and dissolving corals and fishermen thtreaten to eliminate the fish that hold the whole reef ecosystem teogether. These have long threaten the forests of the sea. Without immediate regulatory action, these magnificent natural wonders will be irrevocably lost.

Consider the Wakatobi Marine National Park off Sulawesi in Indonesia. The park is home to sundrenched beaches and sapphire waters, and some of the world's most spectacular reefs. Groupers inhabiting the reefs there can grow to between 60cm and 2.5m. However, not a single grouper larger than 20cm was observed now. Anything larger had been caught by local fishermen, destined to be on a dinner plate - and the local grouper populations had been all but extinguished. Their loss is a harbinger of the total collapse of the reef ecosystems towards which we are hurtling at breakneck speed.

What exactly will be losing if the South-East Asian reefs collapse? More biodiversity than the entire Amazon rainforest holds. The region's Coral Triangle has the most concentrated biodiversity in the world, with about 10 times more species than Caribean reefs. We would also what may be the most important source of natural medicines in the 21st century. Coral skeletons are already being used as human bone grafts, and about 1,000 reef species are tested annually by the United States National Cancer Institute for potential cancer treatments. All this diversity and potential may be well lost within 20 years.

The problem lies in an utter lack effective enforcement. An expert on marine conservation at the National University of Singapore, has pointed out how in parts of Indonesia, one locally employed ranger, in one dinghy with an outboard, often has to patrol vast swathes of ocean alone - if he patrols at all. With so little logistical support for rangers on the ground, illegal fishermen often have the free rein to do as they please. Even where the resources to enforce regulations are available, the rampant coruuptions endemic to much of South-east Asia poses additional difficulties.

To make matters worse, recent research has shown that even mild fishing pressure can dramatically alter the structure of reef ecosystems. Scientists at the Scripps Instituition of Oceanography in the United States studied the Northern Line islands in the central Pacific, which include some of the last remaining pristine reefs in the world. Reefs fished by islanders had drastically different fish communities, and were far less healthy. These reefs support a mere 2,000 to 5,000 people each. Sulawesi alone has a population of more than 16 million people. At such numbers, even the subsistence-level fishing permitted in most of the region's protected areas may prove too much for reefs to withstand. Stopping locals from fishing for a living will require education and monitoring. But more importantly, a viable alternative livelihood is needed.


I feel for the sake of the reefs and for ourselves, we must act, because marine life helps to hold the whole reef ecosystem together in all its biodiversity. Things like like reducing consumption of unsustainable or live seafood would be an easy and crucial first step towards safe-guarding our oceans - before we lose our last traces of paradise. We should conserve these magnificent natural wonders for the enjoyment of the generations to come.