1. Coral cover remains suppressed three years after derelict net removal in a remote shallow water coral reef ecosystem.
- Author
-
Halperin AA, Lichowski F, Morioka J, O'Brien K, Suka R, and Huntington B
- Subjects
- Animals, Ecosystem, Water, Hawaii, Coral Reefs, Anthozoa
- Abstract
The uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) contain 70 % of the shallow water coral reefs in the United States. An estimated 52 metric tons of derelict fishing nets accumulate here annually, becoming entangled in the reef structure and reducing coral cover. Here, we investigated the longevity of derelict net impacts on coral reef communities three years after net removal at Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Structure-from-Motion technology was used to resurvey net impact and control sites to determine whether coral cover rebounded at impact sites over time. Our results showed significantly lower coral cover at impact sites. Much of the bare substrate immediately exposed after net removal was also colonized by algae -not reef calcifiers. Continued monitoring of these sites will add clarity to the lasting nature of derelict nets on reefs, and supplementing net removal efforts with active restoration activities may assist in restoring the ecosystem function of impacted sites faster., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. This study was conducted through funding and support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program (NOAA MDP), the NOAA Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (NOAA DARRP), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program (NOAA MDP), the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM), the NOAA Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (NOAA PIFSC) and the Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research (CIMAR) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF