this system have been weakened. As in other regions of the world, there is qualitative evidence that the coral reef is stressed. Some of these stresses are human population growth, land use, resource exploitation, recreational boating, and waste disposal.

However, little quantitative scientific data is available to demonstrate a clear link between anthropogenic inputs and coral reef health. Baseline studies on the coral reef ecosystem are scarce. This lack of data makes it extremely difficult to distinguish between natural changes and anthropogenic perturbations.

One effect is unambiguous, long-term nutrient loading in coastal areas or enclosed basins is damaging the natural ecosystems, particularly coral reefs.

It should be noted that the water quality of Florida Bay significantly impacts the health of Florida's coral reefs. Historically, Florida Bay has received a significant influx of fresh water from the Everglades in central Florida. This fresh water has been increasingly diverted for irrigation and metropolitan water supplies, drastically reducing the input into Florida Bay.

Reduced inputs of fresh water in recent years are suspected of having an adverse impact on the ecosystem. Coral bleaching, a presumed natural stress, has affected parts of the reef as well. Bleaching is the loss of symbiotic algae by reef coral, and is believed to be a stress response to extremes of light, temperature, and salinity.

In addition to these natural and anthropogenic stresses, several diseases such as black band and white band disease are causing increased coral stress and mortality. These are examples of problems increasingly seen to be occurring in coral reefs, not only in Florida but worldwide.

To help address these problems, several important and positive programs here in Florida are currently under way. In 1989, the Florida Institute of Oceanography, with support of the MacArthur Foundation, established the SEAKEYS program to designate and implement a long-term framework of monitoring and research in the Florida coral reef area.

The program has four components: Automated environmental monitoring, physical oceanography, coral community dynamics, and nutrient studies.

Another major boost to meeting the research needs of the Florida reef tract came in 1991 when the National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina initiated in the Florida Keys a development program. A major objective of this program is to initiate long-term multidisciplinary research projects throughout the reef tract in order to develop a long-term database.

A key element of the program is the Aquarius underwater habitat, which is scheduled to begin operation in 1993. This unique research facility, to be located in the Florida Keys, will help to establish and support long-term research sites. While NOAA has supported research efforts specifically in the Florida Keys, the challenge will be to develop additional partnerships throughout the region and world that addresses the status of coral reef ecosystems and impacts.

To further such efforts, the U.S. recently, in June 1991, concluded the successful negotiation of the Protocol for Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife, under the Cartagena Convention, which,

among other things, protects threatened and endangered species and provides for a regional system of marine protected areas.

While the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act of 1990 will provide significant new protection measures for the environment in the Florida Keys, continuing research should be conducted to ensure that our management program is addressing the most critical components of this sensitive and vulnerable ecosystem.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my testimony.

[The prepared statements of Dr. Hudson and Steven Miller follow:]

STATEMENT

OF

JAMES HAROLD HUDSON

REGIONAL BIOLOGIST

KEY LARGO NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
U.8. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

AND THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY, GREAT LAKES, AND THE OUTER
CONTINENTAL SHELF

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 23, 1992

KEY LARGO, FLORIDA

Mr. Chairmen and Members of the Subcommittees.

My name is James Harold Hudson, and I serve as Regional Biologist for the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.

Florida's coral reef ecosystem is in a vulnerable state. This ecosystem is composed of complex linkages of both living and nonliving components (i.e., corals, algae, fish, seagrasses, sediments, and ground water infusion) which are in a delicate balance with each other. Some of the important, but not fully understood linkages in this ecosystem which keep the system in balance and healthy have been weakened. For this reason, I am especially appreciative of your invitation to NOAA to testify at this joint hearing to review the status of current research on

coral reef ecosystems, factors affecting these ecosystems and to provide guidance for future research and monitoring needs.

Offshore from Key Largo, Florida lies a coral reef ecosystem that extends approximately 370 km from Soldier Key, north of Miami, to the Dry Tortugas beyond Key West. It represents the only emergent reef system in the continental United States and is the third largest barrier reef in the world. Coral reefs may be viewed as the marine equivalent of tropical rain forests because they represent one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. The Florida Reef Tract contains over 65 species of coral and is home to hundreds of tropical fish species. The reefs are valuable for many reasons beyond their value to biodiversity. For instance, coral reefs:

act as a buffer to waves providing protection to
the coast;

are habitat to many organisms that are the source
of medically important biochemicals, as well as
many commercially valuable species such as
grouper, spiny lobster, and snapper;

support an economically important recreational/
tourist industry as evidenced by the fact that
over one million divers visit the Florida Reef
Tract every year; and

can provide extremely valuable information
concerning paleo-climates and the long-term

evolution of these complex ecosystems, making them
potentially sensitive indicators of global change.

This hearing is very timely in light of recent evidence from

around the world that coral reefs are being stressed by a

multitude of factors.

Qualitative data indicate that there is a

global decline in the overall health of coral reef ecosystems.
NOAA is currently examining the status of numerous species (10)
of coral to determine whether they merit protection as threatened
or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
However, adequate baseline and survey data does not exist to
provide a rigorous scientific assessment of the nature and extent
of the problem. There is great need for the further development
of scientifically based, and internationally coordinated

monitoring of reef ecosystems.

While predicting global climate is an important long-term challenge to the management of our natural resources, a more immediate concern is the stress originating from local and regional anthropogenic sources (i.e., human population growth, land use, resource exploitation, recreational boating, and waste disposal). One effect is unambiguous: long-term nutrient loading in coastal areas or enclosed basins is damaging to nearshore ecosystems, particularly coral reefs.

As in other regions of the world, there is qualitative evidence that the coral reefs in Florida are stressed.

In fact,

in some localized areas, coral mortality has been observed. Anthropogenic impacts on the reefs are likely to be significant, especially since many of their sources are attributed to local, heavily populated coastal areas and of the nature of water circulation in the Keys. However, little quantitative