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Status of Coral Reefs in the Fiji Islands 2007

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COMPONENT 2A - Project 2A2 Knowledge, monitoring, management and beneficial use of coral reef ecosystems January 2009 REEF MONITORING SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC STATUS OF CORAL REEFS REPORT 2007 Edited by Cherrie WHIPPY-MORRIS Institute of Marine Resources With the support of: Photo: E. CLUA The CRISP programme is implemented as part of the Regional Environment Programme for a contribution to conservation and sustainable development of coral T (CRISP), sponsored by France and prepared by the French Development Agency (AFD) as part of an inter-ministerial project from 2002 onwards, aims to develop a vi- sion for the future of these unique eco-systems and the communities that depend on them and to introduce strategies and projects to conserve their biodiversity, while developing the economic and environmental services that they provide both locally and globally. Also, it is designed as a factor for integration between developed coun- - land developing countries. The CRISP Programme comprises three major components, which are: Component 1A: Integrated Coastal Management and watershed management - 1A1: Marine biodiversity conservation planning - 1A2: Marine Protected Areas - 1A3: Institutional strengthening and networking - 1A4: Integrated coastal reef zone and watershed management CRISP Coordinating Unit (CCU) Component 2: Development of Coral Ecosystems Programme manager : Eric CLUA - 2A: Knowledge, monitoring and management of coral reef ecosytems SPC - PoBox D5 - 2B: Reef rehabilitation 98848 Noumea Cedex - 2C: Development of active marine substances New Caledonia - 2D: Tel : (687) 26 54 71 Component 3: Programme Coordination and Development Email : [email protected] - 3A: Capitalisation, value-adding and extension of CRISP Programme activities www.crisponline.net - 3B: Coordination, promotion and development of CRISP Programme COMPONENT2A Knowledge, monitoring and management of coral reef ecosytems ■ PROJECT 2A-1 : restoking ■ PROJECT 2A-2: Improvement of knowledge and capacity for a better management of reef ecosystems ■ PROJECT 2A-3 : Synopsis and extension work on indicators for monitoring the health of co- CRISP contact person: ral ecosystems and developing a remote sensing tool Cherrie MORRIS School of Marine Studies ■ PROJECT 2A-4 : Faculty of Islands and Oceans Testing of novel information feedback methods for local communitis and users of reef and lagoon resources Suva, Fiji Phone: (679) 3232612 ■ PROJECT 2A-5 : Fax: (679) 3231526 health of coral formation and ii) the development of eco-tourism This CRISP component is funded by the following agency: FOREWARD The South West Pacific has the highest diversity of suggestions that reefs are experiencing an increase coral reefs in the world. Coral reefs and their associ- in exposure to chronic stresses such as overfishing, ated resources are essential to the livelihoods and sedimentation, coastal development and nutrient well-being of people of the South West Pacific. Reef- enrichment. The impact of these factors remains associated resources form a critical part of the diet difficult to measure. of populations of the small islands and atolls of the The Institute of Marine Resources (IMR) of the Pacific. Reefs support income- generating activities University of the South Pacific has been pleased to such as fisheries and tourism and are, therefore, a act as coordinator of the South West Pacific Node significant component of the economies of many of the GCRMN since 2000. IMR has coordinated Pacific Island Countries and Territories. monitoring activities, facilitated training, provided Monitoring of the status of the coral reefs in the capacity building and functioned as a mentor to the South West Pacific node of the Global Coral Reef authors of the individual chapters. We are pleased Monitoring Network (GCRMN) has shown that with the increase in capacity, frequency and cover- there have been variable changes (both positive age of monitoring that is reflected in this volume. and negative) in the composition of coral reef com- We call for the continued support of our partners munities since 2004. In addition, there are special for both funding and collaborations that will en- challenges due to the large area of reefs, remoteness, sure monitoring and documentation of the status and limited monitoring resources. The quality and of these critical habitats are possible into the future. comprehensiveness of country reports presented We acknowledge the initial support from the In- here are a tribute to the hard work of the scientists, ternational Ocean Institute and the Canada-South local communities, tourist resort staff, students and Pacific Ocean Development Program that initiated various other volunteers who have contributed and this GCRMN node. The funding for coordination assembled monitoring data. Such data has provided of the network since 2006 and publication of this important information to students, scientists and book has come from the Coral Reef InitiativeS for fisheries managers in the region and beyond. the Pacific (CRISP) with considerable thanks to the French Government for this support, and the en- The reports in this book, overall demonstrate that couragement of Eric Clua the CRISP Programme coral reefs of the Pacific are in good condition Manager. when compared to reefs in Asia and the Caribbean. Relatively fast rates of recovery seem to indicate The development and production of the country that the reefs of the South West Pacific appear to reports presented here would not have been pos- be resilient in the face of continuing acute threats sible without the hard work and commitment of from increased sea surface temperature, cyclones, the volunteer country coordinators who are the au- tsunamis, and crown of thorns. However, there are thors of the individual reports. These reports have v made an important contribution to the 2008 Inter- national Year of the Coral Reef. We are confidant that the information presented here will be useful to donors, researchers, policy makers, community members and all stakeholders involved in coral reef conservation and management. Kenneth T MacKay, PhD Former Coordinator of the South West Pacific Node GCRMN, and Director, Institute of Marine Resources University of the South Pacific vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement iv Foreword v Fiji 1 Helen Sykes and Cherie Morris New Caledonia 56 Laurent Wantiez, Claire Garrigue, Sabrina Virly and Sébastien Sarramégna Samoa 84 Joyce Ah-Leong Samuelu and Maria Sapatu Solomons 117 Nelly Kere Tuvalu 154 Tupulanga Poulasi Vanuatu 170 Jason J.J. Raubani Acting Principal Fisheries Officer ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The coordination of the South West Pacific Node Appreciation goes to Ms Philippa Cohen, of the of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network World Fish Center, Ms Prerna Chand, a former (GCRMN) is part of component 2A (Knowledge, staff of the University of the South Pacific, Emelita monitoring and management of coral reef ecosys- Wendt-Wilson and Matt Wilson of SAMBA! for tems) of the Coral Reef InitiativeS for the Pacific their edits and proof reading of this report at vari- (CRISP). We would like to acknowledge CRISP for ous stages. providing financial support towards this coordina- tion, the end result of which is this book. Cherie Whippy-Morris Acknowledgement also goes to the other key agen- Fellow – Coral Reefs cies that have financially supported country-mon- Coordinator of the South West Pacific itoring programmes. These include the following: GCRMN Node The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Institute of Marine Resources, (Solomon Islands) Division of Marine Studies Australian Agency for International School of Islands and Oceans Development - AusAID (Vanuatu) Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment The Government of Samoa French Initiative for Coral Reefs (New Caledonia) Marine Ecology Consulting (Fiji) The Government of Tuvalu and Funafuti Island Council (Tuvalu) Sincere gratitude to the six country coordinators of the South West Pacific GCRMN Node who commit- ted time and effort to coordinating and conducting monitoring activities, and collating all the informa- tion presented here. In addition, many thanks to the various government departments, non-government organisations and local communities in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, New Caledonia, Fiji and Tuvalu for their ongoing support. iv STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN THE FIJI ISLANDS, 2007 Helen Sykes and Cherie Morris Marine Ecology Consulting/Resort Support, Suva, Fiji Institute of Marine Resources, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji FIJI CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 1 COUNTRY INFORMATION 6 2 CURRENT PHYSICAL CONDITION OF CORAL REEFS 7 2.1 Monitoring methods and issues 7 2.1.1 Monitoring regions 9 2.2 Results 9 2.2.1 Current Monitoring Period (2005, 2006, 2007) by region 9 2.2.2 Substrate 10 2.2.3 Fish 10 2.2.4 Invertebrates 10 2.3 Long-term Monitoring 12 2.3.1 Substrate 12 2.3.2 Fish 14 2.3.3 Invertebrates 14 2.3.4 Water Temperature 16 2.3.5 Water Temperature related to coral bleaching and coral cover 17 3 DISCUSSION 19 3.1 Substrate 19 3.2 Fish 19 3.3 Invertebrates 20 3.4 Water Temperature 20 4 CURRENT RESOURCE USE 21 4.1 Community resource use 21 4.2 Coral reef species 21 4.3 Turtles 22 4.4 Mangroves 23 4.5 Seagrass 23 4.6 Deepsea species 23 4.7 Endangered species 24 5 THREATS TO CORAL REEFS/MANGROVES/SEAGRASS 25 5.1 Integrated threat analysis 25 5.2 Coastal development 25 2 5.3 Pollution 26 FIJI 5.4 Sedimentation, nutrient enrichment and eutrophication 26 5.5 Overfishing 27 5.6 Destructive fishing and coral harvesting 27 5.7 Bleaching, coral disease and predators 27 5.8 Hurricanes/tsunamis 28 5.9 Outbreaks of organisms 29 6 CURRENT CORAL REEF CONSERVATION EFFORTS 30 7 FUTURE OF CORAL REEF HEALTH 31 8 RECOMMENDATIONS 32 REFERENCES 33 APPENDICES 37 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CONTACTS 52 3 FIJI ExECUTIvE SUMMARy The Fiji branch of the Global Coral Reef Monitor- increased nutrients from land-based sources result- ing Network (GCRMN) was started in Fiji in 2000, ing in algal dominance (eutrophication) in coastal when Reef Check and the GCRMN began a co-op- areas.
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