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-Coral bleaching events may alter the abundance of functional groups and their component species and have profound effects on the ability of local communities within the ecosystem to resist and recover from future disturbances.
-Severe coral mortality occurred in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) between July and November, 2005 because of bleaching and disease; the average decline in hard coral cover was 51.5 percent.
-Sea surface temperatures exceeded the 29.5oC coral bleaching threshold for 12 weeks in 2005; maximum temperatures exceeded 30oC.
-The reefs suffered more thermal stress during this period than during the previous 20 years combined.
-Coral bleaching was observed between July and November, 2005; on average it affected more than 90 percent of the coral cover.
-Bleaching occurred in 22 coral species over a wide range of depths.

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-Covering only one percent of the planet, they are the home to 25 percent of marine species and upwards of 4 billion people rely on coral reefs for the fish and shellfish they eat.
-They provide billions of dollars in other economic and environmental services, such coastal protection, tourism and pharmaceuticals.

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-Anchors generally do not ‘‘miss’’, i.e., they often drag until a large enough coral is encountered to hold the boat. Damage to the coral is inevitable.

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-The tolerance of corals to sodium cyanide is believed to be low and many fishers and others report coral mortality after use of the poison for fishing
-Two forms of drive-in fisheries, muro-ami and kayakas, involve breakage of corals by stones and chains or poles respectively
-On coral reefs, blast-fishers generally target clumps of corals, which often suffer mortality within approximately 1—2 m radius from the blast.
-Coral communities and outer edges of structural reefs which are not likely to damage net are prime grounds for fishing.

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-Coral reef fishers from the Philippines and Thailand frequently report incursions of trawlers into coralline fishing grounds, despite regulations intended to keep trawlers away from shallow areas.

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-Malthusian overfishing generally involves growth, recruitment and ecosystem overfishing, as well as a variety of destructive fishing methods.
-Malthusian overfishing occurs when poor fishermen, faced with declining catches and lacking any other alternative, initiate wholesale resource destruction in their effort to maintain their incomes.
-In Kenya, fishing has removed key predators, leading to population in- creases in drupellid snails, which eat coral, and burrowing sea urchins, which accelerate reef erosion
-Approximately 70% of the major fisheries of the world are being fished at or beyond their optimum levels

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-On reefs subject to anthropogenic mechanical damage, coral species diversity is reduced by 50% at shallow depths (3m), but not at 10m (reef slope).
-The reduced diversity in 3 m is approximately equivalent to the reductions associated with natural mechanical damage such as storms or growth on an unstable bottom, but these natural forms of mechanical damage also reduce diversity at 10m depth.

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-Sresses from land-based sources of pollution are associated with 40-70% reductions in coral species diversity at all depths, with greater impact at 10m depth than at 3 m depth.
-Land-based pollution on Indonesian reefs comes from three primary sources: agricultural runoff (including increased sedimentation from deforestation and aquacultural runoff), untreated human sewage and industrial effluent
-Sites subjected to sedimentation and agricultural runoff had greater diversity than those subjected to combined sewage and sedimentation.
-Data suggest that sewage pollution from the city of Ujung Pandang reaches many of the nearshore reefs of the Spermonde archipelago
-The reefs of Jakarta Bay, however, show the clearest effects of combined industrial waste and sewage on reefs. These reefs are now entirely dead, and many of the Jakarta Bay islands are now submerged.
-Repeat surveys in 1994 and 1995 showed that the amount of garbage per length of strand line had doubled, that the relationships with reef health still applied, and that many of the reefs in Jakarta Bay that were in serious decline in 1985 are now entirely dead, and the islands are now submerged

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-Acute threats cause dramatic damage in a short period of time. Examples include destructive fishing practices, such as blast fishing, as well as other forms of mechanical damage, like anchor damage, ship groundings, cyclones or Acanthaster outbreaks. Acute threats cause significant damage, but do not persist; the reef can, and usually will, recover if protected from further assaults
-Chronic stresses, on the other hand, alter the physical or biological environ- ment on a long term basis, and cause long term damage to coral reefs. Examples in Indonesia include sewage pollution, increased sedimentation, nearshore eutrophication, and industrial pollution

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-The new phenomenon of global coral bleaching events is caused by ocean warming (93% of climate change heat is absorbed by the ocean). Corals are unable to cope with today’s prolonged peaks in temperatures – they simply haven’t been able to adapt to the higher base temperatures of the ocean.

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-Pollution, overfishing, destructive fishing practices using dynamite or cyanide, collecting live corals for the aquarium market and mining coral for building materials are some of the many ways that people damage reefs all around the world every day.

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-One of the most significant threats to reefs is pollution. Land-based runoff and pollutant discharges can result from dredging, coastal development, agricultural and deforestation activities, and sewage treatment plant operations. This runoff may contain sediments, nutrients, chemicals, insecticides, oil, and debris
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-More than 40 countries are affected by blast fishing, and more than 15 countries have reported cyanide fishing activities
-In blast fishing, dynamite or other heavy explosives are detonated to startle fish out of hiding places.
-Cyanide fishing, which involves spraying or dumping cyanide onto reefs to stun and capture live fish, also kills coral polyps and degrades the reef habitat
-Other damaging fishing techniques include deep water trawling, which involves dragging a fishing net along the sea bottom, and muro-ami netting, in which reefs are pounded with weighted bags to startle fish out of crevices

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-In addition anchors dropped from fishing vessels onto reefs can break and destroy coral colonies

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-A resilient coral reef is one that can either resist a large-scale stressful event, such as bleaching, or recover from it. Efforts to promote reef resilience are yielding powerful results.
-In fact, roughly 30,000 coral fragments grown in coral nurseries in Florida, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were transplanted to restore reefs in those regions over the past decade.

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-The government has stepped up enforcement of anti-cyanide fishing laws by establishing a network of cyanide detection laboratories, operated by IMA, that randomly sample fish exports at shipment points throughout the country and monitor all aspects of the trade.
-New regulations are slated to make testing a requirement for all live fish exports and to tighten controls on import and distribution of cyanide.
-A public awareness campaign in the media and public schools is helping to educate Filipinos about the value of coral reefs and the threats posed by cyanide and other destructive fishing practices.
-Cyanide fishing has not ceased in the Philippines, but it has certainly been reduced as a result of these efforts.
-Currently, IMA, the World Resources Institute, and other partners are implementing the only on-the-ground program in Indonesia to train cyanide fishermen in alternative capture techniques, and are collaborating in the Indo-Pacific Destructive Fishing Reform Program to assist governments in at least half a dozen countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific to combat this poison tide sweeping the planet's largest and most diverse expanse of coral reefs.

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-In Maui, the community came together to protect herbivorous fish that eat algae and control its growth on the reef. Now, several years later, algal cover is down, the numbers of fish are up, and the reef is making a comeback.

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-If these algal cells are expelled by the polyps, which can occur if the colony undergoes prolonged physiological stress, the host may die shortly afterwards. The symbiotic zooxanthellae also confers its color to the polyp. If the zooxanthellae are expelled, the colony takes on a stark white appearance, which is commonly described as “coral bleaching”

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Koss, Jennifer. “Promoting Resilient Coral Reefs in a Changing Climate.” Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology, NOAA Headquarters, 30 Nov. 2016, phys.org/news/2016-11-resilient-coral-reefs-climate.html.

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Edinger, Evan N, et al. “Reef Degradation and Coral Biodiversity in Indonesia: Effects of Land-Based Pollution, Destructive Fishing Practices and Changes over Time.” Marine Pollution Bulletin, Pergamon, 28 June 1999, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X98000472.

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McManus, J. W. “Tropical Marine Fisheries and the Future of Coral Reefs: a Brief Review with Emphasis on Southeast Asia.” SpringerLink, Springer-Verlag, 29 Nov. 1996, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s003380050248.

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“Anthropogenic Threats to Corals.” NOAA's National Ocean Service Education, US Department of Commerce, 1 June 2013, oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_corals/coral09_humanthreats.html.

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Christensen, John. “Assessing Coral Bleaching in Four U.S. Caribbean Managed Areas.” NCCOS Coastal Science Website, National Ocean Service, May 2006, coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/assessing-coral-bleaching-four-u-s-caribbean-managed-areas/.

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“Destructive Fishing Is Widespread in Southeast Asia.” World Resources Institute , WRI, Sept. 2008, www.wri.org/resource/destructive-fishing-widespread-southeast-asia.

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Parry, Lorna. “The 3rd Global Coral Bleaching Event.” Global Coral Bleaching, Underwater Earth, 2017, www.globalcoralbleaching.org/#essential-facts.

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CoRIS. “NOAA's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) - What Are Coral Reefs.” NOAA Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) Home Page, 12 Oct. 2007, www.coris.noaa.gov/about/what_are/.