The state of Curaçao's Coral Reef

Coral reefs in the Caribbean are degrading rapidly with a loss of ~50% in just 4 decades. The cause of this degradation is a combination of natural and human impacts (Wilkinson 2000). If present rates of decline continue, researchers project that 60% of Caribbean coral reefs will be lost over the next 30 years. The cumulative impacts from runoff, pol- lution, tourism overuse, destructive fishing and cli- mate change contribute synergistically to these re- gion wide trends. This Assessment finds the same is true for Curacao

The following five indicators were used to assess the health and condition of reef communities at each site: (1) the abundance of reef building organ- isms and their dominant competitors to determine if reefs at a location were growing or declining, (2) the abundance of coral recruits (juvenile corals) to assess the ability of a reef to renew itself, (3) the diversity, abundance, and biomass of all reef as- sociated fishes to assess the state of economically and ecologically important fish species around the island, (4) the abundance of mobile invertebrates such as lobsters and conch (not yet reported in this Assessment), and (5) water measurements to assess water quality for marine life and ocean users. Researchers conducted marine surveys at 148 nearshore sites around Curaçao