FL Coastal Office – SE Region

The Florida Reef Tract

February 2017

Joanna Walczak Florida Coastal Office – SE Region

Florida’s National Treasure

Florida Reef Tract

Florida’s National Treasure

What Are Corals?

1694

1850

1900

1950

2005

1800

1750

330+ Years Old!

Coral Health

Graphics By: www.ysi.com;

Coral Stress

Graphics By: www.ysi.com;

350+ miles of coral reefs!

Ecologically Diverse

More than 6,000 organisms:

70+ species of marine sponges 35+ species of octocorals 600+ species of invertebrates 400+ species of reef fish 45+ species of hard corals

Economically Essential

Serving ~6 million residents and 38+ million visitors

Estimated to annually support 71,000 jobs and generate $6.3 billion in sales and income (Johns et al, 2001 & 2004)

Global Threats

Ocean (& coastal) acidification

Increased frequency & severity of extreme

thermal events (hot & cold)

Local Threats

Global & Local Decline

Coral Reef Conservation Program

12

• Promote and coordinate research, monitoring, partnerships, and stakeholder engagement/participation

• Represent FL on U.S. Coral Reef Task Force and U.S. All Islands Coral Reef Committee

• Lead response, assessment, restoration and mitigation efforts for non-permitted reef resource injuries (vessel groundings, etc.) - Florida’s Coral Reef Protection Act

• Administer FL’s Local Action Strategy – Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI)

~10

5 m

iles

Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative

MISSION:

To develop and implement an effective strategy to preserve and protect southeast Florida’s coral

reefs and associated reef resources, emphasizing balance

between resource use and protection, in cooperation with all

interested parties.

Non-Governmental Organizations

Environmental Non-Profits

Academic Entities

K -12 & Universities

Private Business

Contractors, Tourism,

Consultants, etc.

Fishing

Recreational, Commercial, & Fishing Clubs

Diving

Recreational, Charter, & Dive

Clubs

Other Groups

Citizens at Large, Surfing,

Ports, etc.

Agencies

County, State, & Federal

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SEFCRI Local Action Strategy (LAS)

SEFCRI’s Our Florida Reefs

68 science-based Recommended Management Actions developed by local stakeholders

www.OurFloridaReefs.org

March ’14 - June ‘16

June ‘13

Feb ‘16

June ’17 +

Coral Disease Outbreak: 2014 - ?

Unknown # octocorals & sponges

Some sites approx. fifty percent of all corals (up to eighty-five percent of individual spp.) are diseased

Patterns of lesions, issue mortality, and speed of progression varies significantly between type of

disease, species, & colony

Multiple diseases simultaneously (some new) – mainly white-plague like disease

species of stony (reef building) coral

Coral Disease Outbreak: 2014 - ?

** Note - Based on qualitative and quantitative reports **

Coral Disease Outbreak: 2014 - ?

** Note - Based on qualitative and quantitative reports **

Coral Disease Outbreak: 2014 - ?

** Note - Based on qualitative and quantitative reports **

95% + loss of known wild

population

Coral Disease Outbreak: 2014 - ?

Reported as effectively dead (5% tissue remaining) in

Dec 2015

95+ percent loss of known wild

population

Coral Disease Outbreak: 2014 - ?

Sites Monitored:

*Additional information on the breakdown of these numbers is available. ** This only includes FRT-wide programs; it does not include citizen science reporting efforts, or the more localized data collection efforts, which would increase the total monitoring effort.

Coral Disease Outbreak: 2014 - ?

2014 2015 2016 FRRP 172* 275* 193* NCRMP 1152* 0* 282* CREMP 40 40 40 SECREMP 22 22 22

TOTAL 1386 337 537

- Broward County

- Coral Restoration Foundation

- Cry of the Water - Florida Aquarium

- Florida Atlantic University

- Florida Department of Environmental Protection

o Florida Coastal Office

o Florida Coastal Management Program

o Florida Park Service - Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

o Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

- Florida International University

- George Mason University - Keys Marine Laboratory

- Martin County

- Miami-Dade County

- Mote Marine Laboratory

- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration o Coral Reef Conservation Program

o Coral Disease and Health Consortium

o Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

- National Park Service

o Biscayne National Park

o Dry Tortugas National Park

o South Florida/Caribbean Network

- Nova Southeastern University/National Coral Reef Institute - Palm Beach County

- Palm Beach County Reef Rescue - Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative

- Smithsonian Institute

- The Nature Conservancy

- United States Geological Survey o National Wildlife Health Center

o St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

- University of Florida

- University of Miami RSMAS - University of South Florida

Questions?

Joanna Walczak Joanna.Walczak@dep.state.fl.us

Photo Credits: J. Marino, P. Dustan, Q. Felty, D. Gilliam, B. Walker, K. Gregg, FWC, A. Seitz, J. Podis, K. Lane, et al.