After seven years of studying the Great Barrier Reef, the Cooperative Research Centre for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (CRC Reef) has closed its doors, leaving a legacy of better understanding of reef systems and their key threats, as well as a collection of expert advice which has significantly influenced policy and management of coral reefs throughout the world.

 

The centre, which operated from 1999 until 2006, provided a basis for partnerships between reef managers, tourism and fishing industries and research providers.  "It has been a privilege to be part of this venture which has created a network of research providers, research users, educational institutions and communities working towards common goals," said Sir Sydney Schubert, Chairman of CRC Reef.

 

CRC Reef undertook collaborative research that informed on the major issues facing reef managers and industry including: biodiversity conservation, emerging tourism and recreation pressures, global warming, and the effects of overfishing and water quality on reef systems.  "Results from CRC Reef's research were transmitted in ways that users could understand and really use, said Sir Schubert. Our Scientists went beyond the data to provide expert opinion and form consensus views on major issues." In 2003, CRC Reef expanded its scope into the Torres Strait to work in partnership with Torres Strait islanders to address sustainable use of marine resources in the region.

 

More information about the achievements of CRC Reef can by be found in a booklet entitled 'World Heritage Research: Making a Difference'......... more http://www.seagrasswatch.org/news.html

Lee creeks owe 'disgusting' algae to development (Fort Myers, FL, USA)
 February 19, 2007, By Kevin Lollar, The News-Press

Ulva — its name is kind of melli-fluous; its living sheets of thin, translucent, bright green cellulose are kind of pretty, and you can eat it (very high in iron and protein). Also known as sea lettuce, Ulva is a genus of macroalgae, and it’s fouling two Lee County creeks and parts of the county’s Charlotte Harbor shoreline.

 

“It’s disgusting,” said Aaron Adams, head of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Charlotte Harbor Field Station. “I come up here fishing sometimes, and it grosses me out.” This is one algal bloom that can’t be blamed on releases from Lake Okeechobee. Nutrients in the water triggered huge algal blooms in the river and Caloosahatchee estuary. Many people blame continuing algal blooms solely on Okeechobee releases, but the Ulva-choked Yucca Pen and Culvert creeks are almost 20 miles north of the mouth of the Caloosahatchee and far from any Lake Okeechobee influence.

 

In some ways, the Ulva problem at Yucca Pen and Culvert creeks is a microcosm of Southwest Florida’s algal blooms. Ulva in the creeks covers the shallow creek bottom, thus reducing habitat for juvenile snook and other fish. In the flats outside the creeks, huge patches of Ulva smother seagrass beds — seagrasses are important for many fish and other marine life, and when algae blanket seagrasses, the natural estuarine community disappears. Ulva covers large areas of oyster bars. As filter feeders, oysters are important to the estuary because they remove pollutants from the water. The decomposition of dead algae sucks oxygen from the water and can create a dead zone.

 

Standing knee-deep in Ulva at Yucca Pen Creek recently, Adams expressed frustration at the continued unplanned development that turns creeks into nutrient shotguns and at the lack of government effort to reduce nutrient loading. “It has happened elsewhere, so it’s not like people can say they didn’t know it was going to happen here,” Adams said. “A few years ago I said it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when and to what severity.’ I just didn’t think it would happen this soon. “The light bulb should be going on somewhere. What are people waiting for?”

 

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