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Red and pink corals, the Atlantic bluefin tuna, the polar bear and several shark species are being considered for increased protection when the 15th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) convenes in Doha, Qatar, from March 13 to 25.

Sweden (on behalf of the European Union) and the United States have proposed that all species of red and pink corals, or Coralliidae, be listed under Appendix II of the convention. That move would ensure that any future trade in those species would be strictly monitored and controlled.

Pink and red corals are deep-sea precious corals found in the Mediterranean and Pacific. Between 30 and 50 metric tons are fished annually to meet consumer demand for jewelry and decorative items. The United States alone imported 28 million pieces of red and pink coral between 2001 and 2008. Necklaces made from the smoothed and polished skeletons of red or pink coral colonies can fetch up to US$25,000.

read more : http://www.seaweb.org/news/oceanupdate.php#cites





Will Coral Reefs Disappear?



The death of 95 percent of coral reefs surrounding the Galápagos Islands almost 30 years ago may be an illustration of the future awaiting at least some reefs elsewhere as they are assailed by threats such as climate change and ocean acidification, say researchers.

Joan Kleypas of the National Center for Atmospheric Research described the sudden declines in Galápagos reefs at a symposium entitled "Will Coral Reefs Disappear?" at February's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She observed that, from mid-1982 to mid-1983, the eastern Pacific experienced increased sea surface temperatures as a result of an exceptionally strong El Niño-Southern Oscillation event. When reefs are subjected to temperatures even one degree Celsius above their normal range for a month or more, they become stressed, expelling the symbiotic algae on which they depend for nourishment. (Because the algae-known as zooxanthellae-provide the corals with their color, their expulsion is known as "coral bleaching.") This is what happened with the corals in the Galápagos; the exposed reefs then became overrun by turf algae, which were in turn fed upon by sea urchins. In the course of grazing, the urchins ground down the reef substrate, contributing to the reefs' ultimate dissolution. Read More: http://www.seaweb.org/news/oceanupdate.php#coral

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