Featured Location: Honduras
Invasive Lionfish, Repurposed
Red lionfish—attractively striped but heavily armed with poisonous quills—were the focus of a fishing derby and cook-off sponsored by the Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA), Utila Chapter, in Honduras in late November. Native to the West Pacific and Indian Oceans, and Red Sea, red lionfish (Pterois volitans) were introduced into Caribbean waters about twenty years ago and have flourished there, outcompeting—and eating—native species.
CORAL helped plan and publicize the derby, in which twenty-two teams of divers participated. Over 350 lionfish were caught, says CORAL Field Representative Pamela Ortega, who helped fillet the fish for the cook-off on November 30. A few days later, CORAL and BICA staffed a booth at the Utila Food Festival, handing out responsible seafood guides and selling lionfish dishes. Says Pamela, “They have white flesh and a delicate flavor. They’re especially delicious in ceviche!”
This effort is part of a larger strategy used within all of our Caribbean project sites to reduce these invasive predators by establishing a market demand.
Learn more about our projects in Honduras »
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Scientist at Work blog: Living Reefs, Under Fire
Source: The New York Times
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Source: MongaBay.com
2013: The Year a Whispering Became a Roar (op-ed)
Source: ABC.net.au
Xiamen hotels suspend serving shark fin soups amid 'poisonous scandal'
Source: What's On Xiamen
More News...
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CORAL and Fiji Government Investigate Shark Deaths
In January, dozens of baby scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) washed ashore on Nukulau Island in the Rewa River Delta. CORAL was called to Nukulau along with a Fiji Times reporter and several researchers to investigate. Recalls CORAL’s Fiji Field Manager Molly Powers-Tora, “We exhumed the two-day-old bodies of twenty-seven sharks. Seven had closed umbilical scars—implying that they'd been born for at least a few weeks—and all of them had deep gill wounds.”
Read the full story on our website »
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It’s Almost Valentine’s Day . . . »
So help make the perfect match! If you’ve recently made a donation—or make one now—check with your human resources department to find out if your company will match your generous gift and double your support. Thank you! |
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Groundswell in Indonesia
With help from a CORAL microgrant, residents of Amed, a rapidly developing area in northeastern Bali, are getting their hands dirty to protect their reef. CORAL Field Representative Riyan Heri worked with community members to build a trash trap of bamboo, nets, and ropes. The trap collects debris that has accumulated in a local river over the dry season, keeping it from reaching the ocean—and the reef—when it rains. As noted in The Jakarta Post, the people of Amed are continuing to stay involved. Volunteers have been removing the trash after the rain to keep it from backing up water and causing flooding.
Read The Jakarta Post's article » |
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Warp-Speed Swimming
Like an underwater hummingbird, the bluelined wrasse (Stethojulis albovittata) flaps its fins in a figure-eight pattern, enabling it to swim at very fast speeds and to use 40 percent less energy than other fish of the same size. These fish are constantly on the move but hide under the sand at night to sleep. Bluelined wrasses have other interesting lifestyle features too: they help rid other reef fish of parasites and form “harems” of a male and several females.
Watch this amazing fish » |
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Engines of Evolution
CORAL's Rick MacPherson recently spoke with BBC Future about reef resilience, the importance of proper marine preserve management, and other aspects of coral conservation. MacPherson points out that while climate change poses a global threat to coral reefs, many individual reef ecosystems are surviving and even thriving thanks to community action to protect them. He argues that these success stories are cause for optimism.
Read the BBC Future piece » |
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* Photo Credits and Notes:
Banner Photo: Reef scene, Moorea
Photographer: Rodolphe Holler
Large Center Photo: Scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) being measured on Nukulau Island, Fiji
Photographer: CORAL staff
Left Side Photo: Lionfish derby cook-off
Photographer: CORAL staff
Thumbnails: 1) Rainer Kretzber via Fishbase.org; 2) CORAL staff; and 3) Marcy Cravat
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