Marine Protected Areas Corner

Marine Protected Areas Corner

Coral heals serious fractures
(adapted from BBC News Online - Health, August 30, 2000)

Researchers are reporting that ocean coral may be able to help mend broken bones. Scientists have successfully used coral to help heal severe bone fractures which the body could not repair naturally.

Orthopaedic surgeons use a technique called bone grafting to repair fractured or defective bones. The procedure usually involves removing bone from one part of the patient’s body and transferring it to another. This is often painful and can lead to complications.

Sea coral naturally contains calcium carbonate and possesses a porous architecture not unlike natural bone. The researchers showed that it could be used to grow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a kind of primitive cell derived from bone marrow that can be easily grown in culture. "It could be of great help in clinical situations where surgeons have massive bone defects to fill such after the removal of a bone tumor", says Dr. Herve Petite, lead researcher for the Laboratoire de Recherches Orthopediques in Paris, France. Dr. Petite said clinical trials on humans could start within several years.

The research is published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. For further information, please visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/

Publication available on Management Strategies for Marine and Coastal Protected Areas

A publication is now available from the U.S. Man and the Biosphere Programme titled, "Alternate Access Management Strategies for Marine and Coastal Protected Areas – A reference Manual for Their Development and Assessment", July 2000. It was written by Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Katie S. Greenen and Reed Bohne. Copies of this publication may be requested from:

Dr. Michael P. Crosby
Agency for International Development
Global Environment Centre
Room 3.08, Ronald Reagan Building
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20523-3800
Or
The U.S. MAB Programme Office
Department of State
OES/ETC/MAB
SA 1, Room H245
Washington, DC 20522-0102

Announcing 54^th GCFI in the Turks and Caicos Islands

The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands has graciously offered to host the 54^th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) on Providenciales from 5 November 2001 through to 9 November 2001.

There will be a special symposium examining Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and marine reserves issues. The hotel is the Allegro located on Grace Bay (www.allegroturksandcaicos.com). More details will appear soon on the www.gcfi.org website.

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New Executive Order lends support to MPA’s

The Executive Order 13158 of May 26, 2000 on the subject of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) was recently signed by United States President, Bill Clinton. The purpose of this Executive Order is to help protect the significant natural and cultural resources within the marine environment for the benefit of present and future generations by strengthening and expanding the system of marine protected areas in the United States of America. An expanded and strengthened comprehensive system of MPA’s throughout the marine environment would enhance the conservation of natural and cultural marine heritage and the ecologically and economically sustainable use of the marine environment for future generations.

To this end the purpose of this order is to, consistent with domestic and international law:

strengthen the management, protection and conservation of existing marine protected areas and establish new or expanded MPA’s
develop a scientifically based, comprehensive national system of MPA’s representing diverse U.S. marine ecosystems, and U.S. natural and cultural resources; and
avoid causing harm to MPA’s through federally conducted, approved or funded activities.

For further information, please contact:
Robert B. Ditton
Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77840-2258 USA
Tel. : 979-845-9841
Fax: 979845-3786
E-mail: rditton@unix.tamu.edu
Internet: http://lutra.tamu.edu/rbd.htm

New NOAA Programme provides early warning of Coral Bleaching
(adapted from NOAA 2000-520 Press Release, 27 September 2000)

Researchers studying reef habitats will have a new early warning monitoring system to alert them of episodes of coral reef bleaching. This thanks to the Coral Reef Watch, a new programme of the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Coral Reef Watch will develop a long-term coral reef monitoring system with the ability to predict coral bleaching episodes in all major U.S. coral reef areas.

Reef habitats in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean are increasingly threatened by environmental changes and human interaction. "We need long-term in-situ monitoring of reefs, which is essential to understanding the increasing stresses on these unique but fragile ecosystems," said Dr. Jim Hendee of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.

Scientists will be using an artificial intelligence technique known as the Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) to inspect data obtained from meteorological and oceanographic monitoring stations. CREWS would then model the combined effect of environmental conditions such as sea temperature, salinity, tides, and ultraviolet light. When stressful conditions are detected, an alert is automatically sent to researchers and sanctuary managers, as well as posted on the website http://www.coral.noaa.gov/sferpm/seakeys/es .

"The use of CREWS, together with NOAA’s satellite-monitored high sea temperature (‘HotSpot’) data and biological monitoring data, helps us keep our fingers on the pulse of coral reefs globally and also to gauge the effect of human influence", says Hendee.

CREWS successfully predicted coral bleaching episodes in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 1998 and on the Great Barrier Reef in January 2000.

For more information on NOAA’s coral reef programme, visit : http://www.coralreef.nooa.gov.