156
WORLD ATLAS OF CORAL REEFS
product and 70 percent of employment. Damage to reefs
associated with tourism and recreation includes significant harm caused by boat anchors and ship groundings.
The Virgin Islands National Park on St, John attracts a
million visitors a year, mostly arriving on cruiseships
or smaller boats, and an estimated 30 000 anchors are
dropped in a single year. In 1989 the cruiseship Windspirit
destroyed some 300 square meters of reef with its anchor
and chain and there has been little recovery since. This
resulted in the successful prosecution of the boat owners
by the park authorities, and remains one of the few
examples of such action for damages incurred to coral
reefs. Direct damage by divers and snorkellers has also
been recorded at the most heavily used sites. Mooring
buoys were installed following a survey which found that
33 percent of boats anchored in seagrass beds and 14
percent on coral reefs. Unfortunately, there is now little
coral left to protect and no limits have been set on the size
of vessels allowed in park waters.
Overfishing is widespread throughout the islands,
even within protected areas. This is further exacerbated by
the widespread loss of fish habitats, including seagrass
and mangrove areas, such that fish stocks are highly
depleted in most areas.
Other threats to the reefs include sedimentation, land
clearance, coastal development and sewage discharge (the
eutrophication of some reefs in the Virgin Islands has been
attributed to leaching from septic tanks during heavy
rain). One of the world's largest petroleum refineries is at
St. Croix, which also represents a significant potential
threat to reefs as well as other ecosystems. In 1999 a
Marine Conservation District was declared to the
southwest of St. Thomas, in cooperation with fishers,
divers and local and federal government. Known as Hind
Bank, the area is closed to all fishing and anchoring, and
represents an important step towards more comprehensive
fisheries management.
British Virgin Islands
Coral reefs are widespread throughout the British Virgin
Islands, including fringing reefs close to most islands,
patch reefs in offshore areas, and a long barrier-type
structure. Horseshoe Reef, extending to the southeast of
Anegada. As with the US Virgin Islands, the reefs have
been severely impacted by the passage of several
hurricanes in recent years and, although not all areas were
equally affected, some sites lost up to 100 percent of their
live coral cover. There are now reports of a partial
recovery in most places. The reefs have also suffered from
coral disease and from the 1998 bleaching event. Although
less well studied, it can generally be assumed that many of
these impacts have had consequences similar to those in
the nearby US Virgin Islands.
Human impacts vary across the islands, but significant deterioration or loss of reef habitats has been
noted close to the more heavily populated areas. Coastal
development has been particularly severe on Tortola and
Virgin Gorda. with the clearance of almost all mangroves.
Considerable increases in coastal sedimentation have
resulted from road building and other construction
projects. Large amounts of sewage pass into the sea
untreated, although newer developments tend to include
sewage treatment facilities. These islands have the
PHP
Puerto
™^B us Virgin
British Virgin
Rico
Islands
Islands
General Data
\
Population Ithousandsl
3 916
121
20
t
GDP (million US$1
40 865
na
210
(
Land area (km'l
9 063
350
161
Marine area (thousand km^)
205
6
81
Per capita fish consumption
( kg/yea rl
1
10
na
Status and Threats
:
Reefs at risk 1%)
100
100
100
j
Recorded coral diseases
1
11
8
5
Biodiversity
Reef area [km^l
480
200
330
Coral diversity
31/57
34/57
28/57
Mangrove area (km^l
92
10
4
No. of mangrove species
4
na
na
No. of seagrass species
4
5
na
WORLD ATLAS OF CORAL REEFS
product and 70 percent of employment. Damage to reefs
associated with tourism and recreation includes significant harm caused by boat anchors and ship groundings.
The Virgin Islands National Park on St, John attracts a
million visitors a year, mostly arriving on cruiseships
or smaller boats, and an estimated 30 000 anchors are
dropped in a single year. In 1989 the cruiseship Windspirit
destroyed some 300 square meters of reef with its anchor
and chain and there has been little recovery since. This
resulted in the successful prosecution of the boat owners
by the park authorities, and remains one of the few
examples of such action for damages incurred to coral
reefs. Direct damage by divers and snorkellers has also
been recorded at the most heavily used sites. Mooring
buoys were installed following a survey which found that
33 percent of boats anchored in seagrass beds and 14
percent on coral reefs. Unfortunately, there is now little
coral left to protect and no limits have been set on the size
of vessels allowed in park waters.
Overfishing is widespread throughout the islands,
even within protected areas. This is further exacerbated by
the widespread loss of fish habitats, including seagrass
and mangrove areas, such that fish stocks are highly
depleted in most areas.
Other threats to the reefs include sedimentation, land
clearance, coastal development and sewage discharge (the
eutrophication of some reefs in the Virgin Islands has been
attributed to leaching from septic tanks during heavy
rain). One of the world's largest petroleum refineries is at
St. Croix, which also represents a significant potential
threat to reefs as well as other ecosystems. In 1999 a
Marine Conservation District was declared to the
southwest of St. Thomas, in cooperation with fishers,
divers and local and federal government. Known as Hind
Bank, the area is closed to all fishing and anchoring, and
represents an important step towards more comprehensive
fisheries management.
British Virgin Islands
Coral reefs are widespread throughout the British Virgin
Islands, including fringing reefs close to most islands,
patch reefs in offshore areas, and a long barrier-type
structure. Horseshoe Reef, extending to the southeast of
Anegada. As with the US Virgin Islands, the reefs have
been severely impacted by the passage of several
hurricanes in recent years and, although not all areas were
equally affected, some sites lost up to 100 percent of their
live coral cover. There are now reports of a partial
recovery in most places. The reefs have also suffered from
coral disease and from the 1998 bleaching event. Although
less well studied, it can generally be assumed that many of
these impacts have had consequences similar to those in
the nearby US Virgin Islands.
Human impacts vary across the islands, but significant deterioration or loss of reef habitats has been
noted close to the more heavily populated areas. Coastal
development has been particularly severe on Tortola and
Virgin Gorda. with the clearance of almost all mangroves.
Considerable increases in coastal sedimentation have
resulted from road building and other construction
projects. Large amounts of sewage pass into the sea
untreated, although newer developments tend to include
sewage treatment facilities. These islands have the
PHP
Puerto
™^B us Virgin
British Virgin
Rico
Islands
Islands
General Data
\
Population Ithousandsl
3 916
121
20
t
GDP (million US$1
40 865
na
210
(
Land area (km'l
9 063
350
161
Marine area (thousand km^)
205
6
81
Per capita fish consumption
( kg/yea rl
1
10
na
Status and Threats
:
Reefs at risk 1%)
100
100
100
j
Recorded coral diseases
1
11
8
5
Biodiversity
Reef area [km^l
480
200
330
Coral diversity
31/57
34/57
28/57
Mangrove area (km^l
92
10
4
No. of mangrove species
4
na
na
No. of seagrass species
4
5
na