Fishery Management Plan for Coral and Coral Reefs of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

This fishery management plan for coral and coral reefs is unique in many respects and should be approached with that understanding. The management unit is composed of some 400 species, many of which have no common names. Much of the descriptive material is necessarily technical. Data on growth and potential production are scant, and a maximum sustainable yield is incalculable. Harvest presently is at a very low level, and the principal value of this resource is determined to be in nonconsumptive uses. Such uses include the use of coral as habitat by many other important recreational and commercial species of fish and shell fish. The coral reefs are also important economically to the tourist and recreational industry as a major attraction for divers and other nonconsumptive users. Because the growth of many corals is slow (Qculina thickets may be a century old) the "fishery" in many instances must be considered as a nonrenewable resource. Corals in the FCZ, which includes much of the Florida reef tract, were protected by a federal agency until 1979 when a court ruling restricted this authority. Although harvest of coral and destruction of reefs is at a low level at this time, large scale harvest of corals could begin as it becomes generally known that this resource is no longer protected by law. The thrust of this plan therefore is to conserve this resource at the present low level of harvest.