#Discovery bay jamaica series#

6 For many years, lack of enforcement capacity, legal authority, and effective sanctions led to continued high levels of poaching, and undermined the effectiveness of the reserve, but in late 2011 a large section of the bay was formally recognized by the Government of Jamaica as a Fisheries Management Area. The Fisheries Improvement Program led to the creation of the Alloa Discovery Bay Fisherman's Association, which was instrumental in the formation of a voluntary Discovery Bay Fisheries Reserve in the mid-1990s. While the first policy movement toward reef management in Jamaica began in 1976, it was not until 1988 with the initiation of the Fisheries Improvement Program that fisheries management measures were introduced to fisherman in Discovery Bay 5. This example illuminates the classic paradigm of an ecosystem “tipping” from one productive coral reef community to an alternative algae-dominated ecosystem with very different characteristics and services for people.Įutrophication, increased sedimentation, mass coral bleaching events, and poorly planned coastal developments have compounded the challenges for Jamaica’s reefs and further limited recovery. During the same period, macroalgae increased to a peak of 92% cover on the reef 3. 3 Without important herbivorous fish and sea urchins, Jamaica’s coral reefs were left vulnerable, and in the wake of the hurricane and urchin die-off, coral cover declined from over 50% in the 1970s to less than 5% by the early 1990s 4. Sea urchin populations declined by 99% on Jamaica’s coral reefs.

Swift on its heels followed a disease epidemic that swept through populations of an important reef grazer – the sea urchin, Diadema antillarum – and led to mass mortality across the Caribbean. Hurricane Allen inflicted immense physical damage to coral reefs in 1980.

#Discovery bay jamaica series#

Then, a series of natural disturbances devastated Jamaica’s reefs. Like reefs in many other parts of the Caribbean, Jamaica’s coral reefs have been overfished, with one study indicating that fish biomass had already been reduced up to 80% by the late 1970s 3. 1 Data from these reefs span multiple decades and illustrate one of the most widely cited examples of a dramatic phase shift in coral reef communities from coral-dominated to algae-dominated ecosystems.

The coral reefs in Discovery Bay, Jamaica are some of the best studied coral reefs in the Caribbean. Loss of herbivores to disease and overfishing combined with nutrient runoff and hurricanes to push reefs over the edge in Jamaica Coral Reef Tipping Points in Discovery Bay, JamaicaĬoral reef ecosystems harbor the greatest diversity of life found in the ocean, and provide us with valuable economic benefits from fisheries and tourism.