Coral reef monitoring stations installed

The operation was initiated by the Department of Environment of Fujairah Municipality, National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI, Florida, USA) and the Emirates Wildlife Society in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS - WWF). The four monitoring stations are positioned on the seabed between Fujairah city and Dibba.

The purpose of monitoring stations is to study the re-growth and re-colonisation of corals damaged during Cyclone Gonu, which struck the coast of Oman, UAE (in the emirate of Fujairah), Iran and Pakistan in June 2007.

To benefit from the presence in the UAE of coral reef experts from NCRI for an on-going research programme in the waters of Abu Dhabi, where monitoring stations have already been set up, the EWS-WWF, Fujairah Municipality and partners decided to install similar stations on the east coast.

Besides recording post-cyclone re-colonisation of corals, these monitoring stations will also allow comparisons between populations of Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman corals.

Globally, coral reefs are dying at an accelerating pace. According to recent estimates, up to 35 per cent of the coral reefs worldwide may have been lost already due to natural causes such as fluctuation of temperatures, attacks by the Crown of Thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), and anthropogenic stresses such as oil pollution, unmanaged coastal development, unregulated commercial and recreational fishing and diving.

When a natural catastrophe occurs, like the recent Cyclone Gonu on the eastern coast of UAE, coral reefs suffer but are able to recover, provided no other supplementary stresses, such as the afore-mentioned ones, occur.

The installation of stations and the survey along Fujairah benefited from the help of the Fujairah Marine Club, which provided a boat to conduct surveys on the emirate. Also of help were Dibba-Fujairah Municipality and the Marine Research Centre of the Ministry of Environment and Water, which provided all logistical support for the Dibba sites.

The coral monitoring stations include three basic components:

1) A settlement plate rack resembling a tree with steel branches supporting small limestone tiles that act as artificial substrate on which the coral larvae will attach.

2) Photo transects along three lines of about 12 metres, disposed in a 'Mercedes star' pattern from the settlement plate rack

3) Temperature recorders.

So that these monitoring stations do not suffer damage, an information notice has been provided by the NCRI, to alert diving associations, clubs and centres about the operation.

A formal meeting between all the stakeholders to discuss the preliminary results of the survey and further collaborations is planned in Fujairah in September-October 2007.

Coral reefs in Fujairah

Coral reefs in the UAE play important ecological, economic, recreational and cultural roles by providing food and shelter for numerous fish and marine species, protecting coasts from erosion, supporting commercial fishing and an array of recreational activities.

The coastal and offshore waters of the Arabian Sea in Fujairah support a rich and diverse fish fauna, including many species of reef-associated fish, seasonally abundant large pelagic species, and small schooling fish.

While contributing to the cultural heritage of the UAE, and Fujairah in particular, these fish support moderate-to-large local commercial and artisanal fisheries of substantial economic value to the people.

Fujairah also has a number of seafront attractions, including beaches and islands. Tourist traffic to the emirate rose by more than half during the last couple of years.

The construction in the north of Bidiyah of the first international hotel to open on the east coast in over two decades has generated renewed interest in Fujairah and been a catalyst for further development of the tourism sector. Five more hotels and marinas in the same area have been started since 2005 and further projects are expected.

With the tremendous industrial and tourism development of the country, the pressure is increasing on the coral reefs, used as breeding, foraging and shelter for numerous fish and marine species. There is then an urgent need to better understand the role Fujairah's coastal waters has in the conservation of marine biodiversity, spawning and nursery grounds for the regional coral reefs and fish stocks, and to mitigate the impacts of coastal development and other activities.

HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, ruler of Fujairah, issued an Emiri Decree back in 1995 to establish four marine protected areas in Fujairah: Dibba, Al Faqueet, Dadna and Al Aqa.

A further step in developing effective conservation and management of coastal marine habitats, as vital resources for biodiversity, fishery and tourism, is the provision of information on the distribution, abundance, composition and health of these habitats through a mapping and assessment of the status of coastal marine habitats.

Photo copyright of Maral Khaled Shuriqi, Fujairah Municipality