Ubaidillah Masli Brunei Direct 9 Jun 10;
Bandar Seri Begawan - What the largest coral reef formation in the world boasts, Brunei has, in just 50 square kilometres or 0.12 per cent of its waters, The Brunei Times learned yesterday.
"You have as many species of coral as the Great Barrier Reef," said Dr Lyndon DeVantier, a freelance coral ecologist who has carried out marine reef studies for various countries in the Indo-Pacific region for more than 25 years.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which stretches some 2,300km along the Queensland coastline is home to about 350 to 400 species of soft and hard coral, supporting a rich, complex system of marine biodiversity. Meanwhile, a past study on Brunei's waters found that the Sultanate's coral reef cover, although comparably smaller, had over 400 species living in an ecosystem so bountiful that the country was invited into the multi-nation Coral Triangle Initiative.
Dr DeVantier, who was involved in Brunei's marine biodiversity research carried out in 2008 and 2009, and is currently a consultant for the Department of Fisheries, said in an interview yesterday that the living, calcium-carbonate structures faced threats such as coral bleaching, being preyed upon by carnivorous starfish and damage from fishing activities.
The coral ecologist was among the experts on hand to show and explain to a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources the state of some of Brunei's reefs at Two Fathom Rocks, located about five nautical miles off the Sultanate's shores. The viewing of the reefs via a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) and scuba-divers was among the activities organised by the Fisheries Department to commemorate World Oceans Day.
Dr DeVantier said that the reefs in the area were "very representative" of Brunei's reefs. with the high diversity of reef species and the good, high coral cover.
He said that they had observed a "small" amount of coral bleaching, or whitening of the coral indicating the loss of the living counterpart of the symbiotic system, which was likely due to high water temperatures.
This is a big problem in Thailand and part of the Philippines, but not so much in
Brunei as yet," he said.
There was also an issue of coral deaths from the crown-of-thorns starfish, a large, venomous spine-covered sea star which preys upon coral polyps. Dr DeVantier said that the problem was found throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Although at the moment the coral ecologist said that it was mostly Brunei's offshore reefs that were affected by the starfish.
He also stressed the need to restore fish stock in the reefs, which, he noted, the Department of Fisheries have been actively pursuing.
This included initiatives such as placing temporary fishing bans at reef areas where fish numbers were low, implementing a quota system and issuing fishing licences to
control fishing in these areas as well as zonation of Brunei's sovereign maritime territories.
The Two Fathom Rocks itself has also been the site of reef rejuvenation operations. The Fisheries Department has had the assistance of the Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd in sinking a total of seven decommissioned oil platforms in the area to serve as artificial reefs or "reef duplicates".
"These reef duplicates perform similar function to their original (counterparts) in enriching marine life sources in the waters of Brunei Darussalam. They also function as barricades for commercial fishing boats (from) entering the restricted areas such as Zone 1 (located three nautical miles from the shore)," the Fisheries Department said in a statement.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
