Algae taking over Brunei's reefs: marine biologist

A survey by Reef Check Brunei recently showed that some coral reefs in the sultanate are experiencing an increase of algae growth, which may be attributed to overfishing and pollution.

This was revealed by Lydia Koehler, a marine biologist during the International Symposium on Marine Biodiversity 2016 held at Brunei's Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism building on Saturday.

Koehler, who was a trainer for Reef Check Brunei, delivered a presentation during the symposium entitled "Reef Check Brunei 2016 - What changed since 2012?". She said that the coral reefs in Brunei are generally in good condition. However, the survey showed that there are some parts of the country's coral reefs that were in "worse conditions."

The survey was conducted over ten days involving 42 survey sites on 16 different reefs and 30 hours in the water.

Koehler said that when her team looked into the reefs that were not in good condition, they saw a lot of "damage" in the form of trash as well as "a lot of algae covering the corals." She said that algae cover in the nation's coral reefs has increased by 61 percent since the sultanate's last reef check survey in 2012.

She attributed the increase to overfishing. She explained that the herbivorous fauna in the coral reefs are decreasing therefore the algae growth cannot be controlled as they are not consumed.

She added that nutrients or chemicals from sewage channels may also contribute to the increased growth of algae in the nation's coral reefs.

Koehler said that algae is detrimental to coral reefs, as well as the fauna that live in it, because coral is unable to resettle or grow on a reef dominated by algae.

"When you cannot control algae growth, the ecosystem (of the coral reef) might shift where there is more algae than coral (and) this will be less beneficial for marine animals," she said.

"This is because the less coral cover you have, the less marine animals you will find living in those reefs," she added. Enditem