Longenecker Ken, Bolick Holly, Langston Ross
Department of Natural Sciences, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States of America.
Department of Natural Sciences, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States of America; Department of Natural Sciences, Windward Community College, Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2015 Oct 5;10(10):e0140026. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140026. eCollection 2015.
Live coral is harvested throughout the Indo-West Pacific to make lime, used in the consumption of the world's fourth-most consumed drug, betel nut. Coral harvesting is an environmental concern; however, because lime-making is one of the few sources of income in some areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG), the practice is unlikely to stop. To better manage coral harvest, we used standard fishery-yield methods to generate sustainable-harvest guidelines for corymbose Acropora species found on the reef flat and crest at Lababia, PNG. We constructed a yield curve (weight-specific net annual-dry-weight production) by: 1) describing the allometric relationship between colony size and dry weight, and using that relationship to estimate the dry weight of Acropora colonies in situ; 2) estimating annual growth of Acropora colonies by estimating in situ, and describing the relationship between, colony dry weight at the beginning and end of one year; and 3) conducting belt-transect surveys to describe weight-frequencies and ultimately to predict annual weight change per square meter for each weight class. Reef habitat covers a total 2,467,550 m2 at Lababia and produces an estimated 248,397 kg/y (dry weight) of corymbose Acropora, of which 203,897 kg is produced on the reef flat/crest. We conservatively estimate that 30,706.6 kg of whole, dry, corymbose, Acropora can be sustainably harvested from the reef flat/crest habitat each year provided each culled colony weighs at least 1805 g when dry (or is at least 46 cm along its major axis). Artisanal lime-makers convert 24.8% of whole-colony weight into marketable lime, thus we estimate 7615.2 g of lime can be sustainably produced annually from corymbose Acropora. This value incorporates several safety margins, and should lead to proper management of live coral harvest. Importantly, the guideline recognizes village rights to exploit its marine resources, is consistent with village needs for income, and balances an equally strong village desire to conserve its marine resources for future generations.
在整个印度-西太平洋地区，活珊瑚被采集用于制作石灰，而石灰则用于食用世界上第四大消费毒品——槟榔。珊瑚采集引发了环境问题；然而，由于在巴布亚新几内亚（PNG）的一些地区，制作石灰是少数的收入来源之一，这种做法不太可能停止。为了更好地管理珊瑚采集，我们使用标准渔业产量方法，为在巴布亚新几内亚拉巴比亚礁坪和礁顶发现的分支状鹿角珊瑚物种制定可持续采集指南。我们通过以下方式构建产量曲线（特定重量的年净干重产量）：1）描述群体大小与干重之间的异速生长关系，并利用该关系估算原地鹿角珊瑚群体的干重；2）通过原地估算鹿角珊瑚群体的年生长量，并描述一年开始和结束时群体干重之间的关系；3）进行带状断面调查以描述重量频率，并最终预测每个重量等级每平方米的年重量变化。拉巴比亚的珊瑚礁栖息地总面积为2467550平方米，估计每年生产248397千克（干重）的分支状鹿角珊瑚，其中203897千克产自礁坪/礁顶。我们保守估计，每年可以从礁坪/礁顶栖息地可持续采集30706.6千克完整、干燥、分支状的鹿角珊瑚，前提是每个被砍伐的群体干重至少为1805克（或其主轴长度至少为46厘米）。个体石灰制造商将整个群体重量的24.8%转化为可销售的石灰，因此我们估计每年可以从分支状鹿角珊瑚中可持续生产7615.2克石灰。这个值包含了几个安全边际，应该能够引导对活珊瑚采集进行适当管理。重要的是，该指南承认村庄开发其海洋资源的权利，符合村庄的收入需求，并平衡了村庄同样强烈的为子孙后代保护其海洋资源的愿望。
