West Coast Publishing Ocean 2014 affirmative page

Overfishing/ Shark Loss—Coral Reef

Shark population decline directly weakens coral reef resilience

ENN, Environmental News Network—a non-governmental environment news outlet, September 23, 2013, “Shark overfishing hurts coral reefs”, Accessed April 29, http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/46455?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WildlifeAndHabitatConservationNews-Enn+(Wildlife+and+Habitat+Conservation+News+-+ENN)/print/print
The researchers found the overfishing of sharks can result in profound ecological changes. "The reefs provided us with a unique opportunity to isolate the impact of over-fishing of sharks on reef resilience, and assess that impact in the broader context of climate change pressures threatening coral reefs," said Ruppert. "Shark fishing appears to have quite dramatic effects on coral reef ecosystems." "Where shark numbers are reduced due to commercial fishing, there is also a decrease in the herbivorous fishes which play a key role in promoting reef health." "Our analysis suggests that where shark numbers are reduced, we see a fundamental change in the structure of food chains on reefs," said project lead and co-author Mark Meekan."We saw increasing numbers of mid-level predators — such as snappers — and a reduction in the number of herbivores such as parrotfishes. The parrotfishes are very important to coral reef health because they eat the algae that would otherwise overwhelm young corals on reefs recovering from natural disturbances." The findings indicate that reefs depleted of sharks may be slower to recover from longer-term disturbances, including cyclones and bleaching events. Accordingly, the results suggest that protecting small reefs from shark fishing could make these ecosystems more resilient to the effects of climate change. "Healthy populations of reef sharks should be a key target of management strategies that seek to ensure the future resilience of coral reef ecosystems," conclude the authors.

Coral Reef- Laundry List

Coral reef are key to human survival—economy, food production, storm protection, and ocean species biodiversity

NOAA, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, May 13, 2011, “Value of Coral Ecosystems”, Accessed May 5, 2014,  http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcorals/values/
Healthy coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse and economically valuable ecosystems on earth, providing valuable and vital ecosystem services. Coral ecosystems are a source of food for millions; protect coastlines from storms and erosion; provide habitat, spawning and nursery grounds for economically important fish species; provide jobs and income to local economies from fishing, recreation, and tourism; are a source of new medicines, and are hotspots of marine biodiversity. They also are of great cultural importance in many regions around the world, particularly Polynesia. In the US, coral reefs are found in the waters of the Western Atlantic and Caribbean (Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands) and the Pacific Islands (Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). They are also found along the coasts of over 100 other countries. While it is difficult to put a dollar value on some of the benefits coral ecosystems provide, one recent estimate gave the total net benefit of the world's coral reef ecosystems to be $29.8 billion/year. [a] For example, the economic importance of Hawai`i's coral reefs, when combining recreational, amenity, fishery, and biodiversity values, were estimated to have direct economic benefits of $360 million/year. [b] The global value above does not account for the economic value of deep-sea coral ecosystems, which, while less well studied and understood, also provide important ecosystem services. Deep-sea corals serve as hot-spots of biodiversity in the deeper ocean and their structure provides enhanced feeding opportunities, a place to hide from predators, a nursery area for juveniles, fish spawning aggregation sites, and a place for sedentary invertebrates to grow, much like their coral reef counterparts. These ecosystems have been identified as habitat for commercially important fishes such as rockfish, shrimp, and crabs. Deep-sea corals are also being targeted in the search for new medicines. [c] The value of these services adds to the global value of coral ecosystems.

Noise Pollution- Sonar

Sonar exploration in ocean causes massive noise pollution hurting ocean life

Center for Biological Diversity, organization working to prevent species loss, Accessed May 5, 2014, “OCEAN NOISE”, Accessed May 5, 2014 http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/ocean_noise/
It’s an invisible threat, but noise pollution is a major — and often deadly — menace to ocean wildlife. Just as there’s hardly a mountaintop free from the roar of airplanes overhead, there’s virtually no place in the world’s oceans where human sounds aren’t detectable. The loudest and most disruptive anthropogenic ocean sounds come from military sonar, oil exploration and industrial shipping, and the Center is working to protect our marine life from each of these threats. Naval sonar systems work like acoustic floodlights, sending sound waves through ocean waters for tens or even hundreds of miles to disclose large objects in their path. But this activity entails deafening sound: Even one low-frequency active sonar loudspeaker can be as loud as a twin-engine fighter jet at takeoff. This onslaught of noise, which far exceeds the Navy’s own safety limits for humans, can have a devastating effect on marine species — especially whales, who use their keen sense of hearing for almost everything they do. Sonar can displace whales from their preferred habitat and disrupts feeding, breeding, nursing, communication, navigation and other behaviors essential to their survival. Most appallingly, sonar can directly injure whales — very often killing them — by causing hearing loss, hemorrhages and other kinds of tissue trauma, or by driving them rapidly to the surface or to shore.