Team 3 Marine Life Surrounding Africa Desiree Amadeo

Some problems that are facing the marine ecosystems around Africa include the competitive displacement of indigenous species due to invasive species, the destruction of natural habitats due to fish nets dragging along the ocean floor, the depletion of coral reefs due to global warming, over fishing, and illegal fishing.
One of the greatest threats to life in the sea is resource exploitation by man. In Africa, marine conservation is secondary to terrestrial conservation. Only four countries in sub-Saharan Africa have marine reserves. Marine reserves are effective in increasing population sizes of exploited stocks and supplementing stocks in adjacent areas through emigration. They also have the potential to provide recruits to exploited areas (Wilkinson URL).

These ecosystems also contribute to the livelihoods of coastal communities in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles. The sustainable management of these sectors is crucial to the development of most nations, however, the complexities of marine systems and their associated scientific, economic, social, legal, and institutional issues make it difficult to implement effective management. Despite this, management systems that incorporate stakeholders in planning and implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) and integrated coastal area management (ICAM) have been established in many WIO countries (Wildlife Conservation Society).
Enforcing the management of the protected areas is a major conflict. According to Clive Wilkinson from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, "fisheries and coastal developments in the Western Indian Ocean are poorly regulated". Illegal fishing occurs in the protected areas as well as illegal hunting of endangered fish such as the critically endangered sawfish for prized parts such as their rostrum, their fins which are eaten as a delicacy, and their liver oil which is used as a medication (Garcia and Moreno).
The primary threat to marine systems in the region is increased unsustainable and destructive fishing as a result of population growth coupled with management systems that do not effectively support sustainable fisheries. Fishing pressure and other threats, including sedimentation, coastal development, and unsustainable management practices are leading to losses in marine biodiversity, decreased fisheries, and changes in ecosystem diversity and community structure.  Coral reefs are also particularly threatened by climate change effects such as bleaching (WCS).
A proper enforcement of the protection of reserves would achieve conservation of both representativeness (middle) and high diversity areas (edge). If necessary there should be a collection of reserves which have the specific purpose of improving local yields of exploited species.

The sizes of biodiversity reserves should be determined by local habitat heterogeneity and should be designed to maximize their benefit to adjacent areas while minimizing their size.

The extra information below explains that the coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean are in poor condition due to human developments and as a result endanger the habitat of the marine life. A correction of these conflicts will also help to improve living conditions for fish in the region and increase the populations. Ways to implement this would be to protect coastlines next to vulnerable coral reefs in order to prevent harmful runoff that will damage the reef ecosystems and upset the delicate balance and the limited continental shelf habitat of marine wildlife.
The status of reefs in the Western Indian Ocean ranges from those in virtually pristine condition, such as the atolls in mid-ocean, to reefs that are heavily impacted by human activities, such as those fringing the coasts of East Africa and Madagascar. Extensive clearing of land and forests in Kenya, Tanzania, and Madagascar has led to excessive sediment runoff, which has damaged many reefs. In addition, there is over-fishing, including the use of explosives, so that these reefs are in medium to poor condition (Wilkinson URL).
Some reefs on Mauritius have been impacted by sediment runoff from sugar-cane farming, and by over-fishing, whereas the reefs of the Comoros and Seychelles are mostly in good to very good condition, except immediately adjacent to large population centres. Reef management is not well developed. Rapidly increasing populations and tourism are contributing to reef destruction. Recently there has been significant progress in reef management in the Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya, and Tanzania, particularly in establishing marine protected areas for tourism. Efforts at increasing community-level management are proving successful in some areas of Kenya and Tanzania (WCS).
Garcia, Serge M. and Moreno, Ignatio De Leiva. "Global Overview of Marine Fisheries".Web extension to Fisheries Watch. [WWW Document] URL http://www.fisherieswatch.org/docs/237.pdf+.+ (visited 2007, November 9)
"Western Indian Ocean". (2007, November) Web extension to Wildlife Conservation Society. [WWW Document] URL http://www.wcs.org/sw-home (visited 2007, November 6)
Wilkinson, Clive. (2000, May 24) "Status of Coral Reefs of the World". Web extension to Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. [WWW Document] URL http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/coral-bleaching/scr1998/scr-004.html (visited 2007, November 9)