Bermuda now enjoys a very high profile in the ongoing and increasingly urgent study of the world's coral reef systems. The presence of a major independent research centre, progressive Governmental measures, and the fact that the Island is geographically isolated, has made Bermuda a role model for other countries.

This was one of the facts to emerge from the Eighth International Coral Reef Symposium held in Panama last month, a lead-up event for the `International Year of the Reef'.

"This really spans two years, '96 to '97, and will heighten awareness of the fragility of the world's reefs. Many of the 60 or so countries that took part in the Panama meeting are developing nations, so we need to exchange information because everyone faces similar problems,'' notes Bermudian research scientist Dr. Robert Smith. "It doesn't matter if you're talking about Guam or Bermuda -- we are all basically facing the same pressing issues.

It was also good to see that this meeting was very well attended by the world's Press.'' A total of 1,300 delegates from around the world took part in the five-day conference, with Dr. Smith and Dr. Hank Trapido-Ronsthal from the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) and Dr. Brian Luckhurst from the Fisheries Department leading the Bermuda contingent, along with several assistants.

"We all went to the conference to present our research papers, to get feedback about our various programmes and to `get up to speed' on what others are doing,'' says Dr. Smith. "The good news is that, compared with many other countries, Bermuda's reefs are doing reasonably well.'' "It was very encouraging to see the broad level of research -- and the resultant action -- that is going on here,'' says Dr. Luckhurst. "As an isolated oceanic system, Bermuda is often looked at as an example of how things can be done and as a model for examining certain phenomena. We have no polluting countries next door, for instance, so in many, many ways, we are ideally suited to undertake this kind of research.'' "Some assistant scientists from BBSR went along with us and when we got there we met several of our former graduates who were also presenting papers at the conference,'' says Dr. Rosenthal. "I think this confirms that our educational programme at BBSR really emphasises Bermuda's image in the science world -- it is now a huge entity.'' Dr. Luckhurst agrees, pointing out that Bermuda's Government has been "quite progressive'' in enacting various measures. "There are many countries who are interested in our results and anxious to gain some data from these `real world' programmes to see what is really going on. In this case, we were able to show, through careful monitoring, that the fish pot ban which has been in place for the past five years, has been a success in that replenishment of the fish population is indeed taking place, with a significant recovery in a number of species.'' Both Dr. Smith and Dr. Luckhurst note that they have enjoyed a close working relationship for many years, incorporating a fish census technique last year, and the Fisheries Department helping Dr. Rosenthal to acquire the organisms required for his very specialised research in molecular biology. One important fact which dominated the meeting, says Dr. Luckhurst, is the fact that coral systems all over the world are being seriously threatened. "The resources on those reefs are increasingly stressed and degraded, often through population pressure and the need for people to obtain protein in their diets. In developing countries, fish from the reef are the principal source of protein, so in those places, we are looking at subsistence-level fishing. There is an urgent need for us all to understand the amount of exploitation that can be sustained from a socio-economic point of view -- it makes the difference as to how many people can be fed -- and that brings us to politics, as you have to understand the limits of sustainable harvests coming from those reefs. Because of its location and a well-developed infrastructure, Bermuda can look at the whole coral reef ecological system and try to understand how it responds in relation to management measures. I think that with the fish pot ban, we have demonstrated that reef fish management can and does work!'' Jamaica is just one country which provides a cautionary tale. "We certainly wouldn't want our reefs and fishing to go the way of Jamaica,'' says Dr. Smith. "That's a country which is often cited as as the typical example of what happens if you have an open access system when anyone can go and take whatever they want from the reef. There's only one inevitable result -- declining numbers of species and size, to the point where many are harvested before they reach sexual maturity. Then you have a collapse. Not all countries have the political will to do the right thing. In Jamaica, they are frantically trying to put a programme in place now. But instead of an outright ban, they are using bigger mesh, so that at least a few more fish will escape out of the nets and go on to reproduce.'' Bermuda on the cutting edge At present, the end result of removing things from the reef is not completely understood. As Dr. Luckhurst points out, "If you take the fish away, the algae take over and with things like pollution and bleaching, as well as natural phenomena such as hurricanes, the whole system can unravel to disastrous effect.'' Dr. Smith also presented results from a group called Caricmp, who have been studying the health of reefs throughout the Caribbean. "This represented three years of research around 16 different sites and represents the first integrated monitoring effort. I talked about our coral reef population, mangroves, sea grass, and so on. The important thing is that we have all used the same standards of testing and and I think we have shown that we can do this effectively. On the other hand, we also now recognise that we have to do more intensive sampling work. It was important to find that not all of our methods have been perfect. The big challenge is the fact that reefs change all the time, through natural as well as human behaviour. One of the benefits of a regional programme is that it points out very clearly that the Cayman reefs are healthy, while nearby Jamaica's are not. The overall theme that emerged from this study is that reefs are suffering, mainly because of human activity.

One of the objects of the International Year of the Reef will be to encourage countries to seek help from responsible organisations. Bermuda is very fortunate indeed to have BBSR.'' For Dr. Rosenthal, who, in his words, deals in `small science', the Panama Conference provided an opportunity to meet the world community of coral reef scientists. "To finally meet the people I had read about!'' Part of his work ties in with the all-important and ongoing search for neuro-active medicines which exist in marine organisms.

His research papers focused on how corals respond to environmental stresses at the molecular level. One of his team's most interesting discoveries so far is that the all-important neuro-transmitters in humans are also very important in the communication that goes on between corals and the symbiotic algae.

"Corals eject symbionts and one of the major themes is that life forms are more similar than they are different. In other words, these tiny cells are talking to each other in the way our brain cells talk to each other. Not many people, so far, have applied the fundamentals of neurobiology (cell communication) to the study of reefs, where you have a situation of plants `talking' to animals. I think the next few years of research will be very interesting. Reef building cannot occur without symbiosis. Bermuda, for example, would not be here without it -- it's made a very big difference to Planet Earth.'' Also initiated last year was the International Coral Reef Initiative, with Bermuda's Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, John Barnes, representing Bermuda at a conference in the Philippines. "This programme exists at Government level so that governments finally understand the significance of reef issues. So, all in all, we now have quite an effective framework which, together, will help us make more people aware -- especially people like fishermen, for example, on why studies and careful use of the reefs is so important.''