• Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
MAIN TEL: (678) 354-0066
Carvalholawfirm.com
  • Our Firm
    • Our Attorneys & Staff
    • Our Achievements
    • Our Community Partnerships
  • Practice Areas
    • Civil Litigation
    • Real Estate Development
    • Regulatory Matters
    • Small Business Law
  • Firm News
    • Articles
    • Resources
  • Consultations
  • Contact Us
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

November, 2023/in Articles, Climate Change, Coastal Zone Management, Environmental, Sustainability, Uncategorized /by Carvalho-admin

Cayman Islands Government Responds to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) Impacts

By Michael P. Carvalho, Esq. and Christopher J. Miller, B.S., M.S Eng.

November 6, 2023 – Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a deadly coral disease affecting over twenty-five species of hard coral resulting in rapid tissue mortality and death of entire colonies. The disease was first reported on Florida’s reefs in 2014 and has subsequently spread throughout multiple countries in the Caribbean, to include the Cayman Islands, due to its high transmissivity. SCTLD causes lesions to appear on hard corals following increasing bleaching events associated with dramatic increases in surface water temperatures caused by Climate Change. Infected corals rapidly lose live tissue and entire colonies can be wiped out in weeks to months (Precht et al 2016). The Cayman Islands government is particularly concerned about the spread of SCTLD from Grand Cayman where the disease is now widely established to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, where SCTLD has not yet gained a foothold.

Cause

Stony coral tissue Loss Disease diver inspectionThe cause and method of SCTLD transmission are currently unknown but are the subject of intense research. Previously, researchers believed that SCTLD is a bacterial pathogen that grows rapidly and is transmitted by direct contact and ocean currents. (Aeby et al, 2019). More recent research suggests that a viral pathogen may be disrupting the coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis, a type of photosynthesis algae living in coral tissues. (Landsberg et al 0202; Work et al 2021). There is no known cure for SCTLD, which has a mortality rate of 60%-100% (Precht et al 2016), although studies are underway to determine whether topically applied antibiotics may be effective.

Affect

SCLTD negatively affects coral density and species diversity, reducing the overall health of coral reefs and resulting in significant degradation to coral reef ecosystems. The loss of coral reefs (already imperiled by rapidly warming ocean surface temperatures and physical damages from intense weather events) affects not only the health of the reef, but also the myriad of economic interests they support. Such interests include tourism, coastal protection, food, and recreation, among others impacts. In the Cayman Islands, tourism is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for approximately 70% of GDP. (Moody’s Analytics, www.economy.com/cayman-islands). With the main sources of income in the Cayman Islands consisting of financial services, tourism and real estate sales and development, the loss of once pristine coral reefs upon which much of the tourist economy is based, would be devastating to the economy.

 

Response

Antibiotics for coralAll hands-on deck. Local governments throughout the Caribbean are collaborating with regional and international partners to continue to study the causes and effects of SCTLD on coral reefs. The Cayman Islands Government Department of the Environment (DoE) is “…actively training volunteers on disease identification and how to use treatment options while expanding our citizen scientist reporting efforts to engage the public in helping us identify diseases coral.” DoE regularly collects samples for epidemiological research and applies topical treatment of Amoxicillin + Base2B on affected corals within defined study areas. (doe.ky/marine/sctld.).

 

The Cayman Islands government is also engaged in efforts to grow new coral using fragments harvested from healthy reefs and grown on “coral trees” suspended in the water column in nurseries. https://missionblue.org/2017/03/cayman-islands-coral-nursery-conservation-program/

Coral treeDoE is actively engaging scuba divers and fishers who are being relied upon not only of their ability to identify and report diseased corals, but also to avoid transmission of SCLTD by disinfecting dive gear and bilge water, as pathogens may survive on for extended periods and can transmitted to other locations. Disinfection can be achieved through using a 1% bleach solution, ammonia-based disinfectants, or antibacterial dish soap. DoE requests that divers and snorkelers consider renting local dive gear, avoid visiting healthy sites after visiting diseased sites, disinfecting gear between sites, and disinfecting bilge water between Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands (Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac) at least one-half mile offshore and away from coral reefs.

For further information:

Tammi Warrender is the Lead Coordinator of the SCTLD Response Project.  She can be reached by email: Tammi.Warrender@gov.ky

Report SCLTD and submit photographs: SCTLD Report Caribbean.

Urgent issues should be reported to the SCTLD hotline at +1-345-926-0680.

_________________________________________________________________

Michael P. Carvalho, Esq. is an environmental attorney representing a wide range of clients in environmental and real estate matters nationally and internationally. He is a former environmental consultant and serves as President of Carvalho & Associates, P.C with offices in Boston and Atlanta. He can be reached at mpc@carvalholawfirm.com.

Christopher J. Miller is a former environmental consultant and currently serves as Director of Natural Resources of the Town of Brewster, Massachusetts.

Tags: Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://carvalholawfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/turtle-sm-250x250-1.jpg 259 250 Carvalho-admin https://carvalholawfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/logo_carvalho.png Carvalho-admin2023-11-09 13:49:382023-11-09 16:48:57Carvalho & Associates, P.C. Science Policy Update
Carvalho & Associates, P.C.

4 hours ago

Carvalho & Associates, P.C.

Carvalho & Associates, P.C. Science Policy Update - Carvalholawfirm.com

carvalholawfirm.com

Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a deadly coral disease affecting over twenty-five species of hard coral resulting in rapid tissue mortality and death of entire colonies. DoE is actively eng...
View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Carvalho & Associates, P.C. Carvalho & Associates, P.C. is at Chevalier Theatre.

1 month ago

Carvalho & Associates, P.C.
Feeling so privileged to attend Dr. Jane Goodall’s inspiring lecture tonight! ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Carvalho & Associates, P.C.

6 months ago

Carvalho & Associates, P.C.
Join me this Wednesday, May 3rd at 7PM at the Manchester Community Center for "Lessons from the top of the World". ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Attorney Michael P. Carvalho has over 28 years of legal experience and is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, Georgia, Michigan and Washington, DC.
The firm is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia and has satellite offices in Boston and Detroit.

METRO ATLANTA OFFICE – TEL: (678) 354-0066

707 Whitlock Avenue, SW | Building E, Suite 19 | Marietta, GA 30064
ATTN: Michael P. Carvalho, Esq.

BOSTON COASTAL OFFICE – TEL: (678) 354-0066

P.O. Box 1584 | Manchester, MA 01944-1543

ATTN: Michael P. Carvalho, Esq.

DETROIT OFFICE –  TEL: (313) 821-5904

14950 E. Jefferson, Suite 170 | Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230
ATTN: Timothy A. Dinan, Esq.

Legal Notice | Contact Us | Privacy Policy

© 2022 All Rights Reserved on original work.

Virtual Expedition to Antarctica with Michael Carvalho Michael Carvalho Announces 2024 POLEs Expedition – The Intersection of...
Scroll to top

We inform you that this site uses own, technical and third parties cookies to make sure our web page is user-friendly and to guarantee a high functionality of the webpage. By continuing to browse this website, you declare to accept the use of cookies.

OKLearn More

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Accept settingsHide notification only