Pass on Parrotfish to Save Caribbean Reefs

Parrotfish are severely overfished throughout the Caribbean and it’s vital to coral reef health that we leave parrotfish on the reef. Recently, social media has aided the spread of awareness to pass on eating or fishing parrotfish. Let’s pay attention! As consumers, we can help keep parrotfish on the reef. 

AUTHOR |  Dr. Chelsea Harms-Tuohy, Isla Mar Research Expeditions, Rincón Puerto Rico

Close your eyes and envision an underwater scene of a pristine coral reef in the Caribbean. You probably see huge elkhorn corals with their orange antler-like branches stretching up towards the sun, not quite breaking the water’s surface. Back down below, swimming around the corals, are the schools of deeply-hued blue tangs eloquently moving in unison. Maybe a grouper sneaks out from under the coral’s base, but returns to his hiding place as you approach. A gentle nurse shark glides by in the distance. A school of yellowtail snapper bask in the sun’s rays as they shoal over the reef. But there is one fish in particular that really catches your eye – the parrotfish – as it hurriedly swims past you flashing its bright colors, similar to that of the bird. You watch as it approaches a coral and takes a nose dive, mouth parted to scrape off the algae using its fused-tooth beak. It takes several more mouthfuls before swimming away, leaving a little trail of white dust accumulating as sand on the bottom. Intrigued by the parrotfish’s vegetarian diet, you start to notice the effect they have on the corals – that is, they all seem vibrant and full of life. The algae have not overgrown their delicate calcium carbonate structure. Zooming out, you observe several parrotfish happily munching away on their “greens”.

In fact, parrotfish spend up to 90% of their day eating algae and crunching on coral. A new study of parrotfish teeth found that those scraping beaks produce about 530 tons of pressure per square inch, which is like 80 African elephants compressed to that tiny space¹. New research from Hawaii compares parrotfish to farmers, observing that they partake in rotational grazing by revisiting algal sites on the reef. When they bite the algae (and the coral) they create small divots in the coral structure which may promote coral “sprouting” (or, recruitment and settlement) ². Farmers of the ocean, indeed! In the Caribbean, large parrotfish like the rainbow parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia) and midnight parrotfish (Scarus coelestinus) can scrape a lot of algae, yet we don’t see these large herbivores very often on our reefs. Why is that? Well, unfortunately for coral reefs, we really like to fish and eat parrotfish.

Overfishing in the Caribbean is not a new story. Our insatiable appetite for seafood has crippled some fisheries (like Nassau grouper) and severely threatened top predators (sharks). Some islands fish for parrotfish because other preferred fish, like snapper and grouper, are harder to come by. In other words, fishers catch parrotfish because it’s the only sizable fish still remaining on the reef. This happens as a trickle-down effect referred to as “fishing down the food web”. We start out fishing for high protein, good eats like big groupers and once those are gone, we start fishing for the next “big fish”, which is generally much smaller and lower on the food web. So, if we want to keep parrotfish on the reef and off our plates, what’s the solution? And where do we start?

To reach an audience of fishers and consumers, we must create an interest in what parrotfish do for the reef. It’s critical to inform our island communities about the role they play in maintaining coral reef health – which is more than just eating algae. Parrotfish are a food source for bigger fish and they also contribute to those white sandy beaches where you like to sunbathe. That’s right, their poop becomes sand. Remember when you were daydreaming of that pristine reef, with the parrotfish leaving a little trail on its way to the next meal? That poo is composed of digested calcium from the algae and bits of coral, which when excreted becomes a blanket of sand on the reef. That sand gets transported by currents and storms and eventually deposits on the beach where you lounge to sip that delicious piña colada under the setting sun. Magical! Now you’re interested and aware.

Sharing your new interest and spreading the message about the plight of the parrotfish is the next step towards creating awareness. In this modern age of technology – where almost everyone has internet access in their hands – it seems only logical to start with social media. Recently, The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean and the U.S. Agency for International Development launched a campaign on Facebook to share important facts and interesting tidbits about parrotfish (see the posts on the Conservancy’s Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/CaribbeanTNC>). They created a hashtag #PassOnParrotfish, encouraging other organizations and individuals to spread the news about not catching, selling, buying or eating parrotfish. Besides Facebook, this hashtag is now popping up all over Twitter and Instagram, where users are sharing their own photos and shout-outs to their fellow islanders to “listen up!” and leave parrotfish on the reef. Similar parrotfish campaigns have launched, including local outreach to fishing communities in the Dominican Republic by the Center for the Conservation and Eco-Development of Samaná Bay and its Surroundings (CEBSE) and in Jamaica with Sandals Resorts International. We have awareness and its catching on; parrotfish should be protected. But how?

This is where awareness comes to fruition as real behavioral change. Standing up for parrotfish has resulted in some islands banning their harvest, including the Dominican Republic, Bonaire, Barbuda, Belize and the Turks & Caicos. But other islands may not find this a viable solution. Fisher livelihoods must be considered, and an alternative must be provided before a real change can happen. Luckily, an alternative exists: lionfish. The lionfish (Pterois volitans) is an invasive predatory fish from the Indo-Pacific that has swarmed the Caribbean and seems rather content in its new home. Scientists agree that the lionfish is here to stay. So, grassroots efforts have popped up around the Caribbean to train fishers to hunt for lionfish and provide them the tools to do so. Organizations like Sea Grant and Isla Mar Research Expeditions in Puerto Rico hold training workshops and provide fishers with spearfishing tools to hunt lionfish. The Institute for Socio-Ecological Research (ISER Caribe) works with fishers in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas to help transition them to hunting lionfish. But when switching to a different fish may not be a solution, there are still options for protecting parrotfish. Some measures could include implementing size restrictions and catch limits for parrotfish. This would at least ensure that smaller parrotfish have a chance to contribute to their population (make babies) and that a range of sizes are available on the reef to contribute to those important roles (food source, algae control).

So, as you travel to the Caribbean or if you already call the islands your home, consider the choice you have in the fish you eat. Here’s how you can help parrotfish (remember, no action is too small!). 1) Choose not to eat parrotfish and tell your restaurants why. As a consumer, you hold the power to enact real change by driving a market. Eventually the word will get back to the market owners and fishers. 2) Support organizations working to help fishers find alternatives to parrotfish. Like CEBSE and ISER, these locally run non-profits have the interests of fishers at heart. Donate to their cause. 3) Share the message. Use social media to its fullest, repost and share the #PassOnParrotfish campaign messages with your friends, family, groups and colleagues. You can start by sharing this video from The Nature Conservancy <https://youtu.be/Q4NYJ5f1DVg >. 4) Write to your fisheries management boards & attend public hearings. Share your opinion and let them know you have an interest. You are a stakeholder and your voice does matter.  Be part of the solution! Let’s pass on parrotfish to leave them on the reef and off our plates.

REFERENCES | 1. Marcus et al. 2017. Parrotfish teeth: stiff biominerals whose microstructure makes them tough and abrasion-resistant to bite stony corals. ACS Nano. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b05044

2. DOI: 10.3354/meps12258 Article: http://www.futurity.org/parrotfishes-farm-algae-1544262/

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This piece was edited and posted onto SEVENSEAS Media by: Bharamee Thamrongmas.