Human threats to coral reefs and coral damage (continued)

Dynamite or blast fishing is a method of fishing used extensively in South East Asia that is highly damaging to coral reefs (Spalding et al., 2001). It involves using dynamite or other explosives to create an explosion underwater, to stun or kill fish and bring them to the surface where they can be collected. Often a secondary explosion is carried out in order to kill predators that have been attracted to the sounds and the smells of the first explosion. This method of fishing is devastating to the ecosystem because it instantly destroys the corals and the limestone matrix, the habitat for countless organisms, as well as directly killing any plants or animals in close proximity. Evidence shows that most reefs are somehow affected by fishing, as a study of 315 reefs in 31 countries showed lower than expected levels of ‘indicator’ organisms, even in reefs that had not been affected by factors such as pollution and sedimentation (Hodgson, 1999).