ABSTRACT

The Cayos Cochinos Natural Monument, located off the coast of Honduras in the
Caribbean Sea, was declared a protected area by the Honduran government in 1992 and
in 2003 was awarded the status of a Marine Nature Monument. The Cayos Cochinos
Natural Monument is an important and protected part of the Meso-American barrier reef
and the world’s second largest barrier reef system, which has been identified by the
Smithsonian Institute, The Nature Conservancy, the Word Wildlife Fund and the World
Bank as one of the key sections of the barrier reef system to preserve. In 2004 the first
management plan was published and new zoning and connected regulations were
approved. This was updated by the 2008 - 2012 management plan, which was also based
on the important monitoring findings provided by these joint Biosphere Expeditions and
Honduras Coral Reef Fund expeditions. This report summarises the findings of the third
survey of this long-term monitoring programme, which was conducted from 1 - 27 March
2009.
Reef Check is the methodology selected for this survey involving volunteer divers, as it
was designed to assess the health of coral reefs and because it is also quite different from
other monitoring protocols in that it focuses on the abundance of particular coral reef
organisms that best reflect the condition of the ecosystem and that are easily recognizable
to the general public. This study also includes a comparative Reef Check analysis over 4
years.
From the beginning of the monitoring efforts in 2006 to date, we have observed a gradual
decrease in the average abundance of big predators such as groupers. We have also
observed a high average abundance of herbivore indicator species, showing a slight
reduction in 2009. This reduction of predators and increase of herbivores could be the
beginning of significant changes within the coral reef ecosystem, which we will have to
continue monitoring to establish appropriate management measures.
It is important to note the increasing fishing pressure on commercial species such
as Ocyurus crysurus, Lutjanus cynagris, Haemulon plumieri and Mycteroperca bonaci. The
conch and lobster have also shown low abundances since monitoring began, these two
invertebrates traditionally being the species of greatest exploitation in Honduras.
However, our management efforts to reduce fishing pressure, especially the efforts of
providing viable community economic alternatives as well as establishing temporary no
fishing zones on spawning aggregation sites, are beginning to show positive results.
The sea urchin that feeds on algae was found to be abundant, especially at the El Avión
site. The high sea urchin number at this site could indicate the beginning of a coral
recovery.
Overal coral coverage is still low around Cayos Cochinos, but the reduction in bleached
areas is significant. Nonetheless, we observed high levels of detrimental sedimentation
originating from the mainland and the landslides on Cayo Mayor.
Our recommendations for future expedition work is continued monitoring of the
effectiveness of management plan regulations, implementation of an environmental
education programme, continued biological monitoring and initiation of a study to
determinate the levels of fish extraction during the spawning aggregation periods.