San Juan.- The secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico (DRNA)Anais Rodríguezdeclared this Tuesday a emergency for marine ecosystems, Coral reefs and protected species upon the discovery of the species invasive octocoralsof the family ‘xeniidae’ in island waters.
Rodríguez specified in a message on the account of ‘Natural Resources PR’ in social networkeconomic damages and environmental In Puerto Rico”.
“Declaring an emergency and placing these octocoralaria on the list of invasive species allows us to implement a fast answer and comprehensive for preserve diversity and the ecological integrity of the marine ecosystems of Puerto Rico,” stated the secretary.
As a main measure, the DRNA prohibited the export either sale of organisms removed from the family ‘xeniidae’.
According to authorities, the invasive species sand detected in February for the first time, on the coast of the municipality of Lajas, in the south of the Caribbean island, and later it was sighted in Guayanilla, Guánica and Caja de Muertos, in the southern town of Ponce.
The mass death of corals involves the extinction of multiple important species, constituting a significant loss of marine diversity.
Reefs can cushion between 50 and 90% of the wave energy, so if they disappear, the ability to attenuate the waves is lost and in the face of the climate change phenomenon that impacts Puerto Rico, this means a high level of risk. coastal erosion.
Source: EFE
