Protection and conservation, rather than restoration of damaged reefs, is the preferred priority. However, there have been a number of successful mitigation efforts in Hawaii (Jokiel, ).
Disorder is a natural structuring force in both terrestrial and aquatic communities, with disturbed patches undergoing cycles of removal and recovery leading to spatial heterogeneity. Whether uproar is acute or chronic has significant implications for the disturbed ecosystem's time frame for recovery, with lower chances for recovery after chronic, long-term disturbances or after a phase shift from one major community to another like from coral-dominated to algal-dominated reefs. Hard corals mainly Scleractinia form the biological and structural foundations of coral reef ecosystems, and can recover rapidly if communities are adapted to high disturbance regimes or if stable and complex substrate remains to facilitate recruitment. Nonetheless, blast fishing is an anthropogenic disturbance that physically alters the reef structure. The explosion of homemade bombs not only kills fish but also shatters the coral skeletons, and creates expanses of unstable coral rubble that reduces survival of coral recruits. In addition, the removal of the targeted herbivorous fish is likely to reduce the resilience of the reefs to climate change and other impacts, further hampering recovery. Blast fishing is widespread even though it is illegal, and a major threat to reefs with destructive fishing estimated to threaten over 50% of reefs in Southeast Asia. Coral remains that are not killed by the blast directly may experience further post-disturbance mortality in the shifting rubble (Fox and Caldwell, 2006).
Although recovery from blasting has been modeled and levels of biological or economic impact have been assessed, field studies of recovery from blast fishing are rare. It has been reported that there is a remote area in Indonesia where fishing with homemade bombs still occurs. In early April 1999 it was observed that two bomb fishermen using a kerosene-fertilizer mix in 300-mL glass soda bottles with homemade fuses were carrying out this practice. The fishermen gathered several kilograms of the targeted reef fish per blast. Hours after the blasts, the reef was surveyed using SCUBA. The approximate center of each of the resulting six craters was marked and measured the size of damaged areas. Researchers have returned to these sites repeatedly over the following five years to measure the dynamics of coral recovery (Fox and Caldwell, 2006).
It is progressively clearer that the rapid decline of reef systems calls for a suite of more vigorous, innovative and adaptive management strategies. Responding to the global coral reef crisis requires active management of human activities that modify essential ecological processes. In particular, it requires an ability to scale up management and governance of systems to secure the future of functional groups and their roles in supporting the resilience of coral reefs. There is an increasing awareness of what has already been lost, and also recognition that in a changing world, the resilience of coral reefs is increasingly uncertain (Bellwood, Hughes, Folke and Nystrom, 2004).
There appear to be four recommendations for managing human activities in coral reef ecosystems. The first is that the size and rate of establishment of no take areas (NTA's) needs to be increased. These can be used as a tool for resilience management. Second the focus on NTA's and hotspots must not be allowed to detract from the provision of improved management measures for the vast majority of the reefs that are heavily affected by people. Third, reef management needs to be more inclusive, proactive and responsive. Fourth, the markets for reef resources...
And what about jobs, housing, and health care for all these people?" (Global Warming Is Really Happening). One of fundamental causes of this situation is the growth of technology. The Industrial Revolution not only created new forms of labor and industry but also led to an increase in the urban population. "There is a link between technology, overpopulation and the decline in the environment leads to increases in CO2 levels
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