7,600 – Estimated square miles covered by shallow-water coral reefs in the United States
375 billion – Estimated annual amount in goods and services coral reef ecosystems provide worldwide
500 million – Number of people worldwide that depend on coral reefs for food, income, and resources
50% – Amount of federally managed commercial fish species that need coral reefs for at least part of their life cycle
67% – Percent of reef fish species overfished in U.S. waters of the south Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean
90-96% – Percent of nearshore coral species killed by white band disease in the 1990s
>2,000 – Number of coral species listed under CITES
United States – The world’s largest importer of ornamental coral reef resources
$360 million – Estimated amount of money generated by coral reefs for recreation per year in Hawaii
33% – Percent of all marine fish species that call coral reefs home
6 million – The metric tons of seafood harvested annually from coral reef fisheries
0.2% – The amount of ocean area covered by tropical coral reefs
Data: U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century. Final Report. 2004
In the South Tasman Rise, high seas south of Australia, fishing records show that 1.6 tons of coral was hauled aboard trawling vessels per hour in 1997. In that year, more than 10,000 tons of coral bycatch was estimated to be captured, but less than 4,000 tons of their actual orange roughy target was caught (Deep Sea Conservation Coalition).
