Cayman Islands National Biodiversity Action Plan 2009 2.M.

6 Marine Habitats Artificial Installations

Rev: 19 March 2012

ANDYS DIVE PIX

Definition Artificial installations incorporate all maritime constructions, including docks, piers, and groynes. This category also includes underwater structures such as deliberately sunk shipwrecks, underwater sculptures, and artificial reef structures. Local Outline Maritime history and seafaring is central to Caymanian culture. The advent of increased affluence in the islands, ports expansion, industrial development, and increased use of pleasure boats and personal watercraft has brought with it an increased use artificial installations, towards facilitating trade and recreational access to the marine environment. Coastal development and land reclamation projects have modified natural beach dynamics and nearshore currents in some areas, resulting in coastal erosion, and emplacement of artificial counter-measures. Expansion of the tourism industry and the concomitant decline in the health of coral reefs has resulted in an increased interest in artificial augmentation of the natural environment, ranging from construction of artificial reefs to offset declining reef biodiversity, to the deliberate sinking of ships and emplacement of novelty underwater sculptures, towards bolstering declining natural tourist attractions.

For Reference and Acknowledgement: Cottam, M., Olynik, J., Blumenthal, J., Godbeer, K.D., Gibb, J., Bothwell, J., Burton, F.J., Bradley, P.E., Band, A., Austin, T., Bush, P., Johnson, B.J., Hurlston, L., Bishop, L., McCoy, C., Parsons, G., Kirkconnell, J., Halford, S. and Ebanks-Petrie, G. (2009). Cayman Islands National Biodiversity Action Plan 2009. Cayman Islands Government. Department of Environment. Final Formatting and production by John Binns, International Reptile Conservation Foundation.

Section: 2.M.6 Marine Habitats - Artificial Installations

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Key Habitat Categories for Artificial Installations Artificial installations have the capacity to affect all marine habitats. Key Species for Artificial Installations The following are selected from the schedules of the draft National Conservation Law; illustrating some of the endemic species, and those protected under international agreements, which are dependent upon this habitat. KEY SPECIES for ARTIFICIAL INSTALLATIONS Category Corals Corals Corals Corals Corals Corals Invertebrates Invertebrates Detail PART 1 All soft corals (including Gorgonians & Telestaceans) Black Coral Gorgonians Fire Corals Hard Corals Lace corals Echinoderms Sponges None PART 2 Fish (marine, bony) Invertebrates All bony fish - except those specifically listed in Part 1 or elsewhere in Part 2 Spiny Lobster Teleostei species Panulirus argus SAP Anthozoa all species Antipatharia all species Gorgoniacea all species Milleporidae all species Scleractinia all species Stylasteridae all species Echinodermata all species Porifera all species Scientific Reference NBAP

Current Status of Artificial Installations Due to their small size, artificial installations are not a mapped habitat. Key Sites for Artificial Installations GRAND CAYMAN: Shipwreck City artificial sinking of Kittiwake Artificial sinking of the Ore Verde Sunset Mermaid Marriott Reefball breakwater CAYMAN BRAC: Lost City of Atlantis Artificial sinking of the Capt. Keith Tibbetts

Nature Conservation Importance of Artificial Installations Biodiversity: appropriate design and placement of artificial installations can contribute positively to biodiversity, especially towards restoration of degraded habitats and systems. Success is, however, often highly site specific, and wholly dependent on appropriate structural design, use of appropriate materials, and placement. Biodiversity in associated with artificial installations is often greater than that of the surrounding area. The value of artificial installations for biodiversity, however, is dependent on the provision of suitable new habitat (as opposed to simply aggregating pre-existing species), and longevity of the installation. Sediments: dredging and drilling activity associated with placement of artificial installations generates particulate matter. Fines may remain suspended in the water column for long periods, during which time it may be carried some distance from the activity footprint.

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 Currents: artificial installations contribute to localised modification of currents, influencing dependent flora and fauna, and the dynamics of unconsolidated sediments, both underwater and along adjacent shoreline. Storm Damage: impermanent, unsecured or otherwise weak artificial structures present a littering and debris hazard to natural environments. Pollution: inappropriate materials, and improperly stripped and sanitized vessels, can contribute to artificial installations presenting pollution threats to natural environments. Other: Aesthetic: in most cases, artificial installations reduce the aesthetic appeal of the natural environment. This is particularly important in areas of outstanding natural beauty, and those visited by people expecting to enjoy a natural experience. Storm security: appropriate design, and placement of artificial installations can contribute positively to storm security. Artificial installations are not, however, a replacement for natural storm protection. Artificial installations are financially costly and, once damaged, have a tendency to degrade rapidly, as opposed to natural features, which tend to recover by natural process, unless damage is irrevocable. Current Factors Affecting Artificial Installations Aesthetic: divers like to dive on wrecks and other artificial installations. Residential access: boating access from residential developments to the open sea is a requirement of canal developments. In the face of increasingly large and affluent developments, there is increasingly pressure for the deepening, and widening of existing channels, and the development of new access, to facilitate increased traffic, and the passage of larger boats. Commercial access: boating access to ports and docks. Private docks: construction and modification of private docks contributes to, generally small-scale, dredging in association with placement, repair and maintenance. Opportunities and Current Local Action for Artificial Installations Preservation and protection of historical shipwrecks in the Cayman Islands is minimal LOCAL HABITAT ACTION PLAN for Artificial Installations OBJECTIVES 1. Update and refine existing maps of artificial installations. 2. Ensure that artificial installations contribute positively to local biodiversity, and do not negatively impact natural systems or aesthetics. TARGET 2008 2010

Artificial Installations PROPOSED ACTION Policy & Legislation PL1. Pass and implement the National Conservation Law. PL2. Require environmental assessment or EIA before emplacement of artificial installations as appropriate. PL3. Ensure that new artificial installations do not adversely affect natural systems or aesthetics.

LEAD

PARTNERS

TARGET

MEETS OBJECTIVE 2 2 2

CIG DoE DoE

DoE CIG DoP CIG DoP

2006 2006 ongoing

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Artificial Installations PROPOSED ACTION PL4. Establish policies to maintain legal access to and use of common resources by the general public, and prevent exclusive exploitation by private enterprise. PL5. Adopt existing Coastal Works Policy. SM1. Continue and develop design and construction measures for new artificial installations to ensure that they do not adversely affect natural systems or aesthetics. SM2. Implement associated SAPs. Advisory A1. Encourage integrated Coastal Zone Management through collaboration and co-operation between the many interests concerned with artificial installations. A2. Work with outside agencies and developers to promote sustainable development in the Cayman Islands. A3. Targeted awareness of the need for the National Conservation Law. A3. REPORT: Extensive public outreach Mar-Sept 2010. Research & Monitoring RM1. Expand water quality monitoring, to include assessment of possible leaching of pollutants into the marine environment. RM2. Monitor artificial installations to determine positive and negative impacts on the marine environment. RM3. Investigate potential to restore benthic communities using artificial installations. RM4. Incorporate all pre-existing and forthcoming research and monitoring data, habitat mapping and imagery into a spatially-referenced database. RM5. Develop and expand research programmes, to incorporate and target indicators of climate change. RM6. Utilise remote sensing to instigate a five-yearly habitat mapping programme. CP1. Continue to inform the public on best practice guidelines relating to artificial installations. E.g. Design and Construction Guidelines for Docks, and changes to biodiversity caused when natural environments are replaced with artificial ones. References and Further Reading for Artificial Installations

LEAD

PARTNERS

TARGET

MEETS OBJECTIVE 2 2

DoE DoE

CIG MCB CIG

2015 2000

Safeguards & Management DoE DoE CIG DoP ongoing 2 2

DoE DoE DoE

DoP DoT DoP CIG MP CIG NT

ongoing ongoing 2006

2 2 2

DoE DoE DoE DoE DoE DoE

IntC MP CIG IntC

2015 ongoing 2012 2015

2 2 2 1 2 1

IntC

2010 2015

Communication & Publicity DoE CIG ongoing 2

Brunt, M.A. and Davies, J.E. (1994). The Cayman Islands Natural History and Biogeography. pp. 604. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0-79232462-5.

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