Protection efforts have resulted in ~10% of existing fish biomass on coral reefs.

The amount of ocean protected from fishing and other human impacts has often been used as a metric of conservation progress. However, protection efforts have highly variable outcomes that depend on local conditions, which makes it difficult to quantify what coral reef protection efforts to date have actually achieved at a global scale. Here, we develop a predictive model of how local conditions influence conservation outcomes on ~2,600 coral reef sites across 44 ecoregions, which we used to quantify how much more fish biomass there is on coral reefs compared to a modeled scenario with no protection.

Dietary intake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from coral reef fish in the Persian Gulf - Human health risk assessment.

The present study investigated accumulation of petrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (∑PAHs) in the livers and muscles of three coral-reef fish (50 specimens) from the Persian Gulf, Kharg Island (Iran), specifically Lethrinus microdon (n = 18), Lutjanus argentimaculatus (n = 17), and Scomberomorus guttatus (n = 15). For all fish, PAHs originated mostly from petroleum and combustion sources. Concentrations of ∑PAHs were 1004 ngg freeze-dried weight (fdw) and 1390 ngg fdw for liver and muscle, respectively.

First polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) monitoring in seawater, surface sediments and marine fish communities of the Persian Gulf: Distribution, levels, congener profile and health risk assessment.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants that, due to their high toxicity, lipophilic property and widespread dispersal in the global environment, present a danger for human health and ecological systems. Although the inventory and use of PCBs are extensively reported worldwide, the status of PCBs in Iran is still unknown. In this study, the concentrations of PCBs were determined in the environmental matrices and in five commercially important fish species from Larak coral Island, Persian Gulf, Iran, in winter and summer 2015.

Spatial distribution, ecological and health risk assessment of heavy metals in marine surface sediments and coastal seawaters of fringing coral reefs of the Persian Gulf, Iran.

Concentrations of 13 heavy metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, V, As, Cd, Hg, Pb) in 360 reef surface sediments (0-5 cm) and coastal seawater samples from ten coral Islands in the Persian Gulf were analyzed to determine their spatial distribution and potential ecological risks. Different sediment quality indices were applied to assess the surface sediment quality. The mean concentrations of metals in studied sediments followed the order: Al > Fe > Ni > V > Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr > Co > As > Cd > Pb > As.