Abstract

Systematic monitoring of coral reefs was carried out in several marine protected areas (MPAs) of Cuba, since 2000 to 2005. The objective of this study was to know the health status of these ecosystems. For this purpose the Reef Check methodology was adapted to local requirements. In this work an overview of the results obtained in 8 areas is presented. Coral cover varied among 10% to 40% with an average of 25%. The recent mortality observed didn't surpass 0.7%, this indicates that during the sampling or near to this study not happened disturbances or negative impacts on the reefs. The means values of algal coverage ranged from 10% to 60%, the areas with higher values could be affected by the presence of nutrients. The frequency of damages to corals due to anchors and presence of fishing arts was low, and indications of fishing using dynamite or poisoning were not observed. Few Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) and other groupers were observed during sampling, which can be an indicator of overfishing of the area. The most abundant families of fishes were Haemulidae and Scaridae and the values of density of these groups were comparatively acceptable. In general, the ecological indicators show healthy reefs, excluding certain damage probably due to overfishing

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