No-fishing zones may revive coral

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Governments can help save threatened coral reefs by prohibiting fishing nearby, giving species of fish beneficial to coral colonies a chance to flourish, scientists said Saturday.

Parrotfish eat the seaweed and algae that crowd out young colonies of coral, helping replenish reefs damaged by storms, bleaching or climate change, according to marine scientists at the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park southeast of Nassau.

They said young coral colonies flourish in areas where parrotfish are protected.

The multicolored fish with a beaklike mouth have been the primary grazers on Caribbean reefs since disease wiped out most long-spine sea urchins in the early 1980s, said researcher Daniel Brumbaugh, chief coordinator for the Bahamas Biocomplexity Project.

Lead scientist Peter Mumby of the University of Exeter said the team's findings were the first evidence that coral can be helped to recover where parrotfish are protected and swim in great numbers.