How to influence environmental decision makers? The case of Eilat (Red Sea) coral reefs Yossi Loya ⁎ Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel Received 30 January 2006; received in revised form 16 October 2006; accepted 18 December 2006 Keywords: Coral reefs; Decision makers; Degradation; Fish farms; Mariculture; IET; Recovery; Eilat; Red Sea 1. Introduction In a recent overview of the literature, Rinkevich (2005b), hereafter ‘Rinkevich’, aims to critically exam- ine some of the paradigms concerning the degradation of Eilat's coral reef. He selects 5 of the major challen- ging outcomes/points he identifies, to motivate critical evaluation of the published literature and future research activities. He further states that his synopsis may also serve as an important application tool for managers and policy makers (p.185). In view of the widely publicized and intense ongoing (7–8 years) scientific and public debate on the possible connection between intensive fish farms' activity in Eilat and the state of the reef (see Erez et al., 2000; Genin, 2000; Gordin, 2000; Lazar et al., 2000; Atkinson et al., 2001; Genin et al., 2001; Bongiorni et al., 2003; Loya and Kramarsky-Winter, 2003; Rinkevich et al., 2003; Wielgus et al., 2003, 2004; Loya, 2004a; Atkinson et al., 2004; Loya et al., 2004, 2005; Abelson et al., 2005; Rinkevich, 2005a; Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection, 2006), Rinkevich's synopsis might prove to be critical for the possibility of legal measures that may (or may not) be undertaken, in the near future, with respect to the fish farm industry. Thus, the fate of the fish farms awaits the verdict of the Israeli Supreme Court, to whom they appealed with a request to call off a Governmental ruling (from June 2005) to stop their activity within 3 years (for landmarks in the fish farms controversy, see Appendix A). Since Rinkevich's paper has been published in a respected scientific journal, it now constitutes a sig- nificant document which might influence decision makers involved in making balanced judgments about reef protection in the northern Gulf of Eilat. It is therefore important to draw the reader's attention to a number of problems with Rinkevich's paper, which I believe substantially affect his main conclusions. These problems centre on biased presentation and interpretation of refereed and grey literature that he claims support his assertions, but which are flawed and therefore misleading. Rinkevich disputes in particular series of my publications dealing with Eilat's coral community struc- ture and species diversity, from the early 70's to date. These publications are central to the 5 points, discussed by Rinkevich. The purpose of this paper is not to defend my earlier work, or my recent publications dealing with the state of Eilat's reef, but to call attention to the severe state of the reef, (contrasting Rinkevich's declarations) and the urgent need to protect it. Some of the major issues presented in this paper include: (i) Discussion on whether the Eilat reefs have been continuously degrading, severely damaged (especially Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 344 (2007) 35 – 53 www.elsevier.com/locate/jembe ⁎ Tel.: +972 3 6407683. E-mail address: yosiloya@post.tau.ac.il. 0022-0981/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2006.12.005