evidence: Threats - The Comoros is one of the least developed countries in the region, and population growth is leading to rapid increases in direct pressures on the sea for resources, principally food, and in land-based impacts such as pollution and sedimentation. Mayotte has a higher standard of living as its is a region of France, however higher consumption levels, land-based development and greater motorization of fisheries result in even greater threats to the marine environment. Fishing on the isolated banks (Geyser, Glorieuses) is a growing threat as depletion of fish on the main islands occurs, and increased nearshore management of fisheries pushes illegal fishers farther offshore. The islands are also in the center of highly active zone of oil and gas exploration driven by the neighbouring countries, so is highly vulnerable to impacts over which it has no control. The eastern parts of the Comoros and Mayotte lie in an apparently warmer zone in the northern Mozambique channel, raising the risk of thermal stress and coral bleaching. The primary threat to coelecanths is renewed and increasing deep benthic fisheries, due to the need to feed the growing island populations.