Keys Reef Restoration Moves Forward
Recent funding boosts ongoing coral restoration efforts in South Florida waters.
More than $1 million in recent funding came as a welcome shot in the arm for Mission: Iconic Reefs, a NOAALED coral-reef restoration effort, unparalleled in scope and scale, launched in December 2019 with support from several key organizations.
Since the 1970s, healthy coral in the Florida Keys has declined more than 90 percent due to ship groundings, pollution, hurricanes, disease, overfishing and warming ocean temperatures. Through Mission: Iconic Reefs, NOAA and its partners are using a phased approach to restore coral at seven sites in the Florida Keys: Carysfort Reef, Horseshoe Reef, Cheeca Rocks, Sombrero Reef, Newfound Harbor, Looe Key Reef and Eastern Dry Rocks.
The chosen sites span the full geographic range of the region, a variety of habitats, and a diversity of human uses, plus they all have a history of restoration success, or have characteristics that suggest restoration is likely to succeed.
The National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation and Florida Aquarium were awarded the lion’s share of the new funding—$605,000 and $300,000, respectively. The former is tasked with engaging and training the local dive shops and community to assist with preparation and maintenance of restoration sites, and will also explore restoring Caribbean king crab—once prevalent on Keys reefs. The latter will raise fast-growing elkhorn coral, and
scale up its production of sea urchins. Caribbean king crab and sea urchins eat algae that can overgrow on coral reefs.
NOAA previously awarded $2.8 million to the Coral Restoration Foundation and Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, both of which shifted the focus of their long-standing coral restoration work to the sites targeted by Mission: Iconic Reefs.
The effort to put Florida Keys coral reefs on track for recovery is an enormous undertaking, requiring long-term collaboration and contributions from a network of world-renowned scientists, and many partners, including federal and state agencies, and community stakeholders. It could take a couple of decades to increase coral cover on the reefs from its current state to an average of 25 percent. A healthy coral reef has between 25 and 40 percent coral cover.
Throughout the lengthy restoration process, divers will serve as gardeners of the reefs, reattaching damaged or disconnected coral, and removing debris and species that might disturb the coral or compete for space.
Access to the various coral restoration areas will not change, so the public will still be able to visit the reefs during restoration. Access could temporarily be reduced during active restoration work.