Florida Reef Tract Coral Disease Outbreak

NOAA, partners launch groundbreaking Florida Keys coral reef restoration effort

In collaboration with state and local partners, on December 9, 2019, NOAA announced a bold strategy to restore and preserve seven coral reef sites in the Florida Keys, part of an unprecedented, decades-long effort to revitalize the region’s highly diverse and economically valuable marine ecosystem.

The project, Mission: Iconic Reefs calls for restoring nearly three million square feet of the Florida Reef Tract, about the size of 52 football fields, one of the largest strategies ever proposed in the field of coral restoration. Over the next year and beyond, NOAA will support this effort and work with outside partners to secure additional public and private funds.

“NOAA is fundamentally changing its approach to coral reef restoration by proactively intervening to restore reef health and improve ecological function,” said Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., acting NOAA administrator. “Bold and decisive action has the very real potential to save one of the largest and most economically important reef ecosystems in the world before it’s too late.”

Divers outplant staghorn coral at Carysfort Reef in the Florida Keys. (Photo: Alexander Neufeld/Coral Restoration Foundation)

Mexican researchers declare highest priority for disease outbreak

Researchers surveying the Mexican Caribbean coast determined that the outbreak of stony coral tissue loss disease afflicted the entire area within a few months in 2018, increasing coral mortality and severely changed the structure of coral communities in the region. Noting that the disease is likely the most lethal ever recorded, they urge reef researchers, managers and stakeholders across the Western Atlantic to accord it the highest priority for the near future.