Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration
Working Group

Coral health in the sanctuary has declined over the past several decades due to coastal development, pollution, overfishing, vessel groundings, storms, and coral disease and bleaching. In recent years, great strides have been made to grow corals in underwater nurseries for the purpose of restoring reefs. The sanctuary has permitted coral restoration efforts inside and outside protected zones, and while no area currently exists for intensive restoration efforts, the sanctuary's original management plan considered utilizing marine zoning to achieve this purpose. Public comment received during the initial public scoping period along with the goals and objectives adopted by the Sanctuary Advisory Council have made the topic of coral ecosystem restoration a priority for the marine zoning and regulatory review restoration.

Objectives

Identify specific areas and zones for active restoration of coral reef ecosystem
Identify regulatory impediments and appropriate permitting conditions for active restoration of coral reef ecosystem species
Identify adaptive management measures/criteria for opening areas closed for restoration purposes (i.e., performance standards for sunset)

Members

Advisory Council Lead - Ken Nedimyer
Advisory Council Co-lead - David Vaughan

Advisory Council Representatives:

Clinton Barras, SAC Tourism - Lower Keys
Alex Brylske, SAC Education & Outreach
Jeff Cramer, SAC Fishing - Commercial - Shell/Scale
Don Kincaid, SAC Diving - Lower Keys
Rob Mitchell, SAC Diving - Upper Keys
Martin Moe, SAC Education & Outreach
Ken Nedimyer, SAC Conservation & Environment
Bob Smith, SAC Diving - Lower Keys
David Vaughan, SAC Research & Monitoring

Community Experts:

Patti Gross, History of Diving Museum
Caitlin Lustic, The Nature Conservancy
Jeff Neidlinger, A Deep Blue Dive Center
Marius Venter, Fury Water Adventures

Staff Lead: Bill Goodwin

For advisory council meeting archives visit: Current Year or Previous Year Archives.

Draft Recommendations

Draft Criteria for Zone Selection (pdf, 116 kb)
Draft Recommendations for Sanctuary Advisory Council Consideration (pdf, 153 kb)
Draft Recommendations for Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration Zones: All Zones Identified (pdf, 614 kb)
Draft Recommendations for Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration Zones: Priority Zones Identified (pdf, 491 kb)
Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration Working Group Recommendations to SAC (pdf, 4.2 MB)

Materials to be presented at the June 17, 2014 Sanctuary Advisory Council Meeting

Coral Reef Ecosystem Restoration and Shallow Water Wildlife and Habitat Protection Working Group Recommendations for Sanctuary Advisory Council Consideration (pdf, 20 MB)

Data and Mapping Applications

General

Coral Nurseries

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act Coral Nursery Biological Opinion (pdf, 1.2 MB)

Coral Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring

Acropora Population Decline in Keys (pdf, 3.2 MB)
Connected Restoration Monitoring Report (pdf, 1.9 MB)
Elpis Restoration Monitoring Report (pdf, 6.5 MB)
High Resolution Landscape Mosaics for Coral Reef Monitoring (pdf, 2.2 MB)
Lagniappe II Monitoring Report (pdf, 649 kb)
Maitland Restoration Monitoring (pdf, 2.6 MB)
Measuring Coral Community Health (pdf, 1 MB)
Recruitment and Survival of Threatened Acropora palmata at Looe Key Reef and Broward County First Reef (pdf, 92 kb)
Wellwood Fish Assemblage Monitoring Final Report (pdf, 1.2 MB)
Wellwood Restoration Monitoring Report (pdf, 2.9 MB)

Coral Reef Ecosystem Management

Acropora Endangered Species Act Listing Workshop (pdf, 3.2 MB)
Coral Recovery in Marine Zones (pdf, 216 kb)
Prioritizing Key Resilience Indicators (pdf, 374 kb)
Restoring the Biology of the Great Barrier Reef (pdf, 392 kb)