Coral Restoration in the Florida Keys

[revhtree]

Since 2010, Georgia Aquarium has been working in partnership with the Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) in the Upper Florida Keys to help to restore Staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and Elkhorn (Acropora palmata) corals using ocean-based aquaculture nurseries and transplantation methodologies. CRF is a non-profit conservation organization created to develop off-shore coral nurseries and reef restoration programs for critically endangered coral reefs at local, national, and international levels. The mission of CRF is to develop affordable, effective strategies for protecting and restoring coral reefs and to train and empower others to implement those strategies in their coastal communities. CRF has developed the largest offshore coral nursery in the United States, with more than 15,000 coral “frags” or “nubbins,” (14,000 Staghorn, 1,200 Elkhorn) and transplanted more than 3,000 corals from nursery to reef at 22 different reef areas in the Upper Florida Keys, with concentrated effort in Molasses Reef, located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off of Key Largo, Florida. The goal of each restoration project is to re-establish genetically diverse thickets of coral and nurture them to maturity so they can spawn and repopulate downstream reef areas. This approach to active reef management has the potential to restore reefs to approximately their original biodiversity and stability.

See the full article and photos on the Georgia Aquarium Website

More here...