Research Product

A recently published call to action by Dodge et al. (2008) identifies nine actions needed to protect coral reefs. The authors identify several management goals that cannot be accomplished with MPAs alone, the traditional approach to coral reef protection. For U.S. waters, the Clean Water Act provides a regulatory authority for all marine waters within three miles of shore. Although historically implemented to manage chemical pollutants, the act has a much broader mandate to protect all water resources including the biota that make up coral reefs. Water quality standards are used to define how a water body may be used (e.g., aquatic life support) and to define threshold values for physical, chemical or biological indicators that support that use. These legal instruments can be used to translate our scientific understanding of coral reef biota into measurable targets that guide management actions and communicate coral reef condition to the public, stakeholders and elected officials