Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative (HCRI)

National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI)

Caribbean Coral Reef Institute (CCRI)

Coral Reef Research for

Understanding, Management, and Conservation

NOAA’s Coral Reef Research Institutes

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
Seventy percent of the worlds’ 

reefs are listed as threatened or 

destroyed and 20% of those are 

damaged beyond repair. 

(The Status of Coral Reefs of the 

World: 2004).

Marine reserves have proven to be a succesful tool for protecting coral 

reefs worldwide. (Photo credit - NOAA)

Coral reef ecosystems are economically, biologically, 

and culturally valuable. This diverse ecosystem supports a vast array of organisms that depend on coral 

reefs for habitat and food. Reefs provide physical 

barriers to coastal erosion, and protection from storm 

waves and tsunamis for billions of dollars in property 

and for tens of millions of coastal residents and their 

communities. 

Reef ecosystems form the economic backbone for 

many recreational and tourist areas as well as important and valuable commercial and recreational fisheries. Their biodiversity is of immense utility to humankind, exceeding that of tropical rainforests. 

The 1998 Executive Order on Coral Reef Protection 

(E.O. 13089) represented a formal response to the precarious state of US coral reef resources by requiring 

agencies to examine their actions affecting coral reefs 

and by establishing the US Coral Reef Task Force to 

oversee Federal efforts to study, manage, and conserve 

the nation’s coral reef resources.

The Value Of The Coral Reef Institutes
As a result of E.O. 13089, Congress appropriated funds 

to support coral reef research initiatives which resulted 

in the creation of the Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative 

(HCRI), the National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI), and 

the Caribbeand Coral Reef Institute (CCRI).

The interagency Task Force supported the passage of 

the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and the creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program 

(CRCP). 

The CRCP is a multi-office program that uses the diverse expertise across NOAA to help protect important 

coral reef ecosystems. NOAA’s Center for Sponsored 

Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR) is a partner in the 

CRCP and administers the Institutes. It is the CSCOR 

mission to lead the development of predictive multidisciplinary coastal ecosystem research that explains and 

predicts the impacts of natural and anthropogenic 

influences on coastal regional ecosystems, communities, and economies and allows for informed actions.

Coral reefs have been called the “rainforest of the sea” because they are home to a 

large number of marine species. (Photo credit - NOAA)

Leveraging the Federal Investment
A green moray eel makes its home in coral crevices, which 

provide a good hiding place to ambush prey. 

 (Photo credit - E. Weil)

Devoted to enhancing management effectiveness 

through research, outreach, education, and conservation, the three Coral Reef Institutes are unique and 

have valuable, efficient, and productive programs that:

• Identify critical threats to coral reefs that are 

region specific

• Enhance flexibility in determining priorities 

and allocating funding

• Focus on and respond to local, regional, and 

national management needs

• Are subject to rigorous peer review

• Adapt to local socio-economic, cultural and 

management regimes

The Coral Reef Institutes

Bridging the Gap Between Science

and Management
The US Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew 

Oceans Commission has called for increased 

investment in research, science, and education and 

greater collaborations at all levels to address increasing 

threats to coastal environments. The Coral Reef 

Institutes constitute a consistent vital national resource 

for coral reef science, education, management, and 

conservation.

The Institutes provide a direct link between 

researchers and resource managers, providing 

information for managers to make sound policy and 

decisions. They build capacity through equipment 

procurement, graduate and undergraduate training, 

sponsoring workshops and symposia, and research 

collaborations. By concentrating on important and 

unique management and policy challenges, scientific 

contributions are made that better allow decisions on 

both local and national scales.

US coral reefs are found in the Atlantic, Caribbean and throughout the 

Pacific. Their annual economic worth is more than US $250 billion. 

(Photo credit - E. Weil)

Regional Ecosystem Coral Reef Research
The Hawaii Institute is implemented as the Hawaii 

Coral Reef Initiative Research Program (HCRI). 

HCRI works with county, state, and federal agencies, 

community-based 

organizations and 

the private sector 

to support monitoring and research 

activities to build 

capacity to more 

effectively manage Hawaii’s coral 

reef ecosystems. 

Results provide 

resource managers with information to help effectively 

and efficiently manage Hawaii’s coral reefs. Without 

further solution-oriented research and monitoring, 

Hawaii’s coral reefs will continue to decline. 

Hawaii’s reef ecosystems 

have critical national 

significance. They are home 

to 5,000 marine plants and 

animals, 25% of which are 

found nowhere else in the

world.

In addition to research and monitoring, HCRI 

supports public outreach, briefings for decisionmakers, and internships and fellowships. 

(Photo credit - D. Pence) 

Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative
HCRI goals include:

• Assess coral reefs and related ecosystems and the 

major threats to their integrity

• Build resource management capacity

• Develop database and information systems

• Conduct public awareness programs

• Train present and future scientists and managers

HCRI accomplishments include:

• Assessing the economic and non-economic value 

of Hawaii’s coral reefs 

• Identifying the status of fish populations, the threat 

of invasive algal species and their relationship 

to poor water quality and disturbed coral 

communities 

• Identifying the impact of land-based sources of 

pollution on coastal ecosystems

• Maintaining the health of exploited fish stocks in 

protected areas

• Describing the population dynamics of keystone 

coral reef species Visit the HCRI website at 

http://www.hawaii.edu/ssri/hcri/

This clown fish uses the sea anenome for protection from predators, 

and in turn, increases water circulation for the anenome. 

(Photo credit - NOAA)
The objective of the National Coral Reef Institute 

(NCRI) is the protection and preservation of coral 

reefs through basic and applied research on coral reef 

assessment, monitoring, restoration, and biodiversity, 

coupled with education and training of scientists, 

managers, and educators. NCRI focuses on US coral 

reefs worldwide and within Florida reef systems.

NCRI provides scientific synthesis 

and evaluation criteria of existing 

programs for use by the research and 

management community.

The NCRI facility at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 

(Photo credit - NCRI)

National Coral Reef Institute

Photo credit - E. Weil Photo credit - E. Weil
NCRI goals include:

• Identify constraints in current scientific undestanding of reefs 

• Provide scientific focus to emerging and innovative approaches 

• Identify, conduct, and fund theoretical and applied 

programs of coral reef research

• Assist in coral reef management, public policy, and 

disputes resolution

NCRI accomplishments include:

• The Southeast Coral Reef Evaluation and 

• Monitoring Project (SECREMP)

• Population Dynamics of the threatened species, 

staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), in southeast 

Florida

• Coral, soft coral, and sponge restoration and 

recovery following reef injury

• Coral spawning prediction 

• Mapping of coral reef ecosystems

Staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn (Acropora palmata) 

corals are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 

NCRI is evaluating ways to restore these fragile species. 

(Photo credit - E.Weil)

Visit the NCRI website at 

http://www.nova.edu/ncri/
The Caribbean Coral Reef Institute was created to 

sponsor scientific research and monitoring programs 

that address short and long-term priorities for understanding and managing the coral reef ecosystems of 

the US Caribbean. The coastal areas of the Caribbean 

are densely populated, and coral reef 

ecosystems are variably degraded, with 

up to 80% coral 

loss in some sites. 

CCRI’s activities 

address the major 

threats to coral reefs within an ecosystem context, 

including human socio-economic dimensions, and enhancing our understanding of the biological and physical processes that structure coral reefs and impact the 

health of the ecosystem.

The Caribbean is a hotspot of coral diseases and 

bleaching events that are 

becoming more frequent 

and more intense.

Critical to the Caribbean’s tourist economy, reefs provide fishing and diving 

opportunities, seafood, and sheltered waters for swimming and boating. 

(Photo credit: E. Weil)

Caribbean Coral Reef Institute
CCRI goals include:

• Develop, implement, and administer research and 

monitoring activities that improve the management 

of coral reef ecosystems.

• Interact as appropriate with the Federal and Commonwealth agencies as well as other public and 

private organizations. 

• Fully utilize the resource base of the region to 

collaborate and conduct research and monitoring 

activities on coral reef ecosystems.

CCRI accomplishments include:

• Monitoring coral and reef fish communities

• Locating and monitoring vulnerable fish spawning 

aggregations

• Developing sociological and biological criteria for 

planning and establishing MPAs

• Bilingual blogs on Caribbean MPAs and Fish 

Spawning Aggregations

• GIS-based modeling of land disturbance and 

sedimentary runoff

Visit the CCRI website at

 http://ccri.uprm.edu/index.html

Touching coral can damage its protective mucus layer, leaving it susceptible to disease. 

The dying coral head above shows the result of human misuse. 

(Photo credits - NOAA and E.Weil)
These NOAA funded Coral Reef Institutes are university-based and work cooperatively with 

State, Territorial, and Commonwealth governments contributing significantly to basic and 

applied coral reef research and management applications. The Institutes greatly enhance our 

understanding, management, and conservation of US coral reefs, and the knowledge is

shared internationally.

HCRI, NCRI, and CCRI are funded through Cooperative Agreements by the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with their respective

universities. The funding is administered by the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean

Research (CSCOR), and is a core component of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation 

Program (CRCP). 

www.cop.noaa.gov