1999 Status Report , Negril Coral Reefs Nutrient levels in the coastal waters of the Negril Marine Park exceed the thresholds established by the scientific community for healthy coral reef development.
Corals require clear, clean, nutrient-free waters to thrive.
Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus cause harmful algal blooms that out compete coral reefs for habitat, reduce oxygen in the water column, reduce fish habitat and reduce visibility. In fact, they are one micromole per liter of nitrogen as nitrate and ammonium and one tenth of a micromole per liter of phosphorus available in inorganic and organic forms. As a result of an overabundance of nutrients at Negril's coral reefs , they have become eutrophic and harmful algae, rather than living coral, dominates the reefs. The algal growth is smothering the living coral and preventing the recruitment of new growth because the surfaces of the corals are covered in nuisance algal growth. Every major river within the boundaries of the Negril Environmental Protection Area receives agricultural run-off, especially from sugar cane production, where fertilizer use is ongoing and perhaps even indiscriminate.