This ecosystem's extensive nursery, feeding and breeding grounds also support a multi-million dollar commercial fishing industry that lands nearly 20 million pounds of seafood and marine products annually. In response to a growing awareness of the intrinsic environmental and cultural value of our coastal waters, Congress created the National Marine Sanctuary Program in 1972. The National Marine Sanctuary Act authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to designate specific areas as National Marine Sanctuaries to promote comprehensive management of their special ecological, historical, recreational, and esthetic resources. There are currently twelve National Marine Sanctuaries established in areas where the natural or cultural resources are so significant that they warrant special status and protection. The Florida Keys is just such an area.
Coral reefs contain more varieties of life than any other marine environment.
They are part of a fragile interdependent ecosystem that includes mangroves and seagrasses that grow both on the ocean and bay side of the Florida Keys. In recognition of this important environment, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was created in 1990. The shoreward boundary of the Sanctuary is the mean high-water mark. Within these waters are spectacular, unique, and nationally significant marine environments, including seagrass meadows, mangrove islands, and extensive coral reefs. These marine environments support rich biological communities possessing extensive conservation, recreational, commercial, ecological, historical, research, educational, and aesthetic values that give this area special national significance.