News Articles

Earlier this month, National Football League (NFL) Green, announced it will continue serving as a community partner in 100 Yards of Hope — a coral reef restoration mission, begun in 2019, that will extend through the 2020-21 NFL season and Super Bowl LV in Tampa.

Scientists at The Florida Aquarium have again made history, this time becoming the first in the world to reproduce ridged cactus coral or Mycetophyllia lamarckiana in human care. The breakthrough happened over several nights earlier this month at The Florida Aquarium’s Center for Conservation which is located at the Florida Conservation Technology Center in Apollo Beach. The work is part of a collaboration effort to save the Florida Reef Tract from extinction with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service.

Mote Marine Laboratory scientists are launching a new, underwater spawning nursery for elkhorn coral, with the goal of strategically breeding and restoring this rapidly declining, native species that is at risk of disappearing from Florida’s Coral Reef in our lifetime.

At its February meeting in Tallahassee, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved several regulatory changes aimed at achieving fishery management goals in Biscayne National Park. As part of the Fishery Management Plan, the FWC and the National Park Service agreed that FWC would develop fishing regulations for the park with the goal of increasing the size and abundance of targeted species by at least 20% within the park.

Dr. Hanna Koch has been given many nicknames, including “coral matchmaker” and “coral fertility doctor.” She’s conducting managed breeding efforts with threatened coral species, part of the coral reef science and restoration mission of Mote Marine Laboratory scientists in the Florida Keys. In this episode of “Two Sea Fans,” Koch explains where coral babies come from, how scientists are helping native corals reproduce sexually in a controlled setting, and why sexual reproduction is so important for providing fresh genetics to coral populations that are struggling in the wild.