“Recent changes in reef zonation of western Atlantic coral reefs, brought about by lack of recruitment of elkhorn (orange), staghorn (yellow), and massive boulder corals. Without these key reef builders, the reefs have already measurably eroded. Image credit: Rashpal Dhilon. Adapted from ref. 6, which is licensed under CC BY 4.0.” (Fig 1 in PNAS paper)
From the Introduction to this paper in PNAS, published January 22, 2026:
“At a conservation meeting in Miami, Florida, last month aimed at discussing the plight of local coral reefs, a previously unthinkable idea was on the agenda. Scientists, legal scholars, policymakers, ethicists, and coral conservation practitioners explored whether the situation is now so dire that we should consider shipping coral species from the Indo-Pacific region thousands of miles away to be planted in western Atlantic waters. Based on the best available information, we believe the answer is yes: Western Atlantic reefs are in terminal decline, and we must be open to researching even the most radical solutions to save them.”
COMMENT (david p).
Wow, def. something in the back of many expert’s minds, ‘first serious proposal. I think the controversial word is “only”, … and most would argue that we still need to take all steps possible to improve local conditions, e.g., through reducing local sedimentation and nutrient input from land-based activities; as well as to select and multiply resilient specimens of local native coral species. The latter was highlighted in another recent meeting:
– What are Living Coral Biobanks? (YouTube video)
January 29, 2026, Caribbean Coral Restoration Roadmaps 2026 Seminar Series
“Discover how living coral biobanks are helping protect the future of Caribbean reefs in this inspiring seminar hosted by The Ocean Research and Education Foundation’s Atlantic & Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment Program (AGRRA www.agrra.org). This session explores what coral biobanks are, why they matter, and how conservation leaders across the region are building a safety net for threatened coral species. (Spanish Translation provided)”
From AGRRA: Presentation slideshow
What are living coral biobanks and why they are essential for safeguarding genetic diversity.
Main Topics Covered
-The knowledge, infrastructure, and resources needed to establish a biobank.
-Lessons learned from Caribbean and Florida biobank mentors.
-The role of biobanks in coral rescue, restoration, and long‑term conservation planning.
-How regional partners are collaborating through the Caribbean Restoration Roadmap Initiative.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
-Coral biobanks serve as critical conservation hubs, allowing corals to be protected from disease, bleaching, and environmental stress while supporting both sexual and asexual reproduction.
– Local solutions matter—each Caribbean region faces different challenges, and collaboration accelerates progress.
-Strong infrastructure and consistent water quality are essential for maintaining healthy, resilient coral colonies.
-Knowledge sharing and partnerships—from roundtables to WhatsApp groups—are helping scale regional rescue and restoration efforts.
-Long‑term commitment is vital; biobanks aren’t just storage—they are active systems nurturing the future of Caribbean coral reefs.
LESSONS LEARNED
– Starting small and slow to avoid early failures and allow systems to stabilize.
Prioritizing biosecurity and control—choosing artificial seawater, simple but reliable equipment, and stable environments.
– Building systems in logical phases: establishing location and power, water production and storage, stands/tanks, then plumbing and life-support systems.
– Letting the system fully cycle (2–4 months) before adding corals.
– Introducing corals gradually, beginning with hardy “indicator” species, then more sensitive ones.
– Focusing on corals of opportunity—rescue material, not healthy wild colonies.
– Using redundancy, simplicity, and strong SOPs to keep systems running on small islands where repairs may be slow.
– Embedding data logging and photography into daily husbandry for early detection of issues.
– Together, they are protecting coral genetic diversity now while future tools (like cryopreservation and land‑based spawning) continue to improve to increase populations in the wild.
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As I understand it, the general argument for introducing Pacific species is based on the the relatively low diversity of corals at the species/genus level, compared to the Pacific. So in the Caribbean, we have 3 Acropora spp., while there are 40+ in the Pacific, this a simple result of larger contiguous areas supporting more species than smaller areas.*
* Re: Equilibrium model of island biogeography. That’s a bit of a simplification, see e.g., Caribbean and Pacific Coastal marine system: similarities and differences by C. Birkeland, NATURE & RESOURCE, Vol. 26. No. 2, 199
So there is more genetic diversity available. At the same time, however, even with the increased genetic diversity, Pacific coral reefs in the more inhabited areas are undergoing degradation equivalent to that in the Caribbean*, and no areas are immune to global threats such as extreme warming/coral bleaching and ocean acidification.
So yes, introducing Pacific spp could help the Caribbean Reefs (also many risks); but it is hardly “the only way” to save our reefs. There is also the possibility that we could achieve the same outcome with less risk and faster by selecting resilient specimens of diff. coral species locally, multiplying them in land based operations, and then seeding local areas, as discussed in What are Living Coral Biobanks? above, and we are well into that technology now.
Would love to build a land based coral biobank on Barbados – David Gross for CORALL Barbados, May 19, 2024
I believe efforts are underway to do just that.
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*See, e.g., From the pristine to the degraded: reefs of the central Pacific
Annie Reisewitz for scripps.ucsd.edu, feb 24, 2016, referencing Re-evaluating the health of coral reef communities: baselines and evidence for human impacts across the central Pacific by Jennifer E. Smith et al., Proc Biol Sci (2016) 283 (1822): 20151985 .
From the Intro to the Smith et al. paper:
Several recent syntheses have documented significant declines in coral cover across different regions and ocean basins. In the Caribbean, coral cover has declined by an estimated 80% over three decades from an average of 50% in the 1970s to 10% cover in the early 2000s [11]. In the Pacific, estimates suggest that coral cover has declined from an average of 43% in the 1980s to 22% in 2003 [12]. More detailed assessments on the Great Barrier Reef show significant reductions in coral cover across the whole system but larger declines (approx. 40% loss) on inshore reefs closer to human populations [13]. There is general consensus that most well-studied coral populations situated close to large human populations around the tropics have suffered significant losses in recent decades (and probably over much longer time scales) owing to historic human impacts