Innovation solves coral degradation and has garnered bipartisan support.

Washington (December 7, 2022) - Today, during National Corals Week, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Ed Case (D-Hawaii) in introducing the Coral Reef Sustainability Through Innovation Act of 2022, bipartisan, bicameral legislation to help protect coral reef ecosystems in Hawaii and across the nation from increasing threats such as climate change, pollution, and direct damage from humans. The legislation directs the federal agencies that are members of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force to establish, individually or with one or more other agencies, a coral health prize competition to spur innovative solutions to preserve, sustain, and restore coral reef ecosystems at no additional cost to taxpayers. The text of the bill is also included in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released earlier today.

“Coral reefs are vital to Hawaii’s environment, providing a rich habitat for marine life while helping to protect our coastlines and prevent flooding,” said Senator Hirono. “Decades of pollution and ocean warming caused by climate change have left corals in Hawaii and around the world at risk of extinction. As we work to protect and restore coral reef ecosystems, this legislation will help incentivize innovation and inspire creative solutions to protect coral reefs, at no cost to taxpayers. I’ll continue fighting to protect Hawaii’s coral reefs and all of our natural resources for generations to come.”

“Healthy coral reef ecosystems provide the greatest biological diversity of all ecosystem types in the world,” said Congressman Case. “However, warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures are threatening their health and causing mass bleaching events, which cause corals to be more susceptible to disease and increase their chances of dying. Prize competitions that encourage public-private partnerships have an established record of jump-starting innovation to address our most complicated challenges. This measure will follow that model in determining the best solutions to the threats to our coral reef ecosystems and integrating them into our federal ocean management policy. ”