Coral reefs are the backbones of a healthy ocean ecosystem. Sadly, many are in peril due to climate change, pollution and overfishing. About one-third of reef-building coral species are at risk of extinction and need immediate help — including corals in Puerto Rico.
In January 2024 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to start dredging San Juan Bay — a massive shipping-channel expansion for fossil fuel imports. As we’ve seen in other areas, dredging has devastating consequences for vulnerable coral reefs. Recently, in Florida, a similar dredging project buried hundreds of acres of coral habitat and killed half a million corals.
NOAA Fisheries is tasked with protecting these critical ecosystem builders. The agency has the power to stop the destructive dredging — but it has to act soon.
