WASHINGTON— The National Marine Fisheries Service announced critical habitat designations today for five threatened coral species living in the Pacific Ocean. The agency’s final rule protects 92 square miles of marine habitat around American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Pacific Remote Island Areas and Hawaiʻi.

“I’m breathing a sigh of relief to see these vital coral reef habitats finally protected,” said David Derrick, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These designations give struggling corals a much-needed fighting chance. Protecting corals’ homes is a crucial step toward reversing the crisis of reef die-offs. These ecosystems support ocean biodiversity around the world, and we need to do much more to save such vulnerable species and all the ocean critters that depend on reefs.”

The designations follow a March 2023 lawsuit filed by the Center against the Fisheries Service for failing to finalize protections for 12 threatened coral species around the Caribbean and islands in the Pacific Ocean, including the five that received habitat designations in today’s rule. All the species were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2014 but did not receive the critical habitat designation the law requires.

Corals are experiencing dramatic global declines due to climate change, ocean acidification, pollution and overfishing. An estimated 50% of coral reefs worldwide have already been lost to climate change, and about one-third of reef-building coral species are at risk of extinction.

Endangered and threatened species that have critical habitat protection are twice as likely to be recovering as those without it. Critical habitat designation for corals could have immediate benefits, including improved water quality throughout the coastal zone, limits on overfishing, protections for spawning grounds, reduced harm from development and dredging, and reduced human pressure on hundreds of thousands of reef-associated species.

The Pacific coral species covered in today’s rule are: Acropora globiceps, Acropora retusa, Acropora speciosa, Fimbriaphyllia paradivisa (formerly Euphyllia paradivisa), and Isopora crateriformis.