The objective of this project is to identify areas where herbivore management interventions would be the most effective in promoting coral reef recovery and resiliency following the recent coral bleaching. When a bleaching event occurs, as Hawaii experienced in 2014 and 2015, the results can be regime shifts or reef decline. Decline can be permanent or temporary, depending on its resilience. There is an urgent need to develop a process to increase the resiliency of Hawaii’s coral reefs through certain characteristics, including herbivory. Herbivory maintains open spaces, promotes remnant corals to recover, and allows new coral to settle in disturbed areas. We will operationalize this concept by 1) integrating Marxan maps of herbivore management hotspots into SeaSketch, and 2) engaging stakeholders in two priority areas, west Hawaii and Maui to refine the Marxan and SeaSketch output. This assessment will identify areas where herbivore management would have the greatest impact to promote coral recovery and resilience. These results will feed directly into Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) rulemaking to promote recovery following the recent bleaching events as well as an international model for a process to support resilience-based management.
