Coral reef conservation grants of $3.5 million awarded

Environment News Service: A Hawaii coral reef conservation project that encourages community involvement; reef fish protection research in Florida's Dry Tortugas; and protection of the Bastimentos National Marine Park in Panama are just three of 29 coral reef conservation grants totaling more than $3.5 million that received U.S. government funding today…

"Healthy coral reefs provide the United States and thousands of communities around the world with food, jobs, shoreline protection, recreation and income worth billions of dollars each year. However, many reefs are now seriously degraded," said NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher. "These grants will help communities from the Caribbean to Micronesia protect and restore valuable coral reefs and the economies that depend on them," he said….