Translating resilience-based management theory to practice for coral bleaching recovery in Hawai‘i Marine Policy

More frequent and severe coral bleaching events are prompting managers to seek practical interventions to promote ecosystem resilience. Although resilience-based management is now well established theoretically, there have been few examples of implementation. In Hawai‘i, back-to-back bleaching events in 2014 and 2015 caused significant damage motivating the state to seek guidance on next steps for recovery. Hawai‘i is a unique case study in distilling global recommendations to place-based action because of its ecological and social diversity. This study conducted a systematic review of literature using a weighted point system to evaluate and rank twelve potential Hawai‘i-specific interventions to promote coral recovery following a bleaching event. Papers were scored based on their ability to achieve their management objective as well as their ability to directly affect coral recovery. A total of 100 papers were included in the review which varied in their scale (multi-site or case study), location (inside or outside of Hawai‘i), and type of data collected (theoretical or empirical). Establishing a network of herbivore management areas ranked the highest followed by parrotfish size limits for action that could promote recovery in Hawai‘i. Establishing a network of no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) was the intervention with the most literature and ranked third. This method provided a systematic way to compare the effectiveness of management interventions, a system that could be adapted to other regions. This type of evidence-based approach can lead to more fair and transparent decision-making processes, assisting reef managers in navigating the translation of resilience-based management from theory to practice. Grant no. NA15NOS4820037