Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific: Vision for Action

Caribbean, and to better understand emerging infections and the drivers in diseaseoutbreaks. This was followed by a series of presentations on the current knowledge ofcoral diseases in the Pacific, including theglobal distribution of diseases (Figs. I.1aand I.1b) and recent observations fromHawaii and NWHI, U.S. Territories andFreely Associated States, and the WesternPacific. The remainder of the sessionincluded discussions on diagnosticmethods, disease outbreak investigations,and application of new tools andtechnologies for disease research, drawingheavily on approaches that have workedwell in other wildlife veterinary andanimal health programs.Four working groups were convened on the second day to 1) compile and synthesizeavailable knowledge of coral disease for the Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions; 2) identifygaps in knowledge and technology; and 3) recommend strategic actions to improve ourability to respond to emerging infections in the Pacific:16Figure I.1b Global Distribution ofCoral Diseases Reported in 2004.Physiology & Pathology Working Group (PPWG) was tasked with identifyingwhat knowledge is needed regarding coral physiology to advance understandingand capabilities in coral pathology.Toxicology & Ecological Epidemiology Working Group (TEEWG) was taskedwith identifying knowledge and needs related to toxicological impacts on coral,interactions with infectious agents and how to discriminate among them and theecology of diseases.Pathology of Infectious Disease Working Group (PDWG) was tasked withidentifying diagnostic approaches needed to move the coral disease field forward,including toxicology, microbiology, parasitology, pathology and diagnosticcriteria to characterize the pathology associated with various infectious diseases. Preventing and Responding to Coral Disease in the Pacific Region:Management Perspectives Working Group (MWG) was tasked with evaluatingmanagement options that currently exist for diseases in corals and identifyingexisting tools and new approaches that can assist managers in the Pacific region inpreventing and/or responding to coral disease.Each of the working groups developed a series of goals, objectives and recommendationsto address the identified tasks. These were presented to all participants in a plenarysession at the end of the workshop, and are compiled in the following sections of theseworkshop proceedings. The participants also identified a number deliverables that willbe produced as additional outputs of the workshop, including a series of resource manualson 1) systematic approaches to disease investigations, 2) standardized laboratorymethodologies, 3) diagnostic criteria and identification tools for Pacific diseases, and 4)culture facilities and husbandry approaches for a model species for coral research.