Abstract
Since 2014, coral reefs along the Florida coast have suffered from stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) and in 2019, signs of the disease appeared in the Caribbean. This disease is unprecedented in scale, duration, and rate of mortality, making intervention activities extremely difficult. Due to this, prioritization of treatment sites is critical to help focus resources on essential reef systems. By creating a priority matrix with criterion from other researchers, as well as those determined important by the Resource Management Team at the National Park Service (NPS) in St. Croix, data from the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) and diver questionnaires were used to prioritize dive sites at two National Parks in St. Croix. This matrix contains weighted variables that look at the need and the ease of each site and examines a multitude of parameters such as coral density, diversity, and composition, as well as considers regulatory, ecological, epidemiology, and treatability guiding principles. The output of this project contains data analysis methods that reflect this matrix, exhibiting the sites that should be of the highest priority for the park to treat stony coral tissue loss disease. The goal of this study was to have more successful treatment programs for stony coral tissue loss disease as well as to be better prepared to prioritize these sites, and any added sites, for other programs that could arise.