Petition to the United States Army Corps of Engineers Regarding Proposed Coral Bay Marina
In 2014 Friends of Virgin Islands National Park made clear our concern about the proposed Coral Bay marina development on social, economic, and environmental grounds. Nothing that has been said or done since, has changed our position.
There are no physical barriers in the sea and the degradation of the waters of Coral Bay will have a negative impact on the waters of nearby Hurricane Hole and beyond. Countless species of reef fishes, invertebrates, plants and algae utilize these submerged lands during their lives, and over 25 species of seabirds feed in the waters. Between the near shore nursery habitats and the shelf edge spawning sites, habitats in the monument play essential roles during specific developmental stages of reef associated species, including spawning migrations of many reef fish species and crustaceans. These are threatened by the marina and the development has given no consideration to the potential negative cumulative impacts to park and monument resources caused by significantly increased vessel traffic.
This marina proposal touches protected waters in three directions. These waters depend on one another for ecological balance and a cohesive environmental management plan needs to be in place for the whole basin to protect these natural and cultural resources for the next generation. The Coral Reef National Monument and Virgin Islands National Park will both be adversely affected by this proposal.
