EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL OF NATURAL REPRODUCTION AND ARTIFICIAL MEANS TO INCREASE ACROPORA POPULATIONS IN JAMAICA N.J.Quinn*, M. Stennett & B.L. Kojis “Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, University of the West Indies, Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Nonnan.quinn@uwimona.edu,jm Shallow water Acropora species were nearly extirpated on Jamaican reefs in the fate 1970’s and early 4980's. They remain uncommon on Jamaican reefs today. With the loss of acroporids from hurricanes and disease and the reduction of grazers from disease and overfishing, macroalgae has proliferated on Jamaican reefs. Restoration of acroporids has been proposed. However, the potential for Acropara spp. to naturally recover should be examined before efforts to restore them are undertaken. Efforts to transplant or restore acroporids are unnecessary if they have the capacity to recover through natural means. We ‘observed that the settlement rate of Acropora spat in the Caribbean was much lower than for many other coral families and much lower than the settlement rate of the family Acroporidae on reefs in the South Pacific. We have observed juvenile colony recruitment of A. palmata and A. prolifera on Jamaican reefs, but not A. cervicornis, While A. palmata and A. prolifera may be beginning to tecover, it appears that the long-term survival of A. cervicornis is threatened by lack of successful larval recruitment. This study assessed methods of restoring A. cervicornis populations in selected habitats. Experimental transplants using several techniques were attempted to develop a suitable technology for restoring 4. cervicornis populations. In one technique the mean survivorship was >80% with a high overall growth rate, By working with hotel operators, environmental groups, and local fishers, wwe are working to increase the biomass of scleractinian corals and the complexity of reef habitat. Reefs with greater A. cervicornis biomass have larger edible fish populations. With localized protection of these restored reefs we anticipate an increase in fish abundance which should result in greater fish catches for subsistence fishers. Furthermore, higher coral cover and fish abundance increases the attractiveness of the reef community for divers and snorkelers. Key Words: Caribbean, coral, restoration, recruitment