"The Living Reef" is a 20-page illustrated report that is being released in conjunction with World Ocean Day, which is today. The report is a project of The Nature Conservancy and the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, with funding provided through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program.

Hawaii's coral reefs and nearshore waters are home to some 7,000 marine life forms, a quarter of them found nowhere else on earth, the news release said.

The DLNR news release states that Hawai'i's coral reefs are threatened by run-off, sedimentation and marine debris, the introduction and spread of invasive species, destructive fishing practices, recreational overuse and the specter of climate change.

"These threats have so damaged Hawaii's coral reef ecosystems over the past century that nearshore fisheries have declined by more than 75 percent," the news release said.