Listed on CITES Appendix II and Threatened on the US Endangered Species Act. In the US, it is present in several MPAs, including Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Biscayne N.P., Dry Tortugas National Park, Buck Island Reef National Monument and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Also present Hol Chan Marine Reserve (Belize), Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (Bahamas). In US waters, it is illegal to harvest corals for commercial purposes. In response to ship grounding and hurricanes, there have been efforts to salvage damaged corals and reattach them in acroporid habitats.

More information is needed to assist the recovery of acroporids including survival and fecundity by age, sexual and asexual recruitment, population information, juvenile population dynamics, importance of habitat variables to recruitment and survivorship, and location of populations showing signs of recovery (Bruckner, 2002). Further research is needed into disease etiology, and effectiveness of current restoration methods.