The Coral Reef Alliance says a Columbia University study which suggests how Fiji's coral reefs should be managed shows a promising approach.
The research, by Dr Joshua Drew, looked at the way five species of fish move around the reefs and found the best way to protect them would be to have the reefs in the east managed separately from those in the west.
The Director of Conservation Projects at the international NGO, Rick MacPherson, says resources are always limited but this suggestion should be considered.
"I think that we have to be somewhat strategic about how we're placing our protected areas. I think that we want to look at having redundancy, having multiple protected areas that are protecting the same thing so that a disease, an epidemic, doesn't wipe out all of that population."
Rick MacPherson says the research could be put into practice with help from the Government, local people and NGOs.
