[Coral-List] back to corals...

Mon Oct 20 14:38:03 EDT 2008

In reply to James Cervino:

I can't believe that a research biologist would tell anyone it's not worth their time to collect data.  In contrast to your comments, let me note some field data that I collected recently in Fiji, which is a major source of living corals for the aquarium trade.  My work there has been to monitor transects that I set up in 2000 during the catastrophic bleaching event and record how recovery has occurred in the subsequent years - I was not there to monitor coral collecting per se.  The reefs are, fortunately, recovering rapidly (some have recovered twice in the past eight years, following hurricanes and other natural events).  On one 30km long barrier reef I have transects set on the west end, on the east end and in the middle.  The raw data this past April show that acroporid corals and other genera are recruiting rapidly.  I know from observations that the conditions on this reef are relatively uniform from one end to the other.  Acroporid corals alone average 600 colonies per 30m x 1m belt transect (I do actual counts of every coral along each transect).  Just for the exercise, if I extrapolate from my 30m x 1m belt transects to estimate the total number of coral colonies along a 30m x 30km swath along the entire barrier reef, I come out with a CONSERVATIVE estimate (because the entire reef is longer and wider than 30km) of 18 million colonies.  

I realize this is a gross extrapolation and I also realize all the variables that need to be considered for a truly accurate population estimate.  But for the exercise, there is ONE coral collector who works on this reef and if memory serves me correctly he ships out about 10,000 colonies per year.  He collects over a much wider area than just this one 30km reef, but even if he concentrated only on the barrier reef, he wouldn't run out of corals at that rate for, oohh, about 1,800 years (assuming there's no recruitment)..  And of course the Fiji archipelago has thousands more reefs than just the one I am working on (and I think there are only two companies in the entire country that still collect living corals).  

OK, I'm not advocating that there is an inexhaustible supply of corals in the world, nor would I extrapolate this one example to all of the coral collecting operations in the world.  And, I too am concerned that some genera of corals may indeed be of concern due to their rarity and possible over-collecting (some Euphyllia, Catalaphyllia and others).  But all that is beside the point in this message.  My concern is that we should never allow conservation policies and protective laws to be dictated by supposition.  We do indeed need to get out in the field, collect data and reach scientifically sound, justifiable conclusions.  Conservation efforts too often suffer from that lack of rigor and that is very unfortunate.  Telling anyone to not bother to collect data does a real disservice to science and conservation. 

Bruce Carlson

>------------------------------
>
>Message: 5
>Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:19:34 -0400
>From: "James Cervino PhD." <jcervino at whoi.edu>
>Subject: Re: [Coral-List] back to corals...
>To: RainbowWarriorsInternational <southern_caribbean at yahoo.com>
>Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov, coralfarmguam at yahoo.com
>Message-ID: <1224253174.48f89ef69ccb1 at webmail.whoi.edu>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
>Dear Lee,
>
>Many people are in denial as to the clear-cutting that is going within the coral
>trade. Its not worth your effort to answer this question below as all you need
>to do is go into any aquarium trade store in any of these countries and see the
>bags of corals getting ready for the coffee tables, & living rooms across the
>USA.  On a weekly basis I visit coral aquarium stores and ask which bags are
>from farmed traders, and the answer we get are "people like the exotic natural
>stuff", Mr. Delbeek and I have two very different views on corals being taken
>out of the natural reef gene pool as he will not come out publicly and ask for
>a ban on corals being collected off the reef for the hobby trade, outside of
>scientific use, to be sold on the market.
>
>Farming of corals for the trade is the only way to go.  I say this based on the
>fact that coral reefs are are being hit hard by the immediate threats of
>global-warming induced heat stroke & disease not to mention the long terms
>effects of ocean acidification.
>
>James
>
>
>
>
>
>Hi Lee, please state your source of data to substantiate the claim of
>"millions of corals" are being removed/destroyed and please place this into
>the context of the total number of corals within divable depths that could be
>considered as supply for said live coral trade and the rate of recruitment of
>said corals and balance this also with the total surface area of coral reefs
>that are not currently targeted by the coral trade
>
>Cheers!
>
>J. Charles Delbeek, M.Sc.
>
>
>*************************************
>Dr. James M. Cervino
>Pace University &
>Visiting Scientist
>Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.
>Department of Marine Chemistry
>Woods Hole MA.
>NYC Address: 9-22 119st
>College Point NY NY 11356
>Cell: 917-620*5287
>************************************
>
>
>Quoting RainbowWarriorsInternational <southern_caribbean at yahoo.com>:
>
>* Dear Lee,
>*
>* A very valid point indeed. Can anyone tell me which official points of view
>* exist from large NGOs like the ICRAN, WWF, Conservation International, IUCN,
>* Nature Conservancy on the trade in marine species for use in aquariums, be it
>* large, or small, and covering the entire spectrum of species, i.e. corals,
>* fish, anemones, sponges, cetaceans, sharks, cephalopods etc.?
>*
>* To my knowledge too much focus has been on the larger creatures with a high
>* cuddle factor like cetaceans, sharks, rays and skated and pinnipeds.
>*
>* The runaway success of the animated motion picture Finding Nemo must have
>* touched some nerves worldwide, but somehow this never translated into a
>* useful discussion on the issue.
>*
>* I assume that after the numerous congresses, conferences and global meetings
>* on coral reefs and related ecosystems, and the recent IUCN event in
>* Barcelona, in which corals received attention, we should refocus on this
>* issue.
>*
>* Another point never duly discussed is the extent and geographical incidence
>* of this (illegal) trade.
>*
>* We seem to know a lot more about tigers, rhinos, elephants, bears and exotic
>* birds and animals than the trade in (endangered) marine species.
>*
>* Who is keeping the numbers on all species?
>*
>* Lee Goldman <coralfarmguam at yahoo.com> wrote: Hi List,
>*
>* .....and if gearing the discussion back towards corals as an appropriate
>* topic for discussion; I am still trying to find the connection between the
>* aquarium trade (as a whole with emphasis on the private home-hobbyists) and
>* reef conservation (as originally stated from Les Kaufman's post) since
>* millions of corals are taken OFF of the reef for the largely private
>* enjoyment of individuals. Is this how reefs should be appreciated? Is it
>* catch-22 in that those that appreciate the reefs, do so because they are able
>* to collect from them? Maybe this is priming for when this may be the ONLY way
>* to see corals in our world?
>*
>* And for those who would argue that millions of corals aren't taken off of the
>* reefs annually (referencing CITES as your best source), please credit the
>* number of corals taken illegally each year and, in pursuit of fish for the
>* same industry, the number of corals killed each year as incidentals.
>*
>* Regards,
>*
>* Lee Goldman
>* LJL Expeditions
>* B6, L10 Gumamela St
>* Garden City 3
>* Paranaque, Philippines
>* H: +63 2 825 5057
>* M: +63 905 426 6043
>* email: LJL Expeditions
>* www.asiakayaktours.com
>*
>*
>*
>*
>*
>*
>*
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>*
>* Milton Ponson, President
>* Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation
>* (Rainbow Warriors International)
>* Tel. +297 568 5908
>* PO Box 1154, Oranjestad
>* Aruba, Dutch Caribbean
>* Email: southern_caribbean at yahoo.com
>* Web Sites: http://www.southerncaribbean.org
>* http://www.rainbowwarriors.net (Global)
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>*
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Bruce Carlson
VP for Life Sciences
Georgia Aquarium
2455 Paces Ferry Road
Building C, 21st. Floor
Atlanta, GA, 30339
770-384-4405 fon
770-384-2242 fax
404-434-9977 cell