Commercial production of reef corals

[Fabrice POIRAUD-LAMBERT]

Hi,

I fully agree. This exactly the same situation here in Europe, at least in
France.

Some people are also trying to set up farms here, even by using Electricity
technics to increase growth rates.

As people are getting better and better in Captive Farming technics, the
Fragment Market between hobbists is increasing, to share species (for
backup and diversity purpose) at low cost with no impact on the reef.

However, we don't know how CITES should/could/need to be used here (and my
bet is that it will not by applied by hobbists for their own production).

Captive raised coral would be very well accepted by the market but as Keith
said, we never saw captive raised colonies here, and each time we asked
Farms (such as the one in the Solomons), we failed. Does someone know why ?

There is also a Farm in the Philippines, but for the Local market only,
because of the local laws about coral exportations : have a look here :
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/Articles/CoralFarm/CoralFarmUS.html

To be more specific about your 3rd question, the most researched corals are
the colorfull ones, obviously because they are more beautiful ! However,
that's quite amazing to see that most of the brown type Acroporides can get
colored after a while under 250 or 400 W  blue metal halide bulbes (10
000°K or higher)...

Just a question however : in the case of coral farming in the wild, how do
you ensure that all the wild colonies arround the farm are not harvested
regularly to produce "captive raised" colonies ? What would be the impact
of a commercial Farm in case of a high demand according to the production
speed without using wild resources ?

Best
Fabrice POIRAUD-LAMBERT
Reef Lover, Hobbist & Diver

-----
A (At) 9:44 20/08/0, Keith and Lisa ecrivait (wrote):
>David,
>
>As a hobbyist I can tell you that the demand for aquaculture corals is
>growing, especially amongst the online community. Most members of the
>online community have realized that this is the only way to continue
>in this hobby for the future. Most prefer aquacultured specimens
>especially in the area of the so called "small polyp scleractinians"
>or "SPS"  as we call them in the hobby.
>
>Speaking for my community on line, we would love to see more
>aquacultured corals available to the mass markets. Most of us who keep
>marine aquariums truly love the reefs. We are aware of the destruction
>that has occurred in the past and still occurs. . We have been calling
>for the top level players in the industry to clean up their act for a
>few years. We would like it to see it stopped in all areas
>destruction, not just hobby related issues
>
>We would love to see a way for us to discriminate coral that are
>aquacultured as opposed to being wild harvested. There is a small
>operation in the Solomon Islands that is using a base to grow out
>small coral fragments on for the hobby. I have not seen any from them
>in this area for quite awhile, this might be due to the civil unrest
>in the  area.
>
>As far as the issue of preferred species:
>Beginners in the hobby prefer "soft corals" such sarcophyton,
>sinularia, xenia, nepthea, zoanthids etc.
>More advanced hobbyist prefer the "SPS" corals.
>
>On size:
>Hobbyist prefer small specimens 7-8 centimeters.  We prefer this size
>because it is easier to ship and for the coral to acclimate to our
>tank conditions.
>
>There also needs to be a source for aquacultured live rock. (Hard to
>believe that you can run out of rock but some experts seem to think
>so)
>I am aware of a few companies in Florida have already tons of rock in
>the ocean and they are beginning to harvest and sell a viable product.
>Whether they are able to provide enough rock for the future needs of
>the hobby remains to be seen.
>
>I cannot speak to the issue of CITES, though I do know that there are
>those that would love to see the hobby closed down in the U.S.
>Perhaps you can help with this issue if you are willing to aquaculture
>corals for the hobby instead of "destroying" the reefs.
>I cannot speak to the issue of raising "exotic imports." though I am
>aware that Hawaii does enforce strict laws on importation of marine
>life in order to preserve the endemic fauna. Here in the US animals
>from the Red Sea area are considered exotic perhaps that could be a
>way of marketing your product.
>
>I have at one point or another aquaculterd everything in my possession
>that could be cut up and grown out. I currently maintain a small tank
>just for that purpose. I have about ten species that I grow out for
>trade or sell on a fairly regular basis.
>
>If you should require any further input from a hobbyist stand point
>please do not hesitate to write
>
>Sorry for the length of the post.
>
>Sincerely;
>Reef lover and Hobbyist
>Keith Langdon
>kandl at net-link.net
>www.net-link.net/kandl/
>
>.¸. , . .·´¯`·.
> ><(((º>     `·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><(((º>¸
>          ><(((º>             ·.¸¸.·´¯`·...
>
>
>: Dear All,
>: My name is David Zakai and I work for Israel Nature & Parks
>Protection
>: Authority. I need your kind advises concerning the issue of
>commercial
>: production of live reef corals for saltwater aquariums industry: