[Coral-List] [External Email] Another Approach

Wed Aug 23 21:55:31 UTC 2023

Phil makes a good point that there is incredible potential within hobbyist coral tanks to grow Caribbean corals.  A similar approach has already been started by AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and their Florida Reef Tract Rescue Project (https://www.aza.org/coral-reef-rescue?locale=en) wherein AZA accredited aquariums across the country have volunteered to house coral specimens “rescued” from the Florida Reef in front of the wave of SCLTD death.  He is also right, however, that current regulations prohibit hobbyists from getting Caribbean corals.  In the coral lab I have at my University, I tried to get hold of Caribbean corals but could only get a few weedy species that happened to be growing on legally obtained live rock.  As with many wildlife species the laws are constructed such that the lower the numbers of a species, the harder it is for the public to breed it and increase its numbers.  I assume these rules are to dissuade poaching from wild populations, but they are clearly designed for large vertebrates and not clonal species for which they are very counter-productive.

On the other hand, a hobbyist free-for-all would raise a set of problems that would need to be thought through.  The first is that most Caribbean corals are hard to grow.  Of the species I have, they have never done particularly well and are very slow growing.  The vast majority of corals in the trade are Indo-Pacific and are SPS species (Small Polyp Stony) which are far easier to grow than LPS (Large Polyp Stony) which make up most of the Caribbean species.  But I wouldn’t bet against hobbyists coming up with successful growing techniques given time.

The other big issue is that tank corals are the ones that are best suited to survive and thrive in tanks, and thus “tank suited” varieties will be selected for.  This scenario was well illustrated when HeLa human cell lines grew so well in labs that they unsuspectingly took over many other human cell lines.  It would be difficult to keep tank metapopulations from winnowing out various genets that might be ill suited for tanks, but great out in the waves.  Still RFID chips are cheap and some hobbyists have already started attaching them (letting corals overgrow them) to have a permanent ID for a given colony and thus allowing for accurate book keeping.  And of course, by carefully timing lights and water temperatures over months, aquarists have now cued corals to actually spawn in aquariums, thus providing the potential for actually increasing the number of genets in aquariums through time.

While coral aquiculture is by no means a silver bullet, there are lots of knowledgeable coral growers and coral farmers who would take off with this if given the chance.  And even if it doesn’t ever lead to any successful reintroductions, it won’t have cost much if anything to natural coral populations, and reef tanks, such as ours, with dozens of kinds of beautiful thriving stony corals and various reef inhabitants are a great education piece.  As has been said so often- a key part to saving reefs is to get people to value them, and this won’t happen unless people are exposed.  'In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.' (Baba Dioum)

Hal Lescinsky

________________________________
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of Phillip Dustan via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2023 9:32 AM
To: Coral List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: [External Email] [Coral-List] Another Approach

Greetings Listers,
Dr. Katie Muzak recently alerted me to a Washington Post article about
ongoing attempts to prevent the extinction of the endemic akikiki bird on
Maui which is facing loss of habitat and mosquitos. Then came the fires on
Maui which threatened the very human sanctuaries that had been built for
the bird.
 A similar process is playing out with corals around the world,
especially . in Florida.  While we may not like the idea, zoos are
becoming extinction sanctuaries, not just prison camps for animals. But
these efforts are not nearly enough. As daunting a challenge as it is, I
would like to call your attention to a seemingly untapped resource we
"people of science" seem to discount and that is the thousands of reef
aquarists that routinely keep corals alive in captivity. In fact, they have
turned it into a multimillion dollar global industry, even
manufacturing their own seawater!  FYI, aquarium keeping  is one of the
largest hoppies on the planet.
  The distributed nature of the "hobby" combined with the expertise of the
aquarists suggests to me that a very large network could be created to care
for and propagate Caribbean corals, similar to what is now occurring with
Indo-Pacific species. Their skills are amazing and by creating a large
distributed network they could establish metapopulations that would be far
less prone to extinction than the few facilities now in operation.
Aquarists in countries throughout the Caribbean could collaborate with
their government and university agencies to establish metapopulations
within metapopulations throughout the region.
I would bet that Aquarists, who have developed the knowledge and have the
enthusiasm, would be enthusiastic  to help prevent the extinction of the
Caribbean reef corals. For sure, it would take some changes in existing
regulations and some change in attitudes, but  I'll bet the salt water
aquarium community would welcome the opportunity to participate. A few
highly controlled "Noah's Arks" cannot compare to the resilience provided
by having hundreds, if not thousands of reef aquaria.
I think it is time to think a little out-of-the-box and entrust the future
of reefs to more than "science", restoration, management and government
regulations.
Just imagine the possibilities!
Phil
--

Phillip Dustan PhD
Charleston SC  29424
843-953-8086 office
843-224-3321 (mobile)

"When we try to pick out anything by itself
we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords
that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "
*                                         John Muir 1869*

*A Swim Through TIme on Carysfort Reef*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
*Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
*Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video*

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo>*
TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
Google Scholar Citations:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list