Introduction

One of the greatest frustrations for aquarists is determining the proper conditions for their corals to thrive. There are many variables, not the least of which are proper light and water flow. Recommendations abound in the popular literature, and these are not always accurate. With some effort, surveys of the scientific literature or descriptions in secondary sources may turn up information regarding where species can be found in the wild. However, with careful searching, this may become an even more frustrating experience because of the great range of many coral species. For example, Stylophora pistillata or Pocillopora damicornis can exist in widely divergent areas, from murky shallow water, to deep reef slopes, to near the surface of the water in wave-pounded areas. Acropora spp. can be equally difficult; different species are found occupying virtually every niche environment of tropical Indo-Pacific reefs. This is coupled with the fact that aquarists have little or no idea of the area of actual specimen collection, or even the country of collection. A further hindrance is the fact that there is remarkably little information available as to the range, environment, or life history of some of the most popular aquarium corals. This article, based on the events described below, is a first step in answering some of these frustrations.

"As the world's largest importer of coral reef organisms for curios, jewelry, and aquariums, the United States has become concerned that the demand for these organisms may be a major force driving overexploitation and destructive collection practices. As one step to address these concerns, the U.S. sponsored the International Coral Trade Workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia in April 2001 to develop recommendations for the sustainable harvest of stony corals. The workshop brought together over 130 experts from Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Australia, Europe and the U.S., and included government representatives (Ministries of Fisheries, Trade, Environment and CITES agencies), NGOs (TRAFFIC, WWF, IMA and MAC), scientists, coral collectors and exporters (Bruckner, 2001)." I was invited to act as co-chair for the Collection Working Group at this workshop with Ferdinand Cruz of the International Marine Life Alliance. Following the workshop, an assessment team was assembled to test the monitoring approach from the workshop. Members included coral reef biologists, fisheries biologists, industry representatives, coral collectors and students. Ed Lovell (coral taxonomist), Andrew Bruckner (coral reef ecologist), Suharsono (Indonesian coral reef scientist), and I conducted belt transects and manta tows to map species richness, distribution, abundance, population dynamics and habitat requirements of key scleractinian corals in the aquarium trade. Other divers who provided video transects and non-transect support were John Fields (NOAA Fisheries Biologist), Caroline Raymakers (TRAFFIC Europe), and several Indonesian biologists and students. Twelve areas were surveyed in the Spermonde Archipelago of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. This effort was largely to provide scientific data to assess the ban of certain coral taxa in the European Union.

A Bit of Background

Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of live corals for the aquarium trade. Harvest of dead or curio corals, as skeletons, was banned in 1998. A coral exporting group, the Asosiasi Kerang, Koral dan Ikan Hias Indonesia (AKKII) is the only group allowed to legally export corals. A quota and management system is in place to act as guidelines for sustainable management of their coral reef resource (Table 3). Coral harvest, rotated among 10 provinces over four years, is prohibited in protected and tourist areas, has size limits, is supposed to occur where assessment of monitoring of the resource occurs, and is supposed to occur at levels below regeneration rates. However, there is question as to the efficacy of this plan. The quota for 2001 included 925,000 live corals, 950,000 pieces of substrate with soft corals or other invertebrates attached, and 450 metric tons of live rock (Table 4)

Indonesia is somewhat unique in providing aquarium corals in that the country seems to "specialize" in providing the vast majority of popular large-polyped genera. These same genera are also the ones that account for the majority of genera in the trade, by far (Graph 1). There are no species given in these figures, only genera. . Included are some genera generally acknowledged to have poor survival in aquariums as well as some thought to be uncommon and slow growing with low rates of recruitment. Hence, there is concern that there may be environmental impact from their harvest. Another aspect of collection is that, despite the vast area of Indonesian coral reefs, relatively few areas are harvested. One reason for this is the requirement that collections take place near to an airport or facility that can adequately handle and transport collected animals. As a result, the majority of collection occurs on Java (near Jakarta in the "Thousand Islands" archipelago), several sites around Bali, and sites near Makassar (Ujung Pandang) and Kendari, Sulawesi. The sites near Jakarta, with a population of over 9 million people, have long been highly over fished and degraded. Bomb fishing is rampant, and many of the reefs of this area are virtually devoid of life. Coral collection does not occur at nearly the degree that it does in Bali or Sulawesi. In fact, the areas we surveyed in the Spermonde Archipelago are part of one of the largest coral reef areas of Indonesia and one of the largest coral collection areas. They are also impacted by bomb fishing, cyanide fishing (for the aquarium trade and the live reef fish food trade), and are adjacent to a large population city that impacts near-shore areas with significant amounts of terrestrial runoff

We conducted surveys and transects at sites where coral collectors were working, or sites described by collectors of AKKII members where coral collection takes place (Figures 2&3). They ranged from nearshore reefs from 1-10 m in depth, to patch and fringing reefs 3-20m in depth, to submerged reefs, and algal flats and mud/sand flats 23-40m in depth (Table 5). Collectors worked alone but with 4-6 divers per boat, primarily using a hookah, and regularly made long and repetitive dives to 40+m depth without using dive tables or decompression stops.

On deep dive sites, collectors were mostly interested in collecting valuable sea cucumbers for the trepang food trade, with coral collection an incidental part of their work. However, these areas are the prime collection areas for many of the aquarium corals discussed here, but the income generated (approximately $ 0.05 apiece) was mainly used to buy cigarettes (pers comm, coral collectors). Divers used small hammers and chisels to extract corals, working quickly and spending only a few minutes finding and removing a specimen (Table 6). Corals are typically amassed at a central area on the bottom, and then transferred up to the boat quickly using a basket and rope. They are then sorted on the boat out of water and in direct sunlight before being placed into coolers or areas in the boat filled with seawater and separated by a piece of plastic film.

It should be recognized that many hours might pass at some of these remote locations before corals are put into a holding facility. While we were at one site, we were informed that the collectors had just received an order for 5,000 Cynarina sp. corals and the order had to be filled quickly. This meant intensive hunting for colonies and long hours underwater that would certainly jeopardize the health of the divers.

The local holding facility of a large exporter, CV Dinar, was observed on Baranglompo, an island over 10 km from Makassar. Here, corals are stored in slow-flowing seawater tanks for a few days to a few weeks before being boxed and shipped for transport to the exporting facility in Jakarta (Table 7). From there, they spend an additional few days to weeks at that facility (this facility lacks flowing seawater systems) until they are sent overseas or to domestic markets. To the credit of CV Dinar, the facility was well run for a developing nation, and corals seemed to be in mostly good condition. There were exceptions, however, and the overall good health of the corals may be due to their recent removal from the sea and/or their inherent hardiness.

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Copyright 2002 Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine