PNG Maricultured Corals Coming this Fall

SEASMART village women newly trained in coral mariculture celebrate their first successful fragging efforts.

First Coral Mariculture Pilot Program
Established in Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG) – The PNG SEASMART Program announced today the successful establishment of a pilot coral mariculture program at Fishermans Island near Port Moresby, PNG.

SEASMART staff has trained 20 local women from Fishermans Island in sustainable mariculture activities. The first of these maricultured corals are expected to reach international markets by December 2010, although 30% of all corals produced will stay in PNG and be used for reef restoration activities.

Unlike aquacultured corals that are grown in a closed system such as an aquarium, maricultured corals are grown in open, ocean-based farms. To start, SEASMART is culturing 20 different genera and 80 species of stony corals, including various Acropora, Acanthastrea, Favia, Hydnophora, Montipora, Mycedium, Oxypora, Pavona, and Seriatopora species.

Pink Acropora frags growing in the new Fishermans Island, PNG mariculture nursery.

The Fishermans Island coral farm is located in 4-5 meters (13-16 ft) of water adjacent to the island in a location selected by MAR staff after extensive survey work. At the farm site, MAR staff deployed 10 custom-built iron platforms and assigned two local coral farmers to each platform. Mother colonies were sustainably collected from nearby healthy reefs and brought to the coral farm, where the farmers fragmented the mother colonies into as many as 10 individual colonies or “frags.” These frags were then affixed to numbered cement discs and affixed to the platforms with wire mesh. When the frags reach an appropriate size, they can be exported for sale or used to restore coral cover on degraded reefs.

“Maricultured corals are the future of a robust and sustainable reef-keeping hobby,” says SEASMART MAR Division Manager Daniel Navin. “While aquacultured corals grown in import countries do play an important role in the marine aquarium trade, maricultured corals have the advantage of being able to bring new species and color morphs to the trade, as well as generate an income source to coastal communities where the corals are cultured.

SEASMART's Mariculture Manager Daniel Navin with a crew restoring a mangrove shoreline in Papua New Guinea.

"This places a direct financial incentive for the communities nearest the reefs to keep their reefs healthy. In addition, maricultured corals are ideal for use in local reef restoration projects. We expect to see a net gain in local coral cover as a result of our mariculture and reef restoration efforts in PNG, and that’s even after we have supplied aquarists with some of the most exciting corals they have seen in a long time.”

The SEASMART Program is a joint venture between the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority and U.S.-based EcoEZ. SEASMART has been working in Papua New Guinea since 2007 to establish a sustainable and equitable marine aquarium trade there. The pilot program is overseen by the newly formed Mariculture, Aquaculture, Restoration (MAR) Division of SEASMART.

Contact:
Daniel Navin, SEASMART MAR Manager
Daniel@ecoez.com