sharkdude
New member
Tropical waters in Maine
By DOUG HARLOW, Blethen Maine News Service
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Blethen Maine News Service photos by Jim Evans
Penny Harkins grows and sells coral as part of her saltwater reef aquarium business in Fairfield. Tank-raised corals, fully attached to rock, sell for about $29 each.
Blethen Maine News Service photos by Jim Evans
The Sinularia coral will regenerate after a cutting is taken. Corals are marine animals, not plants. FAIRFIELD - A maroon clownfish peers from between the waving tentacles of a sea anemone, then quickly retreats into a shimmer of live coral.
This glimpse into the life of a tropical coral reef is happening on a snowy rural road and is helping to save the wild coral reefs of the world.
"That's Nemo's cousin," Penny Harkins, owner of Aqua Corals, Reef Aquariums, said of the 3-inch fish with the gold stripe. "She keeps backing off because you're new. She's a little bit timid of you."
The scene is played out among the splendor of 60 saltwater aquariums at Harkins' business on Nyes Corner Drive, off Route 201.ÃÂ
Harkins said she has 200 varieties of coral, 70 of which are for sale.
"Those are corals that are not only on display, but they're parents to the babies I make -- I actually go in there and cut those," Harkins said.
Harkins said she binds the cut coral fragments to rocks or to hard, existing coral growths with toothpicks and rubber bands. Over time they attach their tissue to the rock, and Harkins releases the bind and offers them for sale.
That practice, called fragging, she said, reduces the stress on the live harvesting of coral from the warm waters of the world.ÃÂ
Fragging is approved by Reef Protection International, based in San Francisco.
"There are still a lot of people unaware of the plight of coral reefs and how global warming and rising ocean temperatures are affecting them," said Reef Protection International president Drew Weiner. "They are living animals."
Weiner said aqua-trade practices of collecting live coral for sale are contributing to coral reef damage worldwide. Captive breeding, he said, is offering some relief.
Harkins, a marine aquarium hobbyist for about 15 years, said she got into serious aquarium sales about four years ago and recently completed her new store. Last year she did about $100,000 in sales with customers all over the world, via the Internet.
Harkins said she taught herself how to cut the living coral for transplant into new tanks.
"Now I teach people how to do this," she said. "It's cutting them back like pruning a hedge," she said.
One of her customers, Jeanine Brown, of Sidney, said she shops at Aqua Corals exclusively because of the care and attention Harkins gives to her "babies."
"Before finding Aqua Corals, I shopped at local pet stores and online," Brown said. "Literally everything I purchased from these sources perished, sometimes dying overnight. After purchasing a new 72-gallon tank, I found Penny. She patiently taught me the correct way to set up a reef tank. Penny has an extensive knowledge of what works and how to maintain healthy reefs."
Another customer, Dan Small of Auburn, said he likes Harkins' practice of buying back baby corals from his own fragging activities.
"Ninety-five percent of my corals and fish come from Aqua Corals, and I have not lost any corals. They are all growing very rapidly," Small said. "We can all gain great comfort knowing tank-raised helps reduce the need for wild collection and therefore we're actually helping to save the reefs."
Blethen Maine News Service photos by Jim Evans
Penny Harkins grows and sells coral as part of her saltwater reef aquarium business in Fairfield. Tank-raised corals, fully attached to rock, sell for about $29 each.
The Sinularia coral will regenerate after a cutting is taken. Corals are marine animals, not plants.
By DOUG HARLOW, Blethen Maine News Service
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Blethen Maine News Service photos by Jim Evans
Penny Harkins grows and sells coral as part of her saltwater reef aquarium business in Fairfield. Tank-raised corals, fully attached to rock, sell for about $29 each.
Blethen Maine News Service photos by Jim Evans
The Sinularia coral will regenerate after a cutting is taken. Corals are marine animals, not plants. FAIRFIELD - A maroon clownfish peers from between the waving tentacles of a sea anemone, then quickly retreats into a shimmer of live coral.
This glimpse into the life of a tropical coral reef is happening on a snowy rural road and is helping to save the wild coral reefs of the world.
"That's Nemo's cousin," Penny Harkins, owner of Aqua Corals, Reef Aquariums, said of the 3-inch fish with the gold stripe. "She keeps backing off because you're new. She's a little bit timid of you."
The scene is played out among the splendor of 60 saltwater aquariums at Harkins' business on Nyes Corner Drive, off Route 201.ÃÂ
Harkins said she has 200 varieties of coral, 70 of which are for sale.
"Those are corals that are not only on display, but they're parents to the babies I make -- I actually go in there and cut those," Harkins said.
Harkins said she binds the cut coral fragments to rocks or to hard, existing coral growths with toothpicks and rubber bands. Over time they attach their tissue to the rock, and Harkins releases the bind and offers them for sale.
That practice, called fragging, she said, reduces the stress on the live harvesting of coral from the warm waters of the world.ÃÂ
Fragging is approved by Reef Protection International, based in San Francisco.
"There are still a lot of people unaware of the plight of coral reefs and how global warming and rising ocean temperatures are affecting them," said Reef Protection International president Drew Weiner. "They are living animals."
Weiner said aqua-trade practices of collecting live coral for sale are contributing to coral reef damage worldwide. Captive breeding, he said, is offering some relief.
Harkins, a marine aquarium hobbyist for about 15 years, said she got into serious aquarium sales about four years ago and recently completed her new store. Last year she did about $100,000 in sales with customers all over the world, via the Internet.
Harkins said she taught herself how to cut the living coral for transplant into new tanks.
"Now I teach people how to do this," she said. "It's cutting them back like pruning a hedge," she said.
One of her customers, Jeanine Brown, of Sidney, said she shops at Aqua Corals exclusively because of the care and attention Harkins gives to her "babies."
"Before finding Aqua Corals, I shopped at local pet stores and online," Brown said. "Literally everything I purchased from these sources perished, sometimes dying overnight. After purchasing a new 72-gallon tank, I found Penny. She patiently taught me the correct way to set up a reef tank. Penny has an extensive knowledge of what works and how to maintain healthy reefs."
Another customer, Dan Small of Auburn, said he likes Harkins' practice of buying back baby corals from his own fragging activities.
"Ninety-five percent of my corals and fish come from Aqua Corals, and I have not lost any corals. They are all growing very rapidly," Small said. "We can all gain great comfort knowing tank-raised helps reduce the need for wild collection and therefore we're actually helping to save the reefs."
Penny Harkins grows and sells coral as part of her saltwater reef aquarium business in Fairfield. Tank-raised corals, fully attached to rock, sell for about $29 each.
