Reseeding the ocean

[revclyburn]

Hello

I was thinking yesterday, what would be the effect on the oceans if all the reefers on RC and others would take a piece of a coral and place it back in the oceans, a specific location of course. Would that help with the destruction of the worlds current reefs? What would you put back if you could? Where could this be done? I'm seriously looking into it, maybe a vendor would get involved and offer a spot where we, reefers, could start to replenish what we take from the oceans. Is this a good idea or has anyone ever tried this?

RevClyburn

 

[thebicyclecafe]

It is a good intention but my feelings on this are that we may end up spoiling what is part of nature's own cycle.

It's unnatural for the reefs to be destroyed by humans, but when you look at it from the larger scale of things, corals have been around for millions of years, and have gone through all sorts of changes, probably destruction, and recovery.

By reseeding a reef, which is a good intention in and of itself, we may be trying to correct something we caused unnaturally with something that's unnatural... it may after all work out just fine but sometimes you just have to let nature take its course.

By reintroducing certain species into the wild we may destroy the biodiversity of a region by throwing it out of balance. The possibility of reintroducing certain pests to the wild is also likely.

A reseeding of a reef may only be applicable to a protected area which was damaged by collection... if we reseed a reef that was damaged by certain climate or pollution issues, then we're just doing the work in vain as the problem causing that was still there, and may just destroy the new corals.

In short, I think that that is a positive idea, and that collectors of wild coral need to do that whenever they collect any coral from a region (and I know some that do it, which is great.) To tamper with a natural recovery though, may somehow be detrimental.

 

[Horace]

I think most of the areas that have been destroyed are now mainly being caused by increased water temps. Reseeding those areas isnt going to help until that changes . It does sound like a great idea, but I have a feeling it would be futile . I also agree with the above poster, you should probably do research to only replace corals that are found native in that area. I could see this as useful when a reef was destroyed by a storm, but frankly I think the reef would rebuild it self over time from a disaster like that anyway.

 

[Tyler Werbowski]

Unfortunately your good intensions could have disasterous effects on the ocean. Think of pet rabbits that were non-native to an area and set free. The american bullfrog, pythons in the Florida everglades or euroasia milford lake weeds are all examples of human introduced species that upset the natural balance of native species.
As far as coral reefs leave it to scientists and biologists. Do you really want to intoduce AEFW or red bugs into nature from your tank? Ever tried to rid your tank of GSP, mushrooms or xenia?

 

[jacob30]

A classic example of how non-native species has caused enormous problems is the accidental introduction of calerpa by the Monaco aquarium into the mediteranean. This aquatic plant has destroyed enormous sections of the meds native biodiversity. This has also take place in California as well.

Native species being replaced would be a good thing and has been done in some areas like in Hawaii near Kailua Bay. These corals were actually repositioned due to construction.

 

[concept3]

It may only happen as a last resort IMO to get everyone to place all their corals in one location. It is a grand idea, but with corals we keep from all over the different indegenous parts of the world, they may not all survive on that one location. For instance, The great barrier reefs has its own indegenous species of staghorn coral that will not proliferate if transplanted in the Carribeans and vice versa.

Vendors are vendors, they obtain and then sell organisms from harvesting, collecting and aquaculture. Not to be pessimistic, but I'd like to see a/some vendors donate from their source of income, especially since they purchase them from collectors to begin with. You'll get more of us hobbyists to give them up, but not as much if any from the vendors.

As far as certain aquaculture facilities (if that's what you meant by vendors), I doubt they would let anyone start up a "refuge site" because of reason #1, and it's like introducing non-indegenous animals/organisms that could upset the balance of that particular area. (Think introduction of certain Tropical predatory fish in the Everglades like the snakeheads, they encroach and disturb the natural ecosystem)


Anyways, I would definitely give up ALL 78 colonies I have when the time comes. I wouldn't even blink twice.

 

[VCoo71]

walt smith runs a program like that from his collection station in fiji
tourisists can pay for and place a frag back into the ocean ......frags come from that location so invasive species isint an issiue

charlie

 

[Mr.Furious]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7739374#post7739374 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by VCoo71
walt smith runs a program like that from his collection station in fiji
tourisists can pay for and place a frag back into the ocean ......frags come from that location so invasive species isint an issiue

charlie

Isnt this profit-minded though? He expects tourists to pay money to buy a frag to be put BACK into the ocean which then may grow up to only be harvested later?

 

[VCoo71]

no it isint profit based in his words (it is in a protected area right off the shore i believe he called it a reef sancuatry) but to spread awareness to the tourisits that come to the island not knowing about the reefs

charlie

 

[GreshamH]

The money doesn't go to Walt, so no, Walt isn't profiting from this. In fact, IIRC, Walt sends over some of his staff, on his dime, to conduct these "walks" thru the "coral patch". Walt is doing it to rase awareness, as Charlie just said.

 

[Frankysreef]

Shouldnt we all stop buying wild collected colonies and just buy aqua cultured? or frags from other reefers?

I think there is enough biodiversity in this hobby to satisfy all reefers color requirements.

my 2 cents

 

[Mr.Furious]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7744123#post7744123 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Frankysreef
Shouldnt we all stop buying wild collected colonies and just buy aqua cultured? or frags from other reefers?

I think there is enough biodiversity in this hobby to satisfy all reefers color requirements.

my 2 cents

Thats what I was trying to get at with my criticism of walt's operation. He may be doing his part for conservation but lets face it he is still harvesting tons of liverock, coral, and fish from the ocean. At this stage in the game we can buy pretty much everything aquacultured which in the long run will help more than trying to reseed the ocean.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I've heard everyone say "bad idea" but don't we try to help other animals come back from extinction? We've "reseeded" the wolf population in and around Yellowstone is one thing off the top of my head. We already make artificial reefs by sinking ships and other large objects. Now I'm not suggesting throwing every coral in our tanks back in, but to reintroduce species that have been decimated might not be terribly bad. Not even corals, but what about fish that have been overfished to near extinction levels?

 

[VCoo71]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7744172#post7744172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr.Furious
Thats what I was trying to get at with my criticism of walt's operation. He may be doing his part for conservation but lets face it he is still harvesting tons of liverock, coral, and fish from the ocean. At this stage in the game we can buy pretty much everything aquacultured which in the long run will help more than trying to reseed the ocean.

if you REALLY look into what Walt Smith is doing i think you would have a diffrent opinion!

he takes small cutting from huge mother colonies in the "wild" and then procedes to grow them out on large faming racks until the reach the size in wich they are resaleable which can take many months!
(hence the name AQUACULTURE in your words).........

almost all his employes in Fiji are natives .....and he gives a large portion of his profits back to Fiji

the rocks he is allowed to collect for resale are only from storm damage..... only....its not like he is chiping away at the reef

he has been a pioneer in the AQUACULTURE industy!!!!

charlie

 

[itz frank]

Good idea. I've actually thought of doing this in my actual park. But i bet that when you replaced them that they'd bleach from switch from lighting to sun.

 

[fijiblue]

I agree with Charlie.

Last month, my wife and I were very fortunate to spend a few days with Walt and his wife Deb in Fiji. They showed us around their farm sites and as I stated before, I was very impressed. There are companies out there that strip the oceans bare in collecting, but his is quite different. When you see a collection site that has beautiful reefs surrounding it, makes you realize that I think there might be some rebuilding going on. Sustainable harvest is the key and I can assure you first hand, Walt Smith and his employees are doing that.

Shouldnt we all stop buying wild collected colonies and just buy aqua cultured? or frags from other reefers?

IMHO, I believe there are two types of colonies; ones grown in a tank and ones grown in the ocean. If you take a frag from a "wild colony" and grow another colony on a plug in the ocean...dont you still consider that a wild colony from the ocean? It's growth may have been induced, but it is still in it's natural enviornment. If you grow a frag into a colony in your tank, then it is grown in an artificial enviornment and considered different.
To hunt for these true echinatas and other rare pieces that are already hard to find, and then just collect them seems a bit harmful.

 

[Mr.Furious]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7745784#post7745784 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by VCoo71
if you REALLY look into what Walt Smith is doing i think you would have a diffrent opinion!

he takes small cutting from huge mother colonies in the "wild" and then procedes to grow them out on large faming racks until the reach the size in wich they are resaleable which can take many months!
(hence the name AQUACULTURE in your words).........

almost all his employes in Fiji are natives .....and he gives a large portion of his profits back to Fiji

the rocks he is allowed to collect for resale are only from storm damage..... only....its not like he is chiping away at the reef

he has been a pioneer in the AQUACULTURE industy!!!!

charlie

While this may be "aquacultured" my definition is a little different. I look at aquacultured as being a frag grown from someones tank which may be 1,2,...5 generation of frags grown in another hobbyist's tank. Even though his rock is storm damage it is still coral rock that would of been repopulated had it been left alone. With the magnitude of his operation I wonder how many metric tons have been harvested. As far as fish go they are being taken directly from the ocean. Unless I am misinformed I am pretty sure walt smith has no "tank-bred" fish.

Edit: I forgot to include that I have no personal hatred or malice towards walt smith. I personally own fish that have been wild collected from the ocean as this is the nature of the beast at this point. I do however buy as many corals aquacultured as possible and use base rock which has been mined instead of removed from the ocean. As soon as more species of fish are tank bred there will be no reason to remove anything from the ocean.

 

[VCoo71]

so where does a "bali aquatulture" or a "fiji aquatulture" really come from then?

i would call any coral or fragment coming from another reefers tank as " tank raised" or "captive raised"

charlie

 

[Mr.Furious]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7754389#post7754389 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by VCoo71
so where does a "bali aquatulture" or a "fiji aquatulture" really come from then?

i would call any coral or fragment coming from another reefers tank as " tank raised" or "captive raised"

charlie

If you want to get technical than "aquaculture" can literally mean anything cultured in some form of water. Even if you look at reefcentrals board for it they call it "coral propagation & aquaculture." I dont want to get into an argument over the definition of stuff since it has nothing to do with the main topic at hand here.

 

[justinzimm]

Here is a cool option: www.secore.org

"SECORE (SExual COral REproduction) Project is an initiative of public aquariums and coral research institutions dedicated to nature conservation through the sustainable management of coral reefs."