Should we "rob the reef" for the future?

[Speg]

Fragging, and the hobby in general have come a long ways from just a decade or two ago.

The question: Is it essential for us to take some of the rare or soon-to-be extinct species of coral and attempt to grow & propagate them? In other words, do we need to gather these coral so that they don't just vanish completely? With recent reef die-offs, oil spills, and other forms of destruction in the oceans, it is scary to think of what the future may hold if these coral aren't somehow protected.

Don't let this question be limited to only coral; our knowledge of fish breeding is still somewhat new, but maybe in another 20 years we'll be able successfully breed many different fishes in our aquariums. What will happen if we don't try and some of the rare species go extinct? Should we try or leave it to fate?

 

[CookieJar]

"Rob the reef" would be bad for the perception of our hobby and would let to more of the 'Snorkel Bob' types and more importantly, more legislative restrictions. Our hobby has to collect with a sound science based approach but science but also with a good eye towards good PR so we're not any more of a target or give fuel to activist groups than we already are.

 

[KLR]

I think we should take the rare things from the reef to an extent..........

Pretend the Ryouip coral species is extremly rare

I think a few mini colonies or even frags from wild colonies of the Ryouip should be taken and attmepted to raise in captivity to ensure they would never go extinct

With fish i think they should try to breed them in captivity, but I really dont think certain fish will ever captively breed, unless someone made a giant tank that was in the ocean ,and kept track of the conditions, so the fish might would still think they are in the ocean and breed


Something that would be really cool for the reefing community would be if someone succesfull breed corals,not by accident and not fragging them up, im talking about spawning, through all of the stages, and so forth.......

 

[clowns101]

I dont think we should do either or,I think we should do a natural propagation program.

A natural propagation program would be a program where we take small fragments from the reef's,by that I mean,3-5 mini colonies from most of the local colonies.We then take the mini colonies,and place them on a platform,and let them grow,frag those,place the colony back the reef,and redo over and over again...

Basiclly mariculture,but on a larger scale.I think mariculture will save the reefs more than anything if they stop selling the corals into the trade.

Pesonally,I dont buy maricultured or wild caught pieces,the survial rates are low for me,maricultured piece and wild piece dont adapt to artifical SW very well,I have kept them,but it takes time for them to start doing good IME.

 

[Speg]

I dont think we should do either or,I think we should do a natural propagation program.

A natural propagation program would be a program where we take small fragments from the reef's,by that I mean,3-5 mini colonies from most of the local colonies.We then take the mini colonies,and place them on a platform,and let them grow,frag those,place the colony back the reef,and redo over and over again...

Basiclly mariculture,but on a larger scale.I think mariculture will save the reefs more than anything if they stop selling the corals into the trade.

Pesonally,I dont buy maricultured or wild caught pieces,the survial rates are low for me,maricultured piece and wild piece dont adapt to artifical SW very well,I have kept them,but it takes time for them to start doing good IME.

but then what would happen if there is an unusual cold temperature, oil spill, tsunami, etc?

 

[TopNotchCorals]

That's what we humans call a "natural disaster" minus the oil spill.

 

[clowns101]

Well,we would rule out cold weather...these tanks would be in large insulated green houses and heated with heaters.
we could rule out oil spill,since they will be in a green house,the oil will no longer be on the corals,they will be in clean waer in greenhouses.
A tsunami is one that would be hard to rule out.Any of the coast states will have issues,and all islands will have issues with watery weather,so really,only thing to do would be to import them to the mid west states and a few of the surrounding states that dont have a coast on them,either way,if we had to import,we would be killing them more,they have to be shipped into Cali-To me-and then put into my tanks,thats alot of stress,but people do it,but it would not be worth it if we were doing this such thing on a large scale.

Thats best I got...

 

[Speg]

That's what we humans call a "natural disaster" minus the oil spill.

Exactly, and the question is: Do we just wait until that happens or do we take a proactive stance and attempt to grab these endangered species and try to "manufacture" them (for lack of a better term).

 

[Speg]

Well,we would rule out cold weather...these tanks would be in large insulated green houses and heated with heaters.
we could rule out oil spill,since they will be in a green house,the oil will no longer be on the corals,they will be in clean waer in greenhouses.
A tsunami is one that would be hard to rule out.Any of the coast states will have issues,and all islands will have issues with watery weather,so really,only thing to do would be to import them to the mid west states and a few of the surrounding states that dont have a coast on them,either way,if we had to import,we would be killing them more,they have to be shipped into Cali-To me-and then put into my tanks,thats alot of stress,but people do it,but it would not be worth it if we were doing this such thing on a large scale.

Thats best I got...

Oh, so you're saying that we take the coral to a special facility/green house and grow them out there and then replace them back into the reef at some point? I think I understand better.

 

[clowns101]

Oh, so you're saying that we take the coral to a special facility/green house and grow them out there and then replace them back into the reef at some point? I think I understand better.

Yes,which I find would work really well!If I could only move to Jakarta or somthing,Id set this thing up!

 

[Speg]

Yes,which I find would work really well!If I could only move to Jakarta or somthing,Id set this thing up!

lol

It's actually a strong idea. How to fund it or how one went about doing it would be another issue....the idea itself is good though.

 

[clowns101]

Thanks,funding wouldnt be an issue,they give out aqauculture grants and things like that for programs like this(well its not a program yet,but if I lived over seas,it would be)

Im not sure how I would go about getting somthing like it set up,but Im sure the government would have to get involved and have to make sure its worth the time and money....

 

[Speg]

Thanks,funding wouldnt be an issue,they give out aqauculture grants and things like that for programs like this(well its not a program yet,but if I lived over seas,it would be)

Im not sure how I would go about getting somthing like it set up,but Im sure the government would have to get involved and have to make sure its worth the time and money....

Well, let me know when you're ready...I'll work for ya.

 

[WesF]

Funding is always an issue. For example, there were some aquaculture funding "earmarks" in the spending bill that was just voted down last week.

This funding for research that could potentially help save U.S. reefs was considered wasteful spending by many in congress.

 

[Dave3112]

Funding is always an issue. For example, there were some aquaculture funding "earmarks" in the spending bill that was just voted down last week.

This funding for research that could potentially help save U.S. reefs was considered wasteful spending by many in congress.

I don't think that it was just the aquaculture earmarks that were considered "wasteful" spending. I think it was the nature of the spending THROUGHOUT the bill.

 

[WesF]

True but when you hear about the "wasteful" earmarks, the pundits bring up the aquaculture money to drive home the point that the bill is loaded with Pork barrel spending.

An aquaculture bill standing on it's own feet would get shot down pretty quickly in today's political climate.

 

[Dave3112]

I agree. It's sad but it's true. I'm not an environmentalist or "tree Hugger" or whatever, however I believe that our reefs are an important part of our ecosystem. Aquaculture would not only help ease the collecting of wild corals, that have a difficult time of adjusting to our synthetic sea water anyway, it would help more hobbyists such as myself to be more aware of the impact to the reefs.

I voted that we should collect "rare" corals and "grow" them so that future generations can have a chance to see and appreciate them. I, however, am not saying we should collect without impunity. That would give the Snorkel Bob's of the world a better leg to stand on. I am a firm believer that regulation, in moderation, will help stop the over collecting and prevent further damage to the reef ecosystem.

Mariculture couold help to replenish the corals on the reef. If for every mini colony we collect for export we maricultured one of the same species then it could keep the corals on the reefs indefinantly. Sorry about the rant but these are my feelings on this issue.

 

[FishLipz]

As long as a conservation project remains what it is intended to be, I think it's OK. Kinda like a "reef ark" to save as many species as possible. Unfortunately, capitalism seems to overshadow conservation all too often.

 

[hippo tang]

Its called coral gardening. Some people in other parts of the world already do. They take frags and grow them out and transplant them to dead areas of the reefs and keep some to grow out again and again. But they don't put them up for sell or take them home.

 

[Antonias1391]

Im all for conservation dont get me wrong but one thing humans have a hard time understanding is that we need to allow animals to go extinct its part of nature. adapt or die yes we can do our part not to aid the problem but every animal plays into its environment and vise versa