You don’t have to be an aquarium hobbyist to know that coral reefs face extinction by our grandchildren or children’s generation.
Year of extinction: 2050
Coral reefs are the most diverse of marine ecosystems making them home to more than 25 percent of marine species. They are found in shallow, tropical and sub-tropical oceans. Most are found in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia.
According to the Global Marine Species Assessment, “Researchers identified the main threats to corals as climate change and localized stresses resulting from destructive fishing, declining water quality from pollution, and the degradation of coastal habitats.”
Forced fragmentation is when a hobbyist cuts, with a blade, scissors or a table saw, the branches of a coral. Then the branches are glued or tied to a rock. The fragmenting procedure depends on the type of coral.
Many hobbyists believe this may help save coral reefs.
Jorge Quintana, 20, is a member of the Florida Marine Aquarium Society (FMAS) based in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.
“The whole point of the society is to inform and preserve the reefs,” Quintana said.
Each meeting has a theme and a guest speaker. Themes range from conservation to safety to breeding procedures. At the end of each meeting, hobbyists trade or give away fragmented corals from their tanks.
“This is a way to give hobbyists a greater coral diversity without taking more corals from the ocean,” said Quintana, a hobbyist for nine years.
FMAS has about 300 members. Each memberships costs $20 per year. General meetings take place the last Tuesday of every month at South Plantation High School, 6901 NW 16th St. Plantation, Fl. They are open to the public and begin at 7:15 pm.
In addition, Quintana said there are annual fragmentation swaps around the community.
According to Dr. Herman Wirshing, marine biology professor at the University of Miami, soft coral ‘fragging’ is a great way to reduce the impact of the aquarium trade on the natural populations of soft corals found on coral reefs.
“This type of aquaculture is already popular with reef fishes that are harvested for aquariums,” Wirshing said. “ The less anthropogenic impacts there are on the reefs (e.g. people taking stuff from the reefs), the better chance they will have to survive in the long term.”
Marco Almenares, 28, started his fragmentation business from his home six months ago. Most of his corals come from Australia and range in price from $10 to $350.
“We buy the coral and give the customers and hobbyist better prices,” Almenares said. “What I do is cut the coral so they have a chance of getting different kinds of pieces at a cheaper cost.”
Almenares said it can take from a couple of months to a year for a ‘frag’ to become a colony.
This has created a domino effect among hobbyist because: “You can cut it up and sell it to your friends or trade it. You’re cultivating your coral so you don’t have to kill what’s left of the reef,” Almenares said.
A study published in the journal Science estimates that the oceans’ fish will disappear by 2050 if high fishing rates continue. If there are no fish, there are no corals.
At the 2002 United Nations summit in Johannesburg, leaders vowed to increase the fish populations by 2015.
Dr. Walter M. Goldberg, professor of Biological Sciences at Florida International University blames the disappearance of coral reef on global warming because unlike overfishing, global warming cannot be stopped.
“On a global scale, an estimated 3rd of all coral species are extinct,” Dr. Goldberg said. “It’s not in good shape and it is all going to get worse.”
At the 2002 United Nations summit in Johannesburg, leaders vowed to increase the fish populations by 2015.
Dr. Walter M. Goldberg, professor of Biological Sciences at Florida International University blames the disappearance of coral reef on global warming because unlike overfishing, global warming cannot be stopped.
“On a global scale, an estimated 3rd of all coral species are extinct,” Dr. Goldberg said. “It’s not in good shape and it is all going to get worse.”
There are reef restoration projects going on all over the world. Aside from global warming, over fishing is the biggest threat to coral reefs.
According to Dr. Goldberg, when the death of a coral reef negatively impacts water quality, there is no use in trying to restore the reef. But where a ship hits a reef, then it might make sense to restore the reef.
“Places that are still in good shape is where people are not,” Dr. Goldberg said.
