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Please help us protect coral reefs!

Do you care about a healthy ocean? Would you like to help protect coral reefs? Then please help us. Our goal is to farm endangered corals, to make the aquarium trade more sustainable. Together with mariculture, aquaculture can contribute to the protection of wild coral populations. Please read more about our Indiegogo campaign below. Don't take from the ocean. Grow it yourself.

Who are we?

We are Tim Wijgerde, Ph.D., a marine biologist affiliated with Wageningen University and specialized in coral feeding, and Michaël Laterveer, M.Sc., a marine biologist with over 15 years of experience and former curator of Rotterdam Zoo. Together, we have worked with corals on a daily basis for many years, during which we learned a lot about the plight of coral reefs. Because we are highly passionate about protecting coral reefs, we are starting this Indiegogo campaign.

We want to farm corals, and here's why

Corals are amazing animals that produce the largest living geological structures on earth, known as coral reefs. These ecosystems are essential to mankind, providing about 500 million people with food and income. Coral reefs are also home to roughly 25% of all marine life, and protect our coastlines from erosion and storms.

Unfortunately, global warming, ocean acidification, pollution, overfishing and coastal development have seriously damaged our planet's coral reefs. By the year 2100, most reefs are expected to be severely degraded or completely lost. In addition, a global aquarium trade exists, with many corals and reef fishes being exported to Western countries every year. Although sustainable coral farming is an emerging practice, both in the sea and on land, more research is needed to make it economically viable.

That is why we need your help! Help us protect wild coral populations by supporting our research into sustainable coral aquaculture. Our goal is to establish a protocol for the aquaculture of soft corals, specifically Carnation Corals (genus Dendronephthya and Scleronephthya).

Now, we can almost hear you thinking "why not leave corals in the ocean?" Well, the simple fact is that there are no plans to ban the export of corals from tropical countries. In addition, keeping corals and reef fish in aquaria is becoming increasingly popular. So, the coral trade is here to stay, at least for years to come. That is why we have to make the coral trade more sustainable, by farming corals. This allows hobbyists, public aquaria and zoos to display corals that inspire people to care about our planet, without taking anything from the ocean.

Carnation corals are becoming increasingly popular in the aquarium trade, but their collection may not be sustainable (image credit: Hans Leijnse).

What exactly will we do?

• During the first two months, we will construct the aquarium and assemble all associated equipment (propellers, aquarium filter, phytoplankton reactor).
• This period will be followed by a six-week startup phase, during which the aquarium will be prepared for thirty live corals.
• The next step will be the introduction of the live corals, which will be weighed and photographed at day one.
• The following phase will be the most exciting one; data collection. Every week, the corals will be photographed with rulers to document their growth. We will measure linear extension, formation of new polyps, colony coloration and overall health. During this phase, water quality will also be monitored carefully. This phase is planned to last six months, which usually is the time it takes these corals to completely shrivel away and die in home aquaria.
• At the end of the study, we will weigh the corals, to calculate so-called specific growth rates. This enables us to determine coral growth in terms of biomass and size increase.
  
• We will maintain a blog, with weekly updates on our progress, and present a "behind the scenes" video report in a later stage of the project. 
• Our final product will be a detailed protocol for the successful aquaculture of Carnation Corals, adding to the sustainability of the coral trade. This will benefit wild populations and contribute to the protection of coral reefs.
  

Schematic overviews of the raceway aquarium, with two energy-efficient propellers (400 mm diameter each) creating alternating flow directions, i.e. from left to right, and right to left. In addition, four flow straighteners are added. This results in a strong, laminar flow pattern which is essential to the corals. The corals will be placed on egg crates in the middle of the aquarium. A few years from now, we envision many of these tanks in operation around the world, full of healthy, sustainably grown corals (image credit: Tim Wijgerde).

With our experimental culture facility in The Netherlands, we already demonstrated that sustainable, efficient aquaculture of stony corals and turbot is possible. We have plans to expand this facility to accommodate new research projects, but we need your help to do this (image credit: Tim Wijgerde).

The Result

The product resulting from this one-year project is a protocol to successfully culture Carnation Corals. If it is successful, further research will focus on testing different combinations of algal diets and flow speeds, to further optimize coral growth rates. This protocol, including all details, will be made available publicly via this website and our Facebook page, free of charge. Any public aquarium, zoo or private individual should be able to grow these corals sustainably. Funded by the people, for the people.

Our project will lead to an improvement of coral aquaculture, focusing on popular, but as of yet difficult to culture soft corals (image credit: Hans Leijnse).

The Impact

Your contribution will have a measureable impact:

• The development of culture protocols is essential to make the coral trade more sustainable and protect coral reefs.
• Coral aquaculture can also be used for reef restoration projects, by planting out corals that have been produced in culture facilities.
  
• Corals enrich people's lives. Have you ever seen a live coral reef at a public aquarium or zoo? Now imagine that reef to be homegrown. Our protocol will be used in our own nursery, which we aim to expand during the following years, but can also be used by aquarists and institutes around the world to grow Carnation Corals. We have already shown that stony corals and marine fishes such as Turbot can be sustainably cultured. Now it's time to optimize soft coral aquaculture.
  
• This project is intended as a stepping stone for further research into the aquaculture of other popular, but difficult to maintain reef animals, including other corals, sponges, tunicates, feather stars and certain bivalves. 

Carnation Corals are a key component of coral reefs, and their sustainable aquaculture will help safeguard wild populations (image credit: Hans Leijnse).

You Can Help

• Please donate to help us fund this project.
• Please get the word out via Facebook, Twitter and internet fora.
  

Don't take from the ocean. Grow it yourself.