Report of the Coral Working Group (DOC)

Introduction
International trade in live stony corals (Order Scleractinia) for the aquarium hobby has increased over the last decade, from approximately 200,000 specimens in 1990 to 750,000 in 1999 (WCMC data).  Industry representatives have expressed a desire to double this volume in the next 10 years.  Scleractinia are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which generates almost all of the available data on international coral trade.

Although wild specimens currently dominate international trade, there is an increase in the availability of cultured corals, and considerable trade in these corals occurs among hobbyists.  There are numerous methods for culturing corals, both in situ and ex situ.  Most methods rely on stony corals’ ability to regenerate tissue over lesions and continue growing through a process of budding, where the original polyp divides into two or more polyps.  In this approach, fragments or nubbins of coral are cut from live donor colonies and the fragments are then fixed to a suitable substrate and placed in growing tanks or aquaria (ex situ operations) or in the ocean (in situ operations) for grow-out to the desired size.  In non-range countries, fragments are reared in controlled environments (aquariums and shallow seawater tables) using artificial light, or outdoors relying on natural sunlight.  Coral culturists within range countries typically require a continual source of fragments removed from wild colonies.  In importing countries, corals that are several ‘generations’ removed from the original mother colony are propagated and sold, and some facilities no longer require a continuous supply of wild stock.   A large “mother” or source colony can be pruned several times in a year, and may provide hundreds of fragments for propagation, depending on the species and its rate of growth. Progress has also been made in rearing corals from planula larvae, and efforts are underway to produce certain rapidly growing species for commercial sale.

It appears that there is little or no agreement or understanding on the proper and consistent application of CITES source codes for cultured corals.  This situation has probably arisen because of stony corals’ multiple reproductive strategies (budding, broadcast spawning, brooding, clonal growth), the diversity of culture techniques, and differential interpretation of CITES resolutions on captive breeding and source codes.  A small number of corals are entering trade with source code C, suggesting they are captive bred, even though these specimens may not fully meet the criteria of CITES Resolution 10.16.  The lack of agreement on codes and marking systems to separate cultured corals from wild corals, and to differentiate coral production systems prevents an accurate assessment of different components of the global coral trade and will confound future efforts to assess the magnitude and impact of wild coral harvest within range countries.

The Coral Working Group of the CITES Animals Committee began to address this issue at the Committee’s 16th meeting in December 2000.  To assist with its review, it was agreed that Parties should solicit information on coral culture operations under their jurisdiction and report any findings to the Secretariat.  This information was requested through Notification 2001/010 on 9 February 2001.  The United States volunteered to contact these operations, summarize any information obtained, and present results to the Coral Working Group before the 17th meeting of the Animals Committee (Hanoi, Vietnam).  That report presented an initial summary of coral culture efforts, including the techniques used to grow coral, the species involved, and when possible, the total volume in trade.  Recommendations for the application source codes and techniques to differentiate cultured corals were discussed. 

There has been substantial comment on the U.S. discussion paper, and numerous suggestions for improvement and revision.  This supplement is an attempt to address the comments received, suggest standard terminology, and offer a more detailed discussion of the source code issue mentioned above.

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