Coral Fragging Should be Banned

Recently, there has been a great increase in conservation groups participating or dedicating their entire program to coral 'fragging,' or propagation, in order to increase the number of corals on the reef. This has been done with the understanding that they are saving the coral reefs by increasing the abundance of corals, but this practice could be leading to the further decline of the very reefs they are attempting to save. It’s a practice that should be immediately stopped. Programs that fail to understand the genetic implications of their work, and fail to address the multitude of stressors acting upon the reefs will at best be unsuccessful, and at worst contribute to the further decline of coral reefs and the resources they provide.

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Working with Island Livelihoods Institute and Corals Blue in the Maldives, May 2016

In May of 2016, Conservation Diver Trainers Pau Urgell and Kait Harris were invited by the Island Livelihood Institute to come and help with marine conservation projects and education in the Maldives. The team spent several weeks in the Maldives sharing their knowledge of coral reef ecology and coral restoration. The project could not have happened at a more salient time, as coral reef bleaching was very severe during the period.

The first stop for the team was the island of Fainu. Here the team was involved in training local islanders, children, in the techniques of coral reef education and action of Conservation Diver, and also strengthening ties with a local conservation group, Corals Blue. They spent some time teaching children of grades 8-10 about the reefs, and detailing some of the local and global threats facing the reefs the islanders depend upon. The following day they put theory into practice by taking the students on a beach clean-up, and having a competition to see who could collect the most rubbish. In all, over 70 bags of plastic bottles, rope, wrappers and Styrofoam were collected over the space of an hour. After the clean-up, the students learnt a little bit about the Coral Blue gardening project, and why it is so important as a restoration method. For demonstration purposes, they practiced the proper attachment technique using dead coral fragments found on the beach and attaching them to the domes.

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