Precious Coral Fishery
Introduction
Precious corals have been used for the fabrication of coral jewelry since antiquity. Along with amber, precious coral may have also been used as currency for trade by Paleolithic man. As a renewable resource in the sea, precious corals are thought to be the slowest growing organisms of any known fishery past or present.
Pink and red coral fisheries exist in the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Black corals are distributed worldwide, and small fisheries for black coral exist in all oceans. Hence, precious corals represent a unique and interesting case history of a fishery which is very old and quite widespread and one which renews itself quite slowly.
The modern history of precious coral fisheries in Hawaii dates from 1958 until the present. Two different precious coral fisheries have been developed. The first is the harvest of black coral by scuba divers from depths of 30-100 m. The second is a fishery for pink and gold corals at depths between 400 and 1500 m. and employs either a human-operated submersible that permits selective harvest or tangle-net dredges, which are nonselective.
History
Commercial beds of black coral were discovered in Hawaii in 1958 by Jack Ackerman and Larry Windley. This discovery led to the establishment of a small cottage industry that produced curios and black coral jewelry in Lahaina, Maui.
In 1965, Japanese coral fishermen discovered a huge bed of commercial pink coral at about 400 m on the Milwaukee Banks in the Emperor Seamount Chain north of Midway Island.
Demand for black coral peaked in the late 1960s and early 1970s, then declined for about 10 years, being replaced by a higher consumer interest in pink and gold corals.
In 1970 a long-term research program on precious corals began at the University of Hawaii and led to the development of a selective harvesting system utilizing a manned submersible. This system was used for a commercial operation of selective harvest for pink, gold, and bamboo corals that lasted until 1978 when the operation was discontinued because of high operating costs.
In 1978, a deepwater species of pink coral was discovered by the Japanese on the Emperor Seamounts. The color was spotty, but it was abundant, and like the 1965 discovery, it produced a coral rush, peaking in 1981. This fishery followed the established pattern for all precious coral fisheries: exploration, discovery, exploitation, and depletion.
Demand for black coral began increasing again. In 1987, black coral was named the Hawaii state "Gem" and this has increased consumer interest considerably.
By 1991, production stood at an all-time low and prices were at unprecedented highs. This boom-and-bust cycle of harvest and supply dramatically illustrates the need for management of the fishery.
Overall, the precious coral industry in Hawaii has steadily grown since its inception in 1958. At the retail level, the precious coral industry was valued at about $25 million in 1995. A small but stable black coral fishery in Hawaii continues to thrive while the Pacific-wide fishery for pink coral has drastically declined because of depletion of the resource. The future of the pink coral fishery will depend on the discovery of new beds of commercial-grade species of pink and red corals.
Regulations
The life history attributes of all species of precious corals in the western Pacific make these living resources highly vulnerable to overexploitation in unmanaged fisheries because many year-classes are exposed to harvesting at the same time. Virtually decades of accumulated standing stock can be collected during short intensive periods of fishing.
Precious coral resources in Hawaii and the western Pacific Ocean fall under the management authority of the State of Hawaii and the U.S. Federal Government. The state has clear jurisdiction over resources out to 3 miles. Federal jurisdiction extends from 3 miles outside the State of Hawaii to 200 miles. This area is defined as the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Presently, only black corals in Hawaiian waters are managed by the State of Hawaii. The Division of Aquatic Resources issues commercial fishing licenses and collects monthly catch reports.
Precious coral resources within the U.S. EEZ are managed by the WPRFMC under a Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP, finalized in 1983, allows for domestic and foreign fishing by regular or experimental permits and requires logbooks of the permittees. The FMP and state regulations outline and classify the known beds of precious corals within the Western Pacific Region and designate harvesting methods and the amount of corals that can be harvested.
For pink corals, efforts have been successful for the Hawaii domestic fishery in State waters. Poaching by foreign fishing has frequently occurred within the U.S. EEZ and is difficult to control. This poaching has hampered conservation efforts within the U.S. EEZ.
Black coral resources in Hawaii have been well managed, as colonies below a height of 48 inches are voluntarily not harvested. This size limit has been adopted by the WPRFMC and has been recommended to the State of Hawaii.
The supply of black coral has always been unable to meet demand. However, only the most accessible black coral beds off West Maui have been depleted. Foreign poaching of black coral has been a serious problem in the past, but has recently declined, indicating that resources in the Hawaii-managed domestic fishery, in state waters, may have been economically exhausted.
Future Prospects
The most promising exploratory areas appear to be in southern oceans. Most exploratory dredging has been at depths between 200 and 500 m, and virtually nothing is known about the potential of deeper water resources. Another important question concerns recovery rates in areas that have been heavily harvested. The whole area of population dynamics of precious corals is in need of further research. The mariculture of precious corals is an exciting new area of research.
The future of the pink coral industry can only be described as uncertain. Prices will continue to climb. The future of the industry appears to depend on either successful future exploration or a breakthrough in the mariculture of precious corals.
As for the future of the black coral fishery, at least in Hawaii, it appears to be secure in terms of both supply and demand for the resource.