Cultivated coral reefs now also exported from Indonesia

Antara 25 Dec 09;

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - The coral reefs cultivated by coastal fishermen in Serangan village, Denpasar, have found their way to the export market.

"We have been applying the technique of transplantation in coral reef cultivation and the result is that the products are now exported to Europe," Chairman of the Association of Serangan Fishermen Wayan Patut said here Thursday.

He also said that trading coral reefs is actually against the law, as it harms natural conservation.

However, by applying the transplantation technique in coral reef cultivation, the farmers produced the reefs in such a way that they could be locally marketed and even exported.

"We have been cultivating coral reefs in this way for many years including for natural conservation, in the Serangan waters," one of the farmers said.

"Besides saving nature, the technique also has its economic value, so that the farmers became enthusiastic in both cultivating and rehabilitating coral reefs," he added.

He said he could tell the difference between observed coral reefs from the saleable cultivated ones, by monitoring the reefs and rehabilitating them.

"We have succeeded in cultivating coral reefs of different colors like brown, green, yellow, and other shades," he added.

He said the coral reefs had already been exported to various countries, like the United States, and are also marketed at local markets. Coral reefs are normally used to decorate sea water and fresh water aquariums. (*)