Five-year ban on black coral recommended

[Mr T.]

Posted on Sat, May. 21, 2005


Five-year ban on black coral recommended


AUDREY McAVOY

Associated Press


HONOLULU - An advisory group has recommended a five-year ban on harvesting the gemstone known as black coral in Hawaiian waters because younger populations of the coral are declining.

The Scientific and Statistical Committee made the recommendation Thursday. The panel is part of a federally funded body responsible for managing U.S. fisheries in the region.

Black coral is a living organism that attaches itself to rocks in deep water and grows like a plant. People harvest the animal's skeleton after it dies for use in jewelry and other decorative objects.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council only has jurisdiction over federal waters, which extend from three miles to 200 miles offshore. The committee said it will urge the state of Hawaii, which oversees waters up to the three-mile mark, to impose a similar restriction.

If black coral populations do not recover after the five-year period, the ban should be extended, the committee suggested.

The state's largest retailer of black coral, Maui Divers of Hawaii Ltd., immediately criticized the step as unnecessary and said the resource was not shrinking.

Bob Taylor, president and chief executive of the Honolulu-based business, asked the council not to "jump into" imposing a moratorium.

"The black coral beds are sustaining," he insisted. "The coral is growing at least as fast as it is being harvested."

Black coral sales in Hawaii total about $30 million annually, he estimated.