Growing corals sexually, making the coral trade more sustainable and thus contributing to the protection of coral reefs: these are the goals of our new start-up SciReef, which will receive funding as part of the EXIST research transfer programme. The project originated from the research activities of Dr Samuel Nietzer and Dr Mareen Möller in the Environmental Biochemistry working group at the Wilhelmshaven site of the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) at the University of Oldenburg. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) and the European Social Fund (ESF Plus) will support the innovative start-up over the next two years with "EXIST Research Transfer" funding totalling around 920,000 euros. Prof Dr Peter Schupp, Professor of Environmental Biochemistry at the ICBM, will act as scientific mentor to the start-up. It also receives support from us at GIZ. The researchers are also cooperating with Tropic Marin AG from Hünenberg (Switzerland).
The aim of SciReef is to sexually reproduce stony corals in a natural way and rear the young corals in aquariums. This has not yet been possible on a commercial level, meaning that trade is currently still dependent on fragmentation and wild harvesting, which can pose a local problem for reefs. If the project succeeds, the global coral trade could become much more ecologically sustainable and less dependent on wild harvesting. In order to protect the reefs, many countries have now also imposed export restrictions, which, together with the increased logistics prices, are making the coral trade significantly more expensive. Another advantage of sexual reproduction is that corals with certain characteristics can be bred - such as new colour variants that do not occur in nature.
The researchers will build on the basic principles they have developed. A few years earlier, the team had succeeded for the first time in Germany in sexually reproducing stony corals in the laboratory. These young corals are significantly more resistant to aquarium conditions than those produced using the previously common method of fragmentation - the splitting of a large coral into several smaller ones.
A critical aspect of the new production method envisaged by SciReef is to improve the settlement of the free-swimming coral larvae on a solid substrate. The experts want to use chemical compounds that trigger the settlement of the larvae on special artificial substrates. One such compound has been isolated and identified by the Environmental Biochemistry working group over the last 15 years.
It will be just as crucial to improve the further breeding of the very sensitive corals. To this end, SciReef is optimising the food, lighting and water chemistry in the aquariums and inoculating the young corals with special microalgae to improve survival rates.