Adventures in Developing
a Coral Farm in the Solomon Islands

 By Mac Terzich, DVM, Diplomate ACPV

Introduction
Since my early days of keeping saltwater fish in the 1960's it has been a dream of mine to some day explore the reefs of the tropical South Pacific islands. The fish I kept were so colorful and fascinating to watch in my aquariums I could only image their glorious beauty in their natural habitat. Over the years I had been diving in the Caribbean and even lived in that region for a few years. However, my desire was to see the vastly more diverse reefs of the Pacific.

In 2005 I was offered the opportunity to invest in a coral farming project in the Solomon Islands. Of course I jumped at the chance to fulfill my dream. This was perfect I thought, not only could I see the reefs of the Pacific, but also invest in a worthy endeavor.

The Solomons are a chain of islands located in the South Pacific northwest of Vanuatu and southeast of Papau New Guinea . Many of these islands are mountainous with dense forests surrounded by diverse coral reefs. The nation gained independence from England in 1978, but has had a troubled history of self governance.

The Adventure Begins
The outbound journey lasted a long and tiring 47 hours from my doorstep to landing in the capitol city of Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal , the largest island in the Solomons. My trip started with a 6 hour cross country flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles and then an 11 hour overnight flight arriving in Nadi , Fiji at 5:00 am. The flight to Honiara on Solomon Airlines was not scheduled to leave until 9:30 pm that night so I spent the day catching a nap and freshening up at one of the hotels offering day rooms just outside the airport and then visiting with Fiji coral and marine fish collectors and exporters. I was able to tour the impressive facilities of Walt Smith International and other exporters. These companies have been actively collecting and exporting marine livestock and live rock for many years and I was lucky enough to be there when several native collectors were bringing in their catch for the day. On this particular day the divers had been collecting some deeper water corals and brought back several unusual Acanthastrea and Echinophyllia, it was an exciting treat to see these rare corals. At another exporter it was interesting to watch the process of collection and processing of Fiji live rock, a staple in the hobby for many years. The rock is collected in areas where it has fallen in chucks from the formal reef structure and is simply picked up by hand by native workers that walk out to the site with a small canoe in tow that they fill with rock and haul back to the warehouse site. The rock is then unloaded and larger pieces of sponge are removed as the rock is stacked in plies. The piles of rock are continuously sprayed with saltwater from misting nozzles located in the ceiling. After the rock is cured in this manner for a few days it is then packaged for export. This rock is very colorful and teaming with life, and this rock has served as the foundation for many reef aquariums worldwide.

During my time at these exporters I saw some amazingly colorful Acropora and Montipora along with many other corals and reef fishes. After a curry dinner at one of the many Indian restaurants near the airport I was ready for my late night flight to Honiara. Fiji is a beautiful country with very friendly people and some gorgeous marinelife. My explorations in the South Pacific had gotten off a great start, more than fulfilling my expectations.

Tensions Flare
As I was about to board the plane to the Solomons word spread that rioting and looting had broken out on the streets of Honiara. Speculation and rumors were rampant about the situation, but the flight was still scheduled to leave and I was along for the ride. We were in for a surprise and adventure.

In the late 1990's tensions had begun to flare between feuding factions from various islands around Guadalcanal . A subsequent takeover of the government by radicals plunged the island nation into years of instability. The Australian and New Zealand governments eventually restored some calm in 2003 and by 2005 the country seemed on its way to rebuilding. Before the overthrow there was a well funded Tridacnid clam farm on Guadalcanal along with roads and bridges allowing for easy access to some of the more remote regions of the island. Afterward there was lawlessness, the clam farm was destroyed, and foreigners moved out along with investors. In recent years the tensions had subsided, foreign military presence lessened, and things appeared back on the road to paradise. A local I spoke with commented that the islands had looked their better that they had in the past 20 years. Things were about to change again.

The current unrest was due to unpopular results from a recent election and accusations of widespread voting irregularities. The newly elected Prime Minister was sworn into office just a day before my arrival into Honiara and the blazing buildings I saw through the plane window as we landed were the result of building resentments. The ride from the airport to the downtown hotel was eerie with armed military troops lining the streets and the once developing Chinatown district completely engulfed in flames that spread to nearby homes and businesses. Checkpoints along the route stopped us because we were out beyond the 6 pm curfew and had to show proof citizenship and reason for traveling in the area. Once at the hotel we were in a safe area although electric power was out due to the fires surrounding the area. Once in my room I though the worst was over and maybe by morning things would be calm.

However, in the middle of the night I was startled awake by loud banging and shouting. An opposition politician had taken refuge in the room next to mine and the military police were ramming down the door to his room and quickly escorted him away. My dream of visiting a tropical south Pacific paradise now seemed as elusive as ever.

The Solomon Experience Begins
My native Solomon Island host and guide Paul picked me up early the next morning. Paul owns and operates a coral and reef fish export company, sensing my discomfort he advised me to get in the water that morning and forget about the unfortunate political situation. So, off we went to collect zoanthids. Here I was on a tropical island collecting colorful corals in water only 2-4 feet deep just 20 feet from the shore and right on that shore was the smoldering ruins of a casino that had been burned by rioters the day before and the day before that was a place of employment of 600 people in a nation were only about 20,000 of the 550,000 residents are employed. I knew this was going to be a strange and memorable adventure.

James, a young native Solomon Islander, was my companion as I explored the zoanthid underwater coral garden. James' job is collecting zoanthids for the aquarium trade and he showed me all the different colored polyps, bright blue, red, green, orange, a whole rainbow of colors, and how to collect them. Zoanthids are popular corals in the hobby and rightly so, they are colorful, available in a wide variety of colors, and very hardy. Being at the spot where the vast majority of zoanthids are collected for the aquarium trade I soon realize why they were so hardy. The rocks we saw covered in zoanthids for as far as we could see in all directions and they were also covered in green hair algae. The site was near a local garbage and sewage dump and the waters were rich in organics. The zoanthids love the slightly cloudy waters and grow rapidly across the rocks. An occasional Green Pocillopora damicornis colony and brown Acropora can be seen in this area, but it is dominated by zoanthids and blennies greadily munching of the endless supply of algae. Paul was right, the political unrest only yards way on land now seemed miles away as I spent the day exploring and collecting. It is worthy to note the conditions were zoathids are found, cloudy relatively dimly illuminated nutrient rich calm waters. This explains their hardiness in captivity and also why some colonies experience fungal infections soon after importation. Often organic rich sediment and sponges will cover the colonies, once collected and shipped across the world in a small bag the nutrient levels can become quite high leading some die off and bacterial and fungal blooms. It is also understandable why some colonies are infested with predatory snails and nudibranches because the nature of the area where these corals naturally grow and because they grow so rapidly the rock is densely packed with polyps allowing for pests to inhabit deep between polyps.

The next day we ventured out to the uninhabited sand bar island of Tanapari along with several native islander coral and fish collectors. I snorkeled in the waters around this tiny island and saw a wide variety of corals in the crystal clear waters including the highly sought after red polyp Superman encrusting Montipora, many species and colors of Acropora, the occasional blue and purple swirling cup shaped Montipora capricornis, and many other corals and reef fishes including mated pairs of Moorish Idols and Butterflyfish and the occasional large adult Imperator angel. The fish collectors I was with are specialized collectors that collect just fish and not corals. They work with an air compressor on their boat that is hooked up to a hose they sue to breath from while underwater, the device is commonly called a hooka. Coral collectors use only goggles and snorkel because there are no dive shops on the islands and no air tanks for scuba diving. Fish are collected with nets in a fascinating manner by a team of collectors that set up larger barrier nets and then herd in their catch. Corals are collected by using a small hammer and chisel and the collectors are quite skilled at removing only a small amount of rock without damaging the corals. This is a real feat that I had some difficulty reproducing. It was difficult to hold my breath, dive down the 10-15 feet where the corals grew, and chisel away until the coral was freed, all with one breath. I must admit that my younger native island companions had a bit of a laugh at the expense of this over-the-hill and out of shape American. The experience was humbling and also revealing of how difficult it is to recognize the colorful corals underwater in natural sunlight and how laborious it is for these native folks to collect them and get them back to us alive and healthy. I was pleasantly surprised at their conscientious level of dedication and appreciation for the delicate marine life in their care.

The intense unrelenting sunlight took its toll on my skin despite being wrapped in a hood and shirt. That was OK though, all was good now as I was out snorkeling seeing and collecting many of the corals and fish I had kept for years in aquariums. The mated pairs of clownfish in huge anemones, pesky damsels protecting their territory, and incredible array of coral species growing together certain is an awe inspiring sight, it is simply magnificent! Interestingly, many of the corals were not brightly colored despite their impressive size and shapes. I swam along for several yards and saw one coral growing right next to another, soft leather corals several feet across among giant table-top shaped Acropora, huge boulder shaped encrusting Montipora, great colonies of Stylophora, and many assorted huge brain corals, most of these corals had some nice colors, but only the occasional coral had the really bright colors we demand in the aquarium trade and only a very small number were of a size that could be collected and expected to survive the long journey back to our aquariums. As time passed I was gaining a growing appreciation for the difficult task of the native collectors trying to satisfy the grow global demand for colorful corals for aquariums. My experiences reinforced the need to culture these corals so we may have a lower impact on the reefs and also more steadily and reliably produce corals of uniform correct size and color that are hardy and relatively easy to keep in typical reef aquariums.

The Coral Farming Ladies of Marau
The next few days I spent in another area of Guadalcanal called Marau where coral cultured has been practiced for several years.

Marau is an area on the eastern side of Guadalcanal that is a remote and primitive part of the country inaccessible by roads and without modern conveniences such as electricity. Several islands are arranged in a horseshoe shape with the open end facing Guadalcanal forming a large lagoon called Marau Sound. The water is clear and warm with very rapid currents that flow from the ocean side of the Sound toward the main island. A wonderful coral garden of a reef has grown within the sound with many species of Montipora and Acropora and other varieties of hard corals along with all types of soft corals. On these secluded islands live the coral farmers of Marau.

Before the civil unrest in the 1990's the ladies of the villages were taught how to cultured corals for the aquarium trade. Unfortunately Marau was the nexus of the tensions and the existing coral crops were destroyed along with supplies. The mariculture work came to a standstill. The one coral exporter operating in the Solomons was unable to access the area and concerns over potential danger in the area prevented any thoughts of resurrecting the program until now. I was offered the opportunity to fund the start up of the project, but with the new current civil conflict I had my doubts of long term feasibility.

A 3 hour bumpy ride in a two man power boat brought me to Marau early in the morning. My guide for this portion of the trip was Lincoln, a native Solomon islander that works as a coral collector. Upon arrival in the Sound we were greeted by David a local village chief. As he saw us enter the sound he paddled out in his wooden dugout canoe and welcomed us to a group of villagers that had assembled to meet with us about the mariculture project. I met with two groups of ladies from various islands in the Sound and discussed restarting the mariculture program. I was confronted with universal excitement and joy because the monies these folks made from growing corals was their only source of income and they were happy the program was beginning again. In anticipation of my visit the ladies of Marau salavaged some materials from their previous mariculture work and started to grow a few corals. David and Lincoln toured the area underwater with me showing me the ladies efforts. In just a few weeks since attaching frags to cement mounts the corals had become well encrusted and were nearly ready for export. With enough funding the ladies would now be able to grow thousands to colorful corals.

I asked David to show me some of the area's more colorful corals in an effort to select the best corals for mariculture. He instinctively knew were every coral was located within the Sound showing me huge stands of bright blue staghorn Acropora and areas of metallic pink Acropora and many other highly desirable corals including large boulders of bright red polyp Purple Montipora known in the trade as Superman Montipora. We gathered up several corals and headed to the beach were the ladies demonstrated their coral propagation technique. It is interesting to note that only the ladies of the village do the actual propagation work.

They formed an assembly line and each of the ladies had a different task as they prepared several dozen corals for my benefit. As one lady prepared the cement mounts another cut frags from the large colonies we had collected. Then another lady attached the frag to the mount with fishing line and passed the frag on to another that secured it to a wire rack that would be placed in the Sound along side the parent colony. Only a few frags were taken from each colony and the colony was placed back in the Sound to regrow so it could be used again in a few months. At about the same time the original frags are well encrusted on the mounts and ready for export the mother colony has grow back all the removed branches making these efforts totally self sustaining. I was impressed and pleased with the level of care and dedication to detail exhibited by the ladies of Marau.

It was time to head back to the main island and we gathered up several of the maricultured corals along with a variety of collected corals. The corals were placed in small shallow plastic tubs with fresh saltwater and covered with newspaper to protect from the sun and heat. Along the way we periodically stopped and changed the water in the tubs to assure that the water temperature did not climb too high. Once back at the warehouse the corals were prepared for shipping and packed in plastic bags with oxygen. By now I had been in the Solomons for 10 days and was filled with dramatic images and memories of these beautiful islands. He civil unrest had died down now and I prepared to leave I was hopeful that the mariculture program would be able to succed this time. With growing concerns worldwide about the health of coral reefs the maricultured corals would be a valuable rsource for the ever expanding demand for colorful hardy corals.

Since returning home I have received many shipments of maricultured Solomon Island corals and they have shipped very well without a single loss all the way from Marau to my doorstep in Maryland . In aquariums these corals have proven to be quite hardy with rapid growth and a unique ability to resist dramatic color change often seen in wild collected larger coral colonies.

While I would not recommend a sightseeing trip to the Solomon Islands for most folks at this time, I can heartily recommend the corals available in the aquarium trade from these lovely islands.