Resource Management of Precious Corals:

Abstract

Abstract. Precious corals as a group consist of a variety of species which belong to several classes of Anthozoan corals. In general, all are long lived, slow growing and are characterized by slow rates of annual recruitment and adult mortality. In favorable environments, where large beds of commercial quantity exist, their life history parameters often approximate steady state. In such instances, fishery management models in which the assumption of steady state is explicit, can be applied to their management. In this paper, the history and ecology of precious corals are reviewed in light of modern attempts of resource management using fishery models. In Hawaii, the BEVERTON and HOLT model has been adapted for the management of black, pink and gold coral species. The application of this model as it applies to precious corals is described and an example is given illustrating that it can also be used for shallow water reef building corals which form discrete colonies.