The hard skeleton of red coral branches is naturally matte, but can be polished to a glassy shine. It exhibits a range of colors from very pale pink to deep red. Owing to its intense coloration and glossiness, precious coral skeletons have been harvested since antiquity for decorative use. Products made from precious corals command high prices and near-global market demand. The trade in precious corals is extensive, profitable and provides ample incentive for harvest. In contrast, most of these species have life-history characteristics that make them particularly vulnerable to overfishing: extreme longevity (these species are the slowest growing organisms of any fishery known), slow growth rate and low fecundity.
The trade in Coralliidae, primarily in the form of beads, dates to at least the Classical period, with major exports from Rome to India. By the 17th century, the major coral trade centers were Naples, Marseilles, and Livorno-Leghorn, with exports to India and West Africa. Industrial-scale exploitation for red coral began during the early 1800s. Genoa and Naples (Italy) became the early centers of the coral fishery, with harvest occurring off the North African Coast. By 1870, most coral fishing in Italy had shifted to Torre del Greco. Commercially valuable colonies of Corallium and Paracorallium were first discovered in the Pacific off Japan in the early 1800s, but the fishery didn’t flourish until after the Meiji Reform in 1868. Exports of C. rubrum continued into the late 1800s, when Italy began importing large quantities of western Pacific Coralliidae from Japan and re-exporting processed coral beads to Asia and Africa. Following discovery of Coralliidae beds on banks north of Midway Island in 1965 and over the next 20 years, most of the world’s harvest came from the Milwaukee Banks and surrounding seamounts in the Emperor Seamount Chain. Currently, the Italian industry imports around 70% of its raw Coralliidae material from Pacific sources, particularly Japan and the island of Taiwan.
Coralliidae are traded as: 1) whole, dried colonies; 2) unworked branches and branch fragments; 3) beads and polished stones; 4) manufactured jewelry; and 5) powder, pills, granules, ointment and liquid. Small colonies traditionally were rejected by the high end fashion jewelry industry, which uses neither small sized corals nor reconstituted coral embedded in epoxy. However, the demand for smaller corals and fragments, available at less cost, has risen due to their use in both the ethnic and tourism markets. Superior beads fetch prices of up to US$50 per gram and necklaces cost up to US$25,000.
Precious corals in the family Coralliidae are harvested in the western Mediterranean Sea and the western North Pacific Ocean, including areas off Japan and the island of Taiwan, Midway Island and Emperor Seamounts in international waters, and Hawaii.
Corals and CITES CoP15
The United States and Sweden (on behalf of the European Union) have proposed to include all species of the genera Corallium and Paracorallium in Appendix-II (approximately 31 described species and several undescribed species): see http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/15/prop/E-15-Prop-21.pdf for the full proposal. The proposal includes information on unique life history traits, ecology, population status, threats, extent of harvest and trade for jewelry and curios, and existing management and conservation activities.
There is one other agenda item relating to the red and pink coral listing, which seeks to improve the identification of all CITES-listed corals in international trade:
• Identification of CITES-listed corals in trade (United States of America) http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/15/doc/E15-36.pdf
Several types of coral reef species are already listed on Appendix-II, including all giant clams (Tridacna and Hippopopus spp.), queen conch (Strombus gigas), seahorses (Hippocampus spp.), humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulates), all scleractinian corals, blue coral (Heliopora), organ pipe coral (Tubipora) and hydrozoan corals (Millepora and Stylaster spp.). China has listed four species of Corallium and Paracorallium on CITES Appendix-III.
