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Coral Incubator

Improving outcomes of coral reef restoration through in situ larval rearing, settlement, and juvenile grow-out 

Years

Location

St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

2022-ongoing

Funding

PADI Foundation

Partners

Thriving Islands

Feather Leaf Inn

Propagation of coral via sexual reproduction, whereby gametes (eggs and sperm) are collected from multiple parent colonies during mass spawning events – then fertilized, larvae reared through settlement onto substrates and grown to juvenile stage – is now becoming more commonly applied in restoration contexts. However, these efforts remain labour-intensive yet produce generally low 1-year survival rates, partly because early juveniles are typically planted onto reefs immediately (when they are most vulnerable). Our project in St. Croix seeks to create and test a simple in-water system to incubate baby coral, beginning at the larval stage through to a juvenile size that can produce higher survival results when planted onto reefs. This effort is in collaboration with a local eco-resort with a key parallel objective to the research and development of training and building capacity in the community for coral restoration.

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