Management of the precious coral fishery in Taiwan: Progress and perspectives

Precious corals have been commercially exploited because of their legendary and cultural importance for many centuries in the Mediterranean and for almost one century in the Northwest Pacific. Although the precious coral fishery in Taiwan dates back to the 1920s, relevant studies on biology and ecology of resources are relatively scarce. The management of the precious coral fishery in Taiwan was officially instituted in January 2009, when data on the catch and effort of the fishery were recorded. In this study, the catch–effort data of the fishery were examined to explore the temporal and spatial patterns in composition and abundance of Corallium and Paracorallium spp. around Taiwan. A total landing of 3233.0 and 2906.8kg precious corals were recorded for 2009 and 2010, respectively. Less than 5% of those amounts were from live colonies. A high proportion of fossilized colonies in the catch reflect the non-selective nature of the fishing gear; however, the factors that cause colonies to collapse are not exclusive to the impact of the fishery. Momo coral was dominant in the production for both years, followed by Miss coral. The total production of precious corals correlated positively with fishing efforts, while a weak relationship was found between the production of live colonies and fishing efforts. The fishing efforts mainly aggregated in designated fishing ground A (DFG-A) for both years, while the production of live colonies mainly occurred in DFG-E. The monthly occurrence rate of live colonies decreased over the past 2 years. Although fluctuating significantly, the CPUE of dominant species exhibited an apparent decreasing pattern. High aggregation of the fishing efforts in specific regions and low numbers of live colonies in the production should be carefully taken into account when amending management regulations in the future. The establishment of marine protected areas, in addition to the strict controls that already apply, should be considered to not only sustain the population structure of the sessile animals but also their function in the marine ecosystem.