Coral Farming

Restoration Service

Grower is providing a vital role in addressing coral crisis

BY SAM TEICHER | PHOTOS BY HARRY LEE / CORAL VITA

Nestled alongside canals on the east end of Freeport, Grand Bahama, is something you don’t see every day — a land-based coral farm. This coral production facility, which also serves as an education center and tourism attraction, is part of a global effort by amazing coral restoration practitioners and scientists to ensure that coral reefs survive and thrive amid the threats they face. I launched Coral Vita with my friend and classmate, Gator Halpern, to help preserve coral reefs for future generations. We use breakthrough methods developed by scientists and advisors, including Dr. Ruth Gates and Dr. David Vaughan, formerly of the Hawaii Institute of

Diver inspects staghorn coral farm. Marine Biology and Mote Marine Laboratory, respectively. Using their pioneering techniques, we can grow resilient coral up to 50 times faster than it grows in the environment. This means that growth that would require decades and centuries in the natural world can occur in months and years.

Through a commercial, landbased farming model, we sell “restoration as a service” (RaaS) to reef-dependent customers while using our farms as experiential tourism attractions. By taking this approach, we strive to grow millions and hopefully billions of corals while unlocking funding to support critically needed ecosystem-scale restoration. Our company’s first coral farm, located just 30 minutes by air from South Florida, is a first step toward our goal of establishing farms throughout the world.

Since the 1970s, half of the world’s coral reefs have disappeared. By 2050, more than 90% are projected to die due to a combination of factors including pollution, overfishing, and ocean warming and acidification.

This loss is clearly an ecological tragedy. This single ecosystem covers less than 1% of the seafloor but sustains 25% of marine species. Coral reefs, with their dazzling array of colors and shapes, provide shelter and breeding grounds for countless incredible and vital sea creatures. If you dive, snorkel or fish, you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, corals are still critical for your life and well-being. All this biodiversity isn’t the only thing at risk though. Global

reef degradation is also a socio-economic catastrophe that jeopardizes human prosperity and security.

Found in over 100 countries and territories, coral reefs sustain the livelihoods of up to 1 billion people and account for $2.7 trillion annually in goods and services. Divers and snorkelers have little interest in spending their time and money visiting destinations that are devoid of vibrant natural sea structures. Commercial, artisanal and recreational fisheries alike face collapse without this habitat.

Lifesaving drugs are derived from compounds found in oceanic organisms. And a healthy reef reduces wave energy on average by 97%, serving as the best natural infrastructure possible for coastal protection from storm surges and erosion. Yet all of this is on the line as a result of our leaders failing to safeguard ecosystems that provide for us all.

That’s why Coral Vita exists. The job of coral restoration itself shouldn’t exist, yet here we are. I’ve been a scuba diver since I was 13 years old; this issue matters to me on a deeply personal level. I have seen reefs here in Grand Bahama die since I moved here in 2018, and I gained an appreciation for the value of reefs as buffers after living through Hurricane Dorian, the strongest recorded storm to ever hit the Bahamas. Winds exceeding 220 mph and a 23-foot storm surge pummeled 80% of the island, including our coral farm, for more than 40 grueling hours. Our farm was totaled, but we remained determined to push forward because when it comes to preserving coral reefs, failure is not an option.

After engaging in humanitarian work in our local Bahamian communities for months, we rebuilt the farm and now have upgraded it to a state-of-the-art facility. We recently signed our first RaaS contracts with customers including the Bahamian government and Grand Bahama Port Authority. The coral farm’s doors are open to tourists and local students alike despite the pandemic. Partnerships are being forged with everyone from technologists to other coral farmers, and we are exploring future farm locations from Costa Rica to Miami to Dubai and beyond.

While helping to kickstart a restoration economy, we believe the scalability and impact of conservation efforts can reach unprecedented and desperately needed levels.

In 2021, we were awarded the inaugural Revive Our Oceans Earthshot Prize,

Juvenile Coral Pod

established by Prince William of the United Kingdom as “the most prestigious global environment prize in history, designed to incentivize change and help repair our planet … by helping to scale incredible cutting-edge solutions.”

Winning this prize is a huge honor for Coral Vita. It comes as a testament to the decades of work put in by the coral science and restoration communities to highlight the urgent need to stop killing coral reefs and implement viable solutions. It’s a team effort to protect coral reefs that includes all who will read this article. We hope you’ll join us in planting coral in Grand Bahama one day soon.