Corals for Climate: Restoring Resilient Reefs

The local fishermen working at the Center of Marine Innovation have started taking scuba diving courses with PADI. We have one new Open Water diver, one Advanced Open Water and two other members taking the Rescue course. With these new certifications we have scuba divers better prepared to work in coral restoration. The entire team took an Emergency First Response course in order to be prepared and know how to act in case of an emergency while working.

We also did a course with 25 local fishermen with the Dominican Merchant Marine School for them to become certified marine operators for small boats. Here the fishermen learned about boat terminology, navigation, rescue skills, proper treatment of oil and gas change, responsible use of boats, and the importance of the marine environment. These practices will help protect the natural resources such as coral reefs in the area of Punta Cana.

The marine operations team also has participated in a coral disease study in Punta Cana. This study is being done in various parts of the Dominican Republic by following the same methodology and timeframe in order to better understand the health of the corals.

Over the last weeks, we have been working on the installation of a new coral nursery at a depth of approximately 12 meters. These are multiple table-shaped structures with the aim of favoring the growth and care of species present in this area of the reef, such as Agaricia tenuifolia (thin leaf lettuce coral), Porites porites (finger coral), Porites astreoides (yellow porites) and Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral). This is a progressive job that requires numerous hours in water for the installation of structures, selection of colonies and periodic maintenance and checks.

These activities are embedded in a great plan to restore the reefs in the area.

We have also been working on a Captive parrot fish fattening project. During 6 months, experiments will be carried out with a total of 36 juvenile individuals of parrotfish of the same species, varying the amount and type of diet (sea grass, squid and the combination of both) in order to test (a) if the increase of some type of diet results in an increase in the biomass of the specimen and (b) if the combined diet results in an increase in biomass. This project will be carried out in the facilities of the fish nursery of the Marine Innovation Center where there will be a closed-circuit system with 14 aquariums. The project will be carried out by a fisherman from the area, who has received training and will be under the supervision of a biologist.