Corals harvested for beauty products
A U.S. cosmetics company has signed a five-year contract with the
Cayman
Islands government to harvest black sea rod, also known as sea
whip.
Gina Ebanks-Petrie, director of the Department of Environment, said it was possible to sustainably harvest the tips of the coral without negatively impacting the environment.
Ordinarily, taking coral anywhere in Cayman’s territorial waters is prohibited.
Ms. Ebanks-Petrie said the cosmetics company had agreed to a number of conditions, including restricting harvesting to defined areas outside of the marine parks and periodic monitoring of harvest sites from the Department of Environment.
Tim Austin, deputy director of the department, said sea whips were quick growing corals. He said the tips could be safely harvested in small quantities without impacting growth rates in the long term.
He said the variety and scope of potential adaptations of corals remained the focus of significant research and could yet yield important medical discoveries.
“It is amazing what is still left in nature to be discovered,” Mr. Austin said. “That is one of the reasons why it is important to keep healthy coral reefs around. A lot of medicines are derived from natural products and who knows what potential discoveries remain to be made?”
Environment Minister Wayne Panton said Maxey had a proven track record of sustainable practices and would work in collaboration with government experts. He said the agreement incorporated clauses that took into account marine conservation legislation and the Convention on Biological Diversity, which attempts to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of a country’s natural resources.
Other conditions specify the amount of the tips of coral that can be collected, which allows the colony to regrow and to be sustained.
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