Notice of Call for Proposals for Establishing Coral Nurseries

George Town, Grand Cayman – The Department of Environment Announces a Call for Proposals from those Interested in Establishing Coral Nurseries.

The Cabinet of the Cayman Islands has approved a policy for managing coral nurseries in the Cayman Islands. (Coral Nursery Policy Public 2014) The Department of Environment will be accepting proposals to establish nurseries under this policy until 29 May, with projects to commence October 2015 or later. Proposals should be for establishing nurseries for Acropora corals and eventual outplanting on Cayman’s reefs. Proposals, or requests for information, may be submitted to [email protected].

At a Meeting held on 21 October 2014, Cabinet granted approval for the assignment of the responsibility and authority for approving the establishment and management of coral nurseries and resulting coral outplanting within the Cayman Islands to the Department of Environment as part of their on-going remit to conserve and manage the natural resources of the Cayman Islands.

Coral Nursery Policy Department of Environment

Version 1b Public November 2014

1. Coral Nursery References
2. Caribbean Acropora Restoration Guide
3. http://www.conservationgateway.org/Files/Page s/Caribbean-Acropora-Restoration-Guide.aspx
4. Reef Restoration Concepts & Guidelines
5. http://www.coralreef.gov/mitigation/edwards_cr tr_2007_reef_restoration_guide.pdf
6. All corals shall remain the property of the Crown (Cayman Islands Government) at all times.
7. All activities shall be carried out within provisions of existing laws.
8. Coral nurseries, including out-plantings, shall be created under the auspices and management of the Department of Environment.
9. The Department shall keep regulatory partners informed of all coral nursery activities that would otherwise require individual approval.

Acronyms:

 DoE – Department of Environment

 PI – Partner Institution

 MOU – Memorandum of Understanding

 Third Party – any group involved by either DoE or PI in carrying out some discrete aspect of work

1. Ministry of Environment & Cabinet – Coastal Works ii.   National Conservation Council – Collection of Corals iii.   Port Authority – emplacement of moorings, buoys, etc.
2. Nursery projects shall be identified by non-specific names, e.g., Little

Cayman Nursery, North West Point Nursery, etc.

1. No commercial sponsorship or branding of out-planting sites.
2. Commercial sponsorship of nurseries, including minimal in situ branding, may be acceptable, if agreed as part of MOU.
3. Conservation shall be the primary purpose of nurseries, especially out-plantings and production of corals.
4. Research as a secondary purpose may be acceptable.
5. Tourism as an added value of the project may be acceptable. c.   Harvesting for sale shall not be allowed.
6. For ‘emergency’ replantings, proposed mitigations, etc., the DoE shall assess such requests, in consultation with PI, and decide how many corals, if any, from which if any nurseries, would be made available. The DoE shall retain final decision-making authority in these instances, including project staff selection, charges, etc.
7. The Department of Environment may partner with private institutions in the creation and continuation of coral nurseries.
8. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) shall be agreed between

Department of Environment and Partner Institution for each coral nursery. b.   MOU may cover

1. nursery site and method, i.e., permanent or temporary structures ii.   donor coral selection, including site location, and methods

iii. out-planting (see below)

1. purpose of nursery
2. control of access to nursery
3. control of publicity regarding nursery
4. Nurseries are not a solution. “An exciting opportunity” but not

a panacea or mitigation for degraded reefs.

2. Development sites cannot be saved by moving coral;

development sites cannot be mitigated by out-planting.

3. Coral nurseries are a public/private partnership.
4. Confidentiality clauses if needed, especially a ‘quiet period’ during conception and initiation of the project, or relating to publication of research or other information

vii.   monitoring of nursery, donor and out-planting sites and corals viii. penalty for breach of MOU

1. termination of MOU
2. Including shutdown protocols for nursery
3. May include ‘emergency protocol’, including funding assessment/plan, in case Government (DoE) has to shut down nursery without PI support.
4. Renegotiation of MOU
5. Division of labour and cost for different aspects of the nursery project xii. Hurricane and other contingency plans

xiii. Initial ‘test’ number of coral fragments to be harvested

xiv. Final size of nursery

1. Total number of coral stock clippings allowed xvi. Species to be grown within the nursery

xvii. Periodic reporting

xviii. Monitoring Methods

xix. Closure plan for nursery

7. Best Practices, generally to be followed by MOUs
8. Partner Institutions shall identify suitable nursery sites. Department of

Environment shall review.

1. Preference may be given to corals exhibiting evidence of increased resilience, especially to bleaching and disease.
2. Coral selection may be mindful of the need to represent geographic diversity

in donor sites as a proxy for genetic diversity.

1. No more than 25% of any parent colony shall be harvested.
2. Longest branches shall be harvested to reduce total number of cut branches per colony.
3. DoE & PI may agree on division of labour and material cost regarding nursery installation.
4. Nurseries shall start off small, using minimum number of corals, and expand as success warrants.
5. Coral harvesting and out-planting should occur between November and May to avoid spawning, temperature and storm stresses on corals.
6. DoE may take or supervise initial coral clippings. PI shall be permitted to conduct subsequent, within nursery, stock divisions.
7. PI may be permitted to retrieve corals dislodged from nursery by storms, etc.                                                                                                                                                                                                          i.   Notification of all such re-collections shall be filled with DoE before collection occurs.

1. DoE may agree to collection by PI or arrange oversight of collection, as resources and situation indicate

iii. No collection of wild stock, even from storm damage, shall be approved under this allowance.

1. Results of such collection shall be included in next regular nursery reporting.
2. Coral Nursery Pest Management
3. Apply to nursery site only. Does not apply to combined nursery/out- planting sites.
4. Lionfish shall be destroyed.

iii. Disease may be clipped away, including buffer of healthy tissue, bagged and then destroyed on land.

1. Disease incidences shall be recorded as part of monitoring protocol.
2. Disease outbreaks at nursery sites may be reported to the Coral Health & Disease Consortium. A copy of the report shall be filed with the DoE and included in the next regular nursery report.
3. Anything growing on the coral deemed to inhibit growth may be removed and destroyed in the same manner, including, but not limited to,
4. Overgrowing Mat Tunicate (Trididemum solidum)
5. Encrusting & Boring Sponges, e.g., Cliona sp.
6. Snails and fireworms may be removed, bagged and then destroyed on land.
7. Damselfish may be netted and relocated to natural reef areas.
8. Algae may be manually removed. May be allowed to remain in water after removal.
9. Nurseries shall be restricted to only specific species. In order of current preference,
10. Acropora cervicronis ii.   Acropora palmata

iii. Porites porites

1. There shall be no land-based nurseries; in situ conservation only.
2. Lead PI personnel shall require training either by DoE or through agreed workshops or courses either locally or overseas, or proof of training/experience acceptable to DoE.
3. There shall be no transport of corals between or among islands and no use of corals imported from outside the coastal waters of the Cayman Islands.
4. Harvesting Effect Surveys shall be conducted monthly on donor sites and colonies for 6 months before and for 6 months after harvesting
5. Disease outbreaks at donor sites may be reported to the Coral Health & Disease Consortium and shall be reported to the DoE.
6. Nursery Monitoring shall be carried out at least monthly
7. Reporting may be
8. In detail: Internal to DoE & PI & any regulators or third parties involved
9. Synopsis: Periodic public reports, as separate from any publicity released by DoE or the PI under the terms of the MOU

iii. Scientific: Public reporting may be embargoed for a fixed time

pending scientific publication by the PI and/or DoE

8. Out-Plantings
9. Shall require permission and MOU separate from nursery b.   Sites may be nominated by DoE, PI or third party
10. Sites shall be approved by DoE in consultation with PI
11. May be conducted by DoE, or PI in conjunction with DoE, or by third party in conjunction with DoE & PI
12. Out-plantings shall remain the property of the Crown. Out-planting sites will

generally remain under whatever access controls applied to the area before out-planting occurred.

1. Temporary access controls may be implemented to encourage out- planting success.
2. Out-planting success surveys may be conducted comparing coral cover at sites before and after out-planting as well as out-plant survival and growth rates compared to survival and growth rates of baseline corals.
3. Baseline corals shall be of the same species and at the same or a similar site to the out-plantings
4. May be conducted monthly for six months prior to out-planting and six months following out-planting; annually thereafter for a period of five years

iii. Surveys may be conducted by DoE, PI or third party, as determined within MOU

1. Survey methodology shall be agreed as part of MOU
2. Survey reporting guidelines shall be included within MOU
3. Disease outbreaks at out-planting or control sites may be reported to the Coral Health & Disease Consortium and shall be reported to the DoE.

END

IMAGE: Coral nursery www.flickr.com