Live rock: a new cash crop for the aquarium trade protects Fiji's reefs

Abstract

MANY VILLAGERS IN THE ISLAND nation of Fiji earn cash by planting sugar cane. But residents of Tagaqe are growing some- thing different: live rock. Not the loud music variety, but a critical component in saltwater aquaria. When villagers suspend porous rocks in the rich waters of the Fijian reef, the rocks arc colonized by living invertebrates and coralline algae. After just eight months, the rocks can be harvested and sold as cultured live rock to aquarium markets around the globe.