The recent apprehension of a suspected smuggler with thousands of live corals and several giant clams in Bacoor, Cavite last week has ignited public furor over the continued trade in protected marine life. A Filipino environmental group offers a solution. “Now is the perfect time to shift to sustainable alternatives to corals and seashells,” says Gregg Yan, founder & director of environmental nonprofit Best Alternatives. Though legally protected, corals – generally classified as either ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ depending on whether they form skeletons made of calcium carbonate – are collected for the aquarium, jewellery and curio (display) trades. Live hard and soft corals are kept by many aquarium hobbyists but require state-of-the-art equipment and special care to survive.

Save Corals, seashells by shifting to alternatives, says green group. (2018, September 3). The Daily Guardian, p. 11.