To help save Florida’s coral reef, Mote Marine Laboratory has opened a facility centered on a single species: the Caribbean king crab.
The Florida Coral Reef Restoration Crab Hatchery Research Center in Sarasota officially opened Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It’s the first Caribbean king crab hatchery of its kind, according to a news release.
Caribbean king crabs are herbivores that consume algae off coral reefs. Mote said in the release that the crabs help with the growth, survival and recruitment of corals, dramatically improving coral reef restoration outcomes.
“Today marks the beginning of Mote’s next step in its comprehensive, science-based coral reef restoration strategy, building off of our decades-long history of shifting the paradigm of how we approach coral reef restoration science,” Mote President and CEO Dr. Michael Crosby said in the release. He also noted that the center will be able to produce 34,000 crabs within the next four years.
Florida is the only state in the continental U.S. to have extensive, shallow coral reefs near its coast. However, the proportion of its reef covered in living coral is currently between 1% and 5%, dramatically less than 40 years ago when it was more than 30%.
In May, Mote Marine received a $7 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help spur growth in coral reefs. The laboratory expanded its production of Caribbean king crabs as part of the award, citing the importance of the species to reef restoration efforts.
“We understand the potential of the Caribbean king crab in supporting coral recruitment and reef fish diversity,” Jason Spadaro, manager of Mote's Coral Reef Restoration Research program, said in the release. “With this new facility, we will continually manage aquaculture systems that support mass production and survival of crabs to support large-scale coral reef restoration.”
More than 100 Caribbean king crabs are already housed in the facility. It plans to reach a broodstock of 300 to 400 adults and eventually produce about 250,000 baby crabs each year. A few months after the crabs have hatched, they will be screened by a veterinarian, transported to Summerland Key and released onto restoration sites along Florida’s coral reef.
