Taiwan’s National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (NMMBA) has been growing corals AND coral reefs in captivity quietly since 2000. When I say “quietly,” I think many of those working here simply take aquaculture for granted; Taiwan is right up there with Japan when it comes to aquaculture demand, technology, infrastructure, and overall prowess, so students and Taiwanese visitors may not even be impressed upon visiting the football field-sized husbandry facility!
But as someone who has worked on corals and coral reefs since the time this place started cultivating corals, I can say that this is truly a site-to-behold, and given the urgent push to restore reefs through, amongst other means, farming of corals in land-based nurseries, I think it is high time that aquarium husbandry facilities play a larger role in the overall coral reef conservation and restoration narrative.
