Sustainable Black Coral

Nearly 60 years ago, Maui Divers opened in Lahaina, Maui, offering underwater excursions to island visitors. A fateful diving expedition in the deep waters off the Molokai Channel led to the discovery of Hawaiian black coral in 1958. 

Intrigued by the beauty of this rare ocean treasure and its ability to hold a remarkable mirror polish, Maui Divers began designing, manufacturing, and selling Hawaiian black coral jewelry in 1959. Today, Maui Divers Jewelry continues to work with Federal and State agencies to ensure any harvesting of precious corals is done with minimal impact and allows for sustainability.

Corals are formed undersea by microscopic animals called coral polyps. These tiny, soft-bodied creatures form minute, hard shells. As a colony grows, it takes on complex branching, tree-like forms, allowing the maximum number of polyps to be fed by the nutrients in the water.

Precious corals are deep-water corals, which means they do not form reefs. Hawaiʻi’s black coral fishery is managed by the state of Hawaiʻi with input from the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. Size and weight limits have been implemented to ensure the continued sustainability of the resources.

Successful management strategies require sustainable yield methods. As such, only large mature trees nearing the end of their natural life cycle are harvested, which allows for the future growth of new corals. Trees harvested for Maui Divers must meet the highest of these standards with a minimum size of one-inch diameter base and four feet in height. This ensures that genetic diversity is maintained and that the next generation of Hawaiian Black Coral is spawned before the old growth thinning occurs.

Mature colonies can take 50 years to grow, so to ensure the future of Hawaiian Black Coral, Maui Divers strictly adheres to both federal and state regulations that the company helped to establish, prohibiting the harvesting of immature colonies. In this way, sustainability and the growth of precious Hawaiian Black Coral are supported.