Michele Tiberio

'CORALINO' is a system that provides an alternative to industrial fishing. In the last 50 years the growth of fish production has led to overfishing and impoverishment of the oceans. In 2010, 29 per cent of the world’s fish stocks were overexploited and 60 per cent were fully exploited. There is also a great danger for more than 1 billion people that rely only on fish as their main source of protein.

But how can we lower the impact of fishing on the ecosystem? We need a radical approach, finding new ways to make a livelihood and have a positive impact.

'CORALINO' is a company that provides a device which enables the growing of corals that are sold to private aquarium owners, giving an income to fishermen and some of which are planted back on the seabed in order to restore the marine area.

Why Coral? Coral is one of the oldest living structures on earth and it hosts more biodiversity than any other ecosystem: restoring coral reefs would bring benefits to the environment, to the fishermen and to the local community.

The business model is designed in order to trade corals as carbon credits, in this way it is possible to fund the creation of marine protected areas using the coral grown by the fishermen.