Marine Ecosystem Electrotherapy: Practice and Theory | 24

ABSTRACT

Electrolysis has long been studied primarily for its physical and chemical effects rather than its biological ones, even though the first book on the effects of static electrical charges on frogs’ legs, Animal Electricity by Luigi Galvani, was published in 1791, preceding the invention of the battery by Alessandro Volta in 1800� Some time later, in 1800, batteries had already been used by William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle to separate water into its constituent elements� Shortly afterward, Humphrey Davy and Michael Faraday applied electrolysis to practical corrosion problems, and a great deal of research on isolating elements from fused salts or acid solutions followed�

Wolf Hilbertz’s pioneering studies, published in 1979, first recognized the potential of seawater electrolysis to produce calcium and magnesium minerals that had a wide range of building applications� Depending on the conditions, either very hard material, primarily limestone (calcium carbonate in the form of aragonite), with up to three times the compressive strength of ordinary concrete, could be produced in any size or shape� Under other conditions, the much softer mineral brucite (magnesium hydroxide) could be produced (Buster et al� 2006), which is readily converted to even

CONTENTS

Introduction �� 263 Effects on Settlement ��264 Effects on Growth ��269 Effects on Healing �� 270 Effects on Cell Growth, Division, Budding, and Branching �� 272 Effects on Coral Color and Fluorescence �� 274 Effects on Resistance to Stress �� 274 Electrotherapy Enhances Biodiversity, Speeds Up Growth, and Provides Complex Sustainable Mariculture without Food �� 278 Cell Membrane Voltage Gradients and Energy Metabolism �� 282 Conclusion ��287 References ��287

harder cement capable of absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere� The physical and chemical properties of these “Biorock” materials produced under various conditions; the various other potentially useful materials generated in side reactions, and their potential applications are reviewed in Chapter 3 and Goreau (2012), to which readers are referred for more information�

Hilbertz’s work from 1976 until 1986 focused on the potential applications of these minerals as building materials (Chapter 1 and 2)� He found that his very first project was completely overgrown by multiple layers of oysters in a few months� Starting in 1987, Hilbertz began his work with the author of this chapter on applications of electrolysis to coral reef restoration, and it was immediately found that coral growth rates were greatly accelerated to record rates on Biorock materials (Goreau and Hilbertz, Chapter 4)�

It was initially thought that the key factor that stimulated coral growth was the higher pH produced on the surface of the growing Biorock structure, which would make it easier for corals to grow their skeletons� If that were the primary mechanism, then organisms like corals and oysters with limestone shells should be the major beneficiaries� Further work revealed that soft corals and organisms lacking limestone skeletons, like sponges and tunicates, also seem to settle and grow at extraordinary rates� This indicated that much broader biological benefits were involved� At first, it was also thought that only organisms directly on the Biorock structures would benefit, but it was soon noticed that there was much higher coral settlement and growth in the areas surrounding the structures, and that corals that were broken off structures and fell onto sandy or rock bottom beneath them survived and proliferated, forming dense coral masses�

This chapter focuses on reviewing the biological effects of the electrical fields, in particular to understand the causes of the remarkable effects that the other chapters in this volume have demonstrated, including greatly increased settlement, growth, survival, and resistance to stress of most marine organisms�

EFFECTS ON SETTLEMENT

The first Biorock experiments, set up in front of the lab dock at the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, Jamaica, in the late 1980s, showed remarkably high settlement of corals and of sand-producing calcareous algae, even though this was an intensely eutrophic habitat where corals and sand-producing algae had been smothered and killed by masses of weedy algae as the result of high nutrient levels from sewage (Goreau and Hilbertz, Chapter 4)� After three years of growth, a piece of the Biorock material about 10 cm across was cut out with a hacksaw and examined under the microscope, and all juvenile corals (single polyp stages about 1-2 mm across) counted� One juvenile coral was found every 0�7 cm2 on average� This is an extraordinary rate of recruitment even on clean reefs, much less on an algae-smothered reef site where no natural coral recruitment had taken place for years�

The site had about ten different Biorock structures of different sizes and shapes growing at different rates� On the fastest-growing structures, the Biorock material overgrew and smothered the juvenile corals before they were big enough to outgrow it, but on the slower-growing structures, juvenile coral recruits were able to rapidly grow and form new colonies, including the branching coral Acropora palmata, the plate coral Agaricia agaricites, and the head corals Porites astreoides and Diploria strigosa (Goreau and Hilbertz, Chapter 4)� The most striking results were found on an old piece of heavily rusted chicken wire, retrieved out of the bushes about a year after Hurricane Gilbert� This received only a very small amount of power for no more than a few weeks before the power was cut off, and less than one millimeter of minerals grew over the steel mesh surface� One year later, the site was revisited, and hundreds of young corals of Favia fragum and Agaricia agaricites, about 2 cm across, were found to have settled and grown all over the mesh� No recruits were seen in nearby reef areas (Figure 19�1a and b)�

Limestone settling plates were placed next to Biorock structures in Pemuteran, Bali, Indonesia, and away from them, during thesis research by Putra Nyoman Dwija at Udayana University (Dwija 2003)� He found extremely high settlement of juvenile corals around Biorock substrates of 508 per square meter after only three months (169�3 per square meter per month)� These rates are orders of magnitude higher than reported total numbers in the literature when their data are converted to common units (arranged here in roughly increasing order by density): 0�01-0�35 per square meter per month in Seychelles (Turner, Klaus, and Engelhardt 2000), 0�21 per square meter per month in Maldives (Loch et al� 2002), 0�21-0�46 per square meter per month on rubble and rocks in Komodo, Indonesia (Fox et al� 2001, 2003), 0�11-2�2 per square meter per month on large dumped rocks in Komodo (Fox and Pet 2001), 2�42 per square meter per month in Maldives (McClanahan 2000), 0-6�8 corals per square meter/month on artificial reef substrate in Hawaii (Fitzhardinge and Bailey-Brock 1989), 17�8 per square meter per month in Barbados (Tomascik 1991), 21�67 per square meter per month in the Great Barrier Reef (Mundy 2000), and 15�36 per square meter per month on artificial substrates versus 30�33 per square meter per month on bare reef limestone substrate at Wakatobi, Sulawesi, Indonesia (Salinas de Leon et al� 2011)� However, settlement rates on coral limestone plates near Biorock structures in Pemuteran are nearly equal to rates

of juvenile coral recruitment found directly on Biorock substrate in Jamaica of 0�7 juveniles per square centimeter, or 7000 per square meter, measured after three years (194�4 per square meter per month) in a severely nutrient-polluted reef where no natural recruitment was taking place (Goreau and Hilbertz, Chapter 4)� Therefore, settling rates on Biorock minerals appear to be in the range of one to three orders of magnitude higher than reported on other substrates (Figure 19�2)�

Not only reef-building stony corals were observed to show extraordinary rates of recruitment on Biorock, the same was also noted for soft corals (spontaneously settling on and entirely covering some structures in Indonesia), oysters (as first seen by Hilbertz in 1976, see Chapter 2), mussels, sponges (Nitzsche, Chapter 8), tunicates (no work has yet been done on them, but the rates of spontaneous recruitment of tunicates, especially of the Didemnidae in Bali, is extraordinary, and far greater than is seen on surrounding reefs), and calcareous tube-dwelling polychaetes such as Filograna huxleyi on Biorock structures in the Turks and Caicos Islands� At first, the high numbers of sponges on some Biorock structures in Indonesia and the Maldives were thought to be due to higher growth rates, but the data of Nitzsche (Chapter 8) clearly shows that it must be due to much higher recruitment rates� No detailed recruitment studies have yet been done on any organisms other than hard corals (Figure 19�3a and b)�

In Ko Samui, Thailand, a series of Biorock structures were grown at various levels of power� The slower the minerals grew, the greater the spontaneous recruitment, primarily Pocillopora damicornis, Pocillopora verrucosa, Porites spp�, and Acropora spp� The slowest-growing structures were nearly completely covered with spontaneously settling corals within two years� It is thought that this higher coverage may be due not to higher settlement on slower-growing structures but to greater survival due to lack of overgrowth by electrochemical mineral growth (Figure 19�4a and b)�

Invertebrate larvae, developing vertebrate embryos, and the larvae of marine algae have long been known to show polarity between a “head” and “tail” section even when they appear completely spherical, and this is marked by a distinct polarity in their electrical charge, with one end being positively charged and the other end negatively charged, so they orient themselves in applied electrical fields (Levin 2003; McCaig et al� 2005)� It therefore appears that they use natural electrical field gradients for orientation, or “electro-tropism,” to move toward potential substrate to settle on�

One can clearly see these effects in three Biorock mesh substrates of differing thickness that were laid out side-by-side in waters in the Straits of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada� The central structure, which got the most power, is completely overgrown with mussels, the slower-growing one on the left had less mussels; and the slowest-growing ones on the right had the least mussels� Although it is clear that these results have tremendous implications for mussel mariculture, unfortunately no counts of mussels, their average weight, or the thickness of mineral growth were directly measured that would have allowed quantitative data to be obtained (Figure 19�5)�

The Biorock electrical fields apparently cause larvae of many species to move toward the negatively charged Biorock reef, greatly accelerating recruitment rates� Biorock reefs therefore quickly become oases of biodiversity that stand out from their surroundings� It is likely that the effects on attracting different species will vary with the electrical field strength, but so far no work has been done on this� Research currently under way by Solomon Viitaasari is mapping out electrical field gradients around Biorock projects, and his work will provide enormous insight into future settling experiments� We have repeatedly noticed much higher coral recruitment in the areas surrounding Biorock projects than in areas farther away, and in addition, extraordinary rates of growth and settlement around the insulated electrical cables leading from power supplies to Biorock projects� Because they are insulated, there should be no electrical field around them, but there will be a magnetic field induced by the current in surrounding areas, and it is possible that may also play an important role� Further work is needed to understand these phenomena better�

In addition, extraordinary recruitment of fishes, especially juveniles, has been noticed on Biorock structures� When the power is turned off for some weeks, the number of juvenile fishes decreases, and rapidly increases again within days of the power being restored� It therefore seems likely that electrotropism is used by juvenile fishes in order to select habitat� It is completely unknown how they do so� The teleost, or bony fishes, clearly greatly prefer Biorock to surrounding reef (Jompa et al� Chapter 5, and Arifin et al�, Chapter 6), but they are not known to have any electrical sense organs (Arvedlund and Kavanagh 2009), so the mechanism by which they identify and select Biorock habitats is a mystery that will require further research to resolve� In contrast, the elasmobranch or cartaliginous fish, like sharks and rays, are long known to have very well-developed electric sense organs that they use to identify and capture prey (Kalmijn 1971, 1982; Wueringer et al� 2012), as do mammals like the duckbill platypus and river dolphins living in turbid waters (Czech-Damal et al� 2011)� Although

stingrays and nurse sharks have taken up residence in Biorock structures, this is infrequent, so it is hard to say that they are systematically selecting them based on the electrical field� Sharks are known to be able to sense electrical-field gradients as small as one volt in a million kilometers, which is much less than those produced by Biorock, and have been known to attack shielded marine cables, but they avoid higher electrical-field gradients (Kalmijn 1982)� It is therefore possible that the Biorock electrical fields overload their sensory capabilities and are confusing and repelling them rather than attracting them� Turtles are known to sense magnetic fields for migration (Fisher and Slater 2010), but while turtles have often been filmed and photographed in the vicinity of Biorock projects, they seem to pass right by without any abnormal behavior�

EFFECTS ON GROWTH

The first Biorock projects in Louisiana showed spectacular growth of oysters, which settled spontaneously on the structures and grew to adult size in months� No measurements were made, although samples we kept showed up to three superimposed layers of large oysters (Chapter 2)� The first experiments in Discovery Bay, Jamaica, transplanted small fragments of finger corals, Porites porites, which tripled in size in three months� Subsequent experiments with staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, showed growth rates of about 8 cm in 10 weeks, or rates around five times higher than had ever been recorded in this species (Goreau and Hilbertz, Chapter 4)� Corals that are attached to Biorock structures show visible signs of growth over the substrate within a day if inspected closely, and quickly overgrow and cement themselves onto Biorock (Figures 19�6 and 19�7)�

The chapters in this volume show record growth rates for many species of hard corals, ( typically 2-8 times faster than genetically identical controls in the same habitat, but in some cases even higher, depending on species and conditions) (Jompa et al�, Chapter 5; Arifin et al�, Chapter 6), such as soft corals (Fitri and Aspari, Chapter 9), and oysters (Berger et al�, Chapter 12; Karissa et al�, Chapter 11; Shorr et al�, Chapter 13)� Extremely rapid growth has been seen for many other species of invertebrates that have not been measured, especially tunicates� This does not only affect growth of animals; marine plants also respond positively, as shown by the data in the chapters on seagrasses (Vaccarella and Goreau, Chapter 14) and salt marsh (Cervino et al�, Chapter 15) responses to electrical fields� On the first Biorock structures in Jamaica, dense growths of branching calcareous algae produced large

amounts of sand around them when they died or were dislodged by storm waves (Goreau and Hilbertz, Chapter 4)� A fine algal layer is frequently noticed on Biorock structures, where it is avidly grazed by herbivorous fish that school around them� It therefore seems that the property of electrical field growth enhancement is a completely general property that affects essentially all forms of marine life�

This effect is not confined only to the structures themselves� The rate of coral settlement and growth for meters around the structures is visibly higher than farther away, as shown by Nitzsche (Chapter 8)� Coral fragments broken off Biorock structures by waves continue to grow after falling onto the bottom� Seagrass growth is also seen to increase around Biorock structures� Therefore, the effects are due to the electrical field and not the reactions taking place on the surface of the Biorock structures themselves� Mapping out the fields will provide more insight into how far the benefits extend�

EFFECTS ON HEALING

Broken and damaged corals rolling around on hard bottom or half buried in sand and mud are observed to show extraordinarily rapid recovery, changing from pale and unhealthy colors to vibrant colors and full polyp expansion within a day when placed loose in the electrical field� Broken corals can often be seen by eye to visibly start overgrowing and attaching to Biorock in less than a day (Figure 19�8a and b)�

Freshly broken branching coral tips that are transplanted onto Biorock have been observed to heal over very rapidly and release no mucus, which is the typical general sign of coral stress� In contrast, identical controls transplanted to non-Biorock substrates at the same time continued to release mucus for two weeks afterward (Dwija 2003)�

There is a vast literature, going back to the 1800s, on the role of direct-current electrical fields greatly speeding up wound healing and regeneration of limbs in frogs and salamanders (Becker and Selden 1985)� Direct-current fields have long been used to speed up bone healing and repair following fractures (Bassett 1993; Oschman 2000, 2003) and are widely used in sports medicine�

When a skin cut has a DC field of the right orientation applied across it, the wound rapidly closes� If the field is reversed, it opens up again, and if reversed yet again it closes up (Alvarez et al� 1983; Song et al� 2002; McCaig et al� 2005; Zhao et al� 2006)� This strongly indicates that electrical fields play a fundamental role in stimulating membrane repair, cell proliferation, and tissue healing, and would explain the results that we see in the field�

EFFECTS ON CELL GROWTH, DIVISION, BUDDING, AND BRANCHING

Falugi, Grattarola, and Prestipino (1987) exposed sea urchin larvae to low-intensity direct electrical current fields, comparable in intensity and gradients to those used in Biorock and to those used in medical applications for healing fractured bones� They found that this greatly accelerated division of the early egg; for example, eggs in electrical fields had 18�08 times faster division to the third cell cleavage stage� They found that embryos exposed to electrical fields matured much faster, showing advanced cell structures and incipient skeleton formation at an earlier stage, without any cellular or developmental abnormalities�

Biorock corals show exceptionally dense and perfect branching (for photographs, please see the presentation in the CD in the back of this book on the Karang Lestari project prepared for receipt of the 2012 Equator Award from the United Nations Development Programme, the top award for Community-Based Development), and they bud and branch more densely than genetically identical clones in the same habitat but away from Biorock� This difference is analogous to the difference

in growth of genetically identical seeds grown in rich soil versus poor soil: the former show much more branches, leaves, growth rates, and fruit bearing� Zamani et al� (Chapter 7) show clear evidence that even small electrical fields result in elevated coral budding and branching, and Stromberg et al� (Chapter 10) show increased budding of deep-sea cold-water corals on Biorock compared to controls� These results suggest that cell division and tissue growth are accelerated even more than skeletal growth, and imply that the primary mechanism for increased growth rates is increased cell and tissue growth rather than increased calcification caused by higher pH� That is consistent with the higher growth rates noticed for non-calcareous organism like tunicates (Figure 19�9a and b)�

Direct evidence for increased cell division also comes from measurements of coral symbiotic algae (Symbiodinium spp�) on Biorock compared to genetically and environmentally identical colonies of six different major reef-building coral genera off Biorock� Biorock corals had an average of 24�7% higher Symbiodinium densities than controls, and they had an average of 74�3% higher division rates (mitotic index) (Goreau, Cervino, and Pollina 2004)� The much greater increase in symbiotic alga cell division than in densities implies that they were growing faster than is beneficial for the cora and that the surplus was being expelled� This predicted higher rate of algal expulsion can be directly tested� Curiously, the control corals had 44�7% higher chlorophyll per Symbiodinium cell than the Biorock corals� This is analogous to the lower chlorophyll content per algal cell in corals in high sunlight compared to those in shade (Wethey and Porter 1976; Porter et al� 1984; Hennige et al� 2009), which has been interpreted as evidence of a control mechanism to reduce excessive productivity of the symbiont, again suggestive that symbionts in electrical fields are more productive than the coral’s needs�

It is not yet known if higher cell division rates also translates into greater reproduction, at least in corals, but we have noticed in Indonesia that pearl oysters achieve reproductive maturity and gonad formation at a much younger age on Biorock than controls do�

EFFECTS ON CORAL COLOR AND FLUORESCENCE

In general the brightness of coral tissue fluorescence appears to be an excellent measure of coral health, and in particular of the abundance of zooplankton food supplies� Corals show enormous variability in tissue fluorescence from place to place and seasonally� In many reefs, the corals are never brightly colored; in others, they are positively glowing with fluorescence� You can see this; for example, comparing the same species in lagoonal reefs versus outer slope reefs on atolls in the Marshall Islands, in reefs along atoll inflow-outflow passages compared to those further away, and in the Bahamas between reefs in eastern Abaco exposed to open Atlantic waters versus those on shallow banks� Indonesian corals have astonishing fluorescence, probably due to high currents�

Biorock electrical stimulation also greatly increases fluorescence� Corals growing on Biorock are visibly much more fluorescent than genetically identical mother colonies growing in the same habitat from which they have been transplanted� If the power is turned off for a few weeks, they become much paler, like the surrounding corals, and when the power is restored one can see the increase in fluorescence brightness within hours� It is astonishing how fast they respond� Much more work is needed on changes in coral fluorescent pigments in response to electrical fields (Figures 19�10 and 19�11)�

A similar astonishing increase in brightness and fluorescence in electrical fields is seen with giant clams, which also harbor symbiotic Symbiodinium dinoflagellate algae� A Biorock project in the Marshall Islands was off power for a year or more because the cable linking it to solar panels was cut by a storm� While the power was off, a number of giant clams, including Tridacna maxima, Tridacna squamosa, and Hippopus hippopus were moved under the structure� They were pale and not very noticeable when the power cable was repaired� Three weeks after the power was restored, they were deeply colored and glowing with fluorescence (Figure 19�12a through f)�

EFFECTS ON RESISTANCE TO STRESS

Corals growing on Biorock in the Maldives showed 16-50 times higher survival (NB, that is times, not percent!) after severe high-temperature bleaching events in 1998 (Goreau, Hilbertz, and Hakeem 2000; Goreau and Hilbertz 2005)� During severe bleaching events in the Gulf of Thailand in 2010 Biorock corals had markedly lower bleaching, faster recovery, and higher survival than

corals on surrounding reefs (Goreau and Sarkisian 2010)� The same has been repeatedly noticed during mild bleaching events in Bali and Lombok, Indonesia (Figure 19�13a and b)�

In Ko Tao, Thailand, corals on one Biorock project under low power had markedly less bleaching and higher survival than surrounding reefs (C� Scott, personal communication)� In contrast, another Biorock reef, which had achieved spectacular coral growth, especially of table corals, unfortunately had the power supply damaged by electrical power surges, and it was not replaced� In the 2010 bleaching event, all the corals died on the Biorock structure without power (C� Scott, personal communication)� This indicates that the higher survival is the result of ongoing electrical fields at the time of stress, and that there is no residual benefit, so, if the power is cut off, the coral soon becomes equally vulnerable to stress as do surrounding corals�

On Biorock projects in extremely muddy locations in Panama, Dominican Republic, and Thailand, we have been able to grow coral species that could not tolerate such conditions�

Further examples of greatly enhanced stress resistance are shown in the much higher overwinter survival of Biorock oysters than controls (Shorr et al�, Chapter 13), in the ability of seagrasses to colonize rocky wave-swept bottoms they normally could not attach to (Vaccarella and Goreau, Chapter 14),

and in the much higher overwinter survival of Biorock saltmarsh grass than controls and their ability to grow deeper in the intertidal than they normally could (Cervino et al�, Chapter 15), allowing salt marshes to be extended seaward of their normal limit�

ELECTROTHERAPY ENHANCES BIODIVERSITY, SPEEDS UP GROWTH, AND PROVIDES COMPLEX SUSTAINABLE MARICULTURE WITHOUT FOOD

The massive destruction, damage, and degradation of coral reefs worldwide has severely impacted tropical coastal fisheries on a scale that conservation of good areas is incapable of addressing without large-scale active restoration of degraded coral-reef habitats� There have been

many efforts to transplant corals using cements and glues, and these work well as long as the water quality is good, but the corals almost all die whenever it becomes too hot or polluted, because conventional methods do not increase coral settlement, growth rates, survival, or resistance to environmental stress like the Biorock process does� Here, we will not review conventional methods, or their failure to keep up with the pace of destruction and degradation, because those points are comprehensively reviewed by Rinkevich (2005, 2008) and Shaish et al� (2010), to whom readers are referred�

Normally on Biorock projects, we transplant only naturally broken, badly injured, and seriously damaged corals in order to nurse them back to health� But we quickly notice that all reef organisms quickly settle on them or migrate to them� The result is extraordinarily diverse ecosystems, the closest to real natural coral reefs that have ever been produced through human effort� Our goal is to maintain complete reef ecosystems and maintain them as Coral Arks to preserve biodiversity through the mass extinction crisis that global warming is now causing to the world’s coral reefs (Hayes and Goreau 1991; Goreau et al� 2000)� We are currently growing about 80% of all the genera of reef-building corals in the world, and around half of all the species� Our goal is to grow them all, along with all the other organisms that are part of healthy reef ecosystems�

Naturally, all organisms do not respond equally to the improved condition that Biorock technology provides them� Some organisms are observed to grow much faster than others and to become weeds, overgrowing each other� The effect is much like spreading a bag of fertilizer all over an empty lot and walking away� All species of plants benefit, but some weeds are much more efficient at taking advantage of high nutrient levels and overgrow and kill those that grow more slowly� Some will release toxins (allellochemicals) to attack, impair, and even kill their neighbors� Pests may sense the increased growth and flock to eat the plants� If we want roses and not pests, we will have to pull up the weeds, or, as Votaire’s Candide says, “we must tend our gardens�” Although many Biorock projects thrive for years with no management at all, we find that we can get much superior results by encouraging the beneficial species and removing the pests, so Biorock farming is much more like horticulture than like forestry�

Biorock mariculture therefore allows the creation of extraordinarily biodiverse ecosystems even in formerly barren habitat, allowing ecosystems to be kept alive under conditions that would otherwise kill them, and growing back complex habitats in a few years in places where coals had died and failed to recover (Goreau and Hilbertz 2007)� Most of our projects have been built on barren sands or rocks and quickly created vibrant ecosystems full of corals, oysters, and fishes, which repopulate fisheries stocks in surrounding areas and are award-winning ecotourism attractions (Goreau and Hilbertz 2008)�

This is a paradigm diametrically opposed to conventional mariculture, which generally grows a single species, usually a single clone, at high density� The lack of genetic diversity pollutes the genetic capacity for adaptation of surrounding wild populations when the mariculture stock escapes, as some inevitably do� The dense populations incubate disease epidemics, and when one dies of disease, they all die, because of crowding and lack of genetic diversity and resistance� They promote dense populations of parasites, which then infest surrounding wild populations� They are fundamentally feedlot operations, dependent on high-energy inputs and dense supplies of artificial foods, often provided from the destruction of remote ecosystems� The dense populations and food requirements cause intense pollution from excrement and rotting food, causing severe eutrophication of surrounding ecosystems� Such unsustainable mariculture produces expensive foods for export that local people cannot afford to eat, usually for the profit of local elites or rich foreign investors, while local subsistence fishermen see their fisheries stocks, and their food and income, destroyed by parasites, disease, pollution, and exclusion from their ancestral fishing grounds�

In contrast, Biorock mariculture is sustainable, extremely biodiverse, promotes species and genetic diversity, enriches all marine populations, grows its own food through complex food chains

with no external food imported, and can be powered purely by nonpolluting energy provided by the sun, winds, waves, and ocean currents (Goreau 2010)� Fishermen in areas surrounding Biorock projects are at first wary of them because they are afraid that areas will be withdrawn from fisheries, but they quickly become very strong supporters when they see for themselves the dramatic increase in fish populations on the projects spilling over into the surrounding fisheries, providing them with increased fish stocks and fish diversity� Fishing communities, once they see the results, soon come to us and ask us for many more projects�

Unfortunately, at present, there is no serious funding from any government, international agency, or big international NGO (BINGO) for serious habitat restoration� The overwhelming paradigm is marine-protected areas (MPAs), excluding fishermen from designated regions, with the claim that coral reef and fisheries will bounce back in a “resilient” way all by themselves� Yet, MPAs are full of dead and dying coral being killed by global warming that no MPA can possibly protect them from (Hayes and Goreau 1991)� And if there is no habitat for fish populations, the fisheries will not recover no matter how many fishermen and their families starve� Without restoration of degraded habitats, fisheries cannot possibly recover (Goreau 2010)�

At present, no government seriously invests in training and loans for subsistence coastal fishermen� They know that they are destroying their children’s future by overharvesting, but their families need to eat today� They would gladly learn to be more productive and less destructive, but need training in new techniques and capital to invest in the materials needed� Sadly, governments and international agencies regard poor coastal fishermen as expendable, and ignore their needs while they use taxpayers’ money for billions of dollars in perverse subsidies to open ocean fishing fleets that are stripping the oceans bare with fine drift nets, long lines, bottom trawlers, and sophisticated sonar methods and real-time satellite mapping that are finding, and killing, the last survivors� These perverse subsidies should be removed from destructive offshore fisheries and instead invested in helping coastal fishermen restore their fisheries habitat for sustainable management (Goreau 2010)�

Biorock reefs show dramatic increases in fish populations that are immediately apparent to any observer� The data in Jompa et al�, Chapter 5 and Arifin et al�, Chapter 6 are the first data on this increase� Astonishingly, Biorock methods are capable of producing much greater fisheries stocks and production than even the richest natural reefs, and doing so in areas that are completely barren� As Biorock can be built in any size or shape, it is possible to produce many layers of habitat at one place� A natural reef usually has one layer of holes, and the populations of fishes, shellfish, lobsters, crabs, octopus, etc� are limited by the number of shelter holes of the right size and shape that they can find and defend� With Biorock, there is no limit to the number of layers and holes and shapes that can be produced� Every species has a different preference, so we get very different results with different shapes� We are learning what different species prefer when they show us what they want by moving in at high density� We have unintentionally produced extraordinary densities of spiny lobsters by accidentally building structures in the shapes that they prefer�

In addition, we can create habitat specifically for juvenile fishes and restock them with postlarval juvenile fish captured from the open ocean immediately after they metamorphose from larvae, which turns something like about 95% mortality to predators into something like 95% survival (about 19 times greater!) by combining Biorock juvenile fish habitat with Ecoean methods of postlarval capture and culture (Lecaillon, Chapter 16)� Doing so will be the fastest possible way of restoring coastal fisheries, as it eliminates the three major barriers to fisheries restoration simultaneously: namely lack of recruitment, lack of habitat and hiding places, and lack of food� Furthermore, such structures are readily powered by untapped clean local energy sources, such as solar, wind, waves, and currents�

Besides creating complex fisheries habitat, Biorock can also be used for low-cost stabilization of barren rubble substrates, for example after hurricanes, ship groundings, or bomb fishing� Figure 19�14

shows such a reef grown on barren rubble and sand in a few years by use of f encing material� Some corals were transplanted onto it, but most spontaneously settled� An even cheaper method is to wire reefs with thin steel binding wire, and we have done so very quickly at low cost with very impressive results in Indonesia (Figure 19�15)� The main disadvantage of such methods is that while it is cheaper, less fish habitat is produced per unit area, and corals are vulnerable to bottom-crawling predators like Crown of Thorns starfish (Acanthaster-planci), which climbs on corals, extrudes its stomach over the coral, and digests it completely (Goreau 1962; Goreau et al� 1972), coral-eating snails Drupella spp�, (Turner 1994) and Coralliophila spp�, and the coral-eating polychaete worm Hermodice carunculata (Ott and Lewis 1972), which should be removed as needed�

These methods are not limited to coastal fisheries but are easily extended to the open ocean by growing floating Biorock reefs to grow reef fish out in blue open water and greatly increase populations of pelagic fish, such as tunas and mahi-mahi, that are attracted to such habitat�

CELL MEMBRANE VOLTAGE GRADIENTS AND ENERGY METABOLISM

The original results with corals were thought to be primarily due to high pH generated on the cathode by the electrolysis of water (Hilbertz 1979; Goreau 2012)� Reef-building corals and calcareous algae create high pH conditions within their tissues by the removal of CO2 in photosynthesis and need to use metabolic energy to pump calcium ions to the site of calcification (Goreau and Bowen 1955; Goreau and Goreau 1959; Goreau 1961, 1963; Hayes and Goreau 1977) so it was assumed that by providing them with higher pH through the Biorock process, metabolic energy would be freed up for growth, and the dependence of skeleton formation on photosynthesis would be decoupled to some degree� If this were the primary mechanism, then only organisms with calcareous shells would benefit, but it was quickly noticed that non-calcareous organisms, such as tunicates, also showed extraordinary growth rates, so the mechanism must be more general�

The extraordinary biological benefits documented above for Biorock systems imply that very fundamental biophysical and biochemical mechanisms are being induced, leading to vastly

improved metabolic and physiological health� The role of electrical and magnetic fields in biology has been riddled with charlatans, impostors, and self-deluded people, giving the entire field a bad name, and our work is constantly ridiculed as “electrocution,” “electrical shock therapy,” and “Frankenstein” technology� This is done by people confusing our extremely mild, low-voltage, lowamperage, direct-current “electro-tickle” trickle charging with those who have in the past promoted high voltages, high current densities, and alternating current, whose negative effects are all too well known, symbolized by the people who dry their hair standing in the bathtub, and die when the hair drier falls in the water and electrocutes them! But we get a charge out of our electrifying results because the conditions are so very different� We can hold onto the anode and the cathode simultaneously with our bare hands, shorting out the system, and feel nothing at all, because the current is passing through the much more conductive seawater rather than through our bodies�

We observe no organisms to be repelled by the electrical fields, and all of them seem to be attracted, as if they can sense the exceptional life-enhancing health benefits of Biorock and actively seek it out� Nor is there any surprise why this should be so� Low-voltage electrical fields provide the very foundational mechanism that all forms of life use to make biochemical energy to power their growth, reproduction, healing, and resistance to environmental stress, and we are greatly enhancing their ability to do so with life-enhancing Biorock technology�

All cells maintain an electrical voltage gradient of about one-tenth of a volt across the cell membrane that separates the inside of their cell and the outside world� The interior of the cell is more negative than the outside medium, so the gradient organisms are exposed to on Biorock structures are of the correct sign to enhance natural gradients� This voltage gradient causes negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons to flow across the gradient in opposite directions� All forms of life use a common set of enzymes that evolved billions of years ago when life first evolved, which are able to tap this biophysical voltage gradient to make biochemical energy metabolites that are the “energy currency” for all forms of life� The higher the concentrations of these metabolites, the healthier they are� However, organisms must spend a large part of that energy maintaining that voltage gradient across their membrane, which they do by using energy-consuming enzymes to pump protons and charged ions across the membrane in order to maintain those gradients�

The Biorock process provides organisms with this voltage gradient for free, at much less metabolic cost to the organism, leaving much more energy for growth� Of course, this gradient must be in the right range to be most beneficial� Consequently, the Biorock method provides the most profound and natural way of enhancing metabolic energy and health, and is so basic that it is not likely to be improved� Of course, every organism may respond a little differently because of variations in the efficiency with which they take advantage of these benefits, so the optimal conditions are likely to vary somewhat for different organisms� Needless to say, different organisms should have the same fundamental effects, but vary somewhat in their optimum ranges�

Organisms grown in electrical gradients have been shown to produce more ATP and NADP, the fundamental biochemical energy currency of all life, as well as higher protein synthesis (Cheng et al� 1982)� Cheng’s data, measured on rat skin, are plotted in the graphs (Figures 19�16 and 19�17)� Strong biochemical benefits are found in a clear, broad, optimum range of electrical currents�

There are three further very important points, namely that (1) the results are due to the electrical field itself, not electrolysis per se, (2) that the results are instantaneous with no residual effect, and (3) that magnetic fields may also play a role�

Point (1) is most clearly shown by the work of Nitzsche (Chapter 8), who found that corals on Biorock structures-underneath them but not on the structures-and three meters away all grew at similar rates, and that these rates were higher than corals growing 10, 30, and 100 meters away� Nitzsche, in fact, found that corals near, but not on Biorock structures grew slightly faster than those on the structures themselves� That could be explained if there is a small inhibitory effect on growth from hydrogen bubbling, which can act to strip oxygen out of the water to some degree� The work currently under way by Viitaasari is mapping out these field effects in much more detail�

Point 2 is clearly demonstrated by growth-weight measurements of the hydrozoan coral Millepora alcicornis, grown in an extremely hot, polluted, and stagnant area (Beddoe 2007; Beddoe, Agard, and Phillip 2008, Beddoe et al� 2010)� So severe were the conditions that the control corals steadily lost weight, something we had never seen before� In contrast, Biorock corals grew very rapidly, increasing in weight more than four times under the same conditions over 16 weeks, until the cable was cut� At that point, they immediately began losing weight parallel to the controls for 16 weeks; but when the power cable was repaired they immediately began growing rapidly again for 16 weeks� Unfortunately, the data analysis by Beddoe, Agard, and Phillip (2008) fitted a single curve to the entire data set, and failed to distinguish the importance of the separate period with the power off� We have fitted each segment separately (Figure 19�18)� No residual effect

is seen in the data (average weights of 40 corals in each treatment)� So, it is clear that the benefits are instantaneous and do not continue after the current is turned off� We have also seen this at projects that were cut off power before severe bleaching� Those projects off power lost all of their corals to bleaching like surrounding reef areas, but those under power had survival many times greater than surrounding reefs�

Point 3 is illustrated by the fact that just as greatly elevated settlement and growth is noticed in the surroundings of Biorock structures, a similar effect is also noticed around the insulated electrical cables delivering DC current to the structures� These cables, being insulated, have no electrical field around them, but a magnetic field is set up in the surrounding medium whenever an electrical current flows through the cable, according to Maxwell’s equations� These results are profound, but no detailed studies have yet been done, although they will clearly be very rewarding� Figure 19�19a and b show the same area where cables were laid down on nearly barren bottom, and tremendous spontaneous settlement and growth that have taken place around them in ten years�

Certainly, the use of the wrong conditions also will not work as well, and training and the right materials, designs, and operating conditions are critical to success� We have taught hundreds of people around the world how to do this in Biorock training courses and projects� Hands-on experience of the craft and maintenance are essential for the best results� Many people incorrectly think that they can achieve the same results by copying our work without training� Improper materials, design, and incorrect operating conditions have been invariably used by untrained imitators of

Biorock methods, and have inevitably led to inferior results� These people, who were not trained in Biorock methods, used conditions that were far suboptimal, and they blame their failures on the technology, not on their lack of mastery of it� Thanks to the academic “publish or perish” mentality, they publish their poor or failed results anyway (Schumacher and Schillak 1994; Van Treeck and Schumacher 1997, 1998, 1999; Schumacher et al� 2000; Schumacher 2002; Sabater and Yap 2002, 2004; Eggeling 2006; Borell 2008, Borell, Romatzki, and Ferse 2009)� Almost all of them grossly overcharged in order to get fast results� In one case, in which the authors actually claimed that electrical fields reduced the coral growth rates (Borell 2008; Borell, Romatzki, and Ferse 2009) in total contradiction to all other results, the authors deliberately concealed what they knew, namely that the apparent lower growth rate of one species of coral was due to the fact that every single growing tip had been systematically bitten off as a breeding territory marker by a territorial terminal male parrotfish! We set up the experiment for them and personally saw the freshly broken fragments lying all over the bottom around it� One imitator, https://coralreefcreator�com/, is notorious for breaking off corals off living reefs and killing them through use of incorrect conditions�

CONCLUSION

Much more work is needed on the fundamental biophysics and biochemistry to determine the optimal electrical and magnetic field conditions for each species� When that is done, there is little doubt that a fundamental revolution in restoring health of organisms and entire ecosystems will result, with profound results for all areas of marine coastal management, and also for agriculture and medicine�

REFERENCES