Evaluating Efficient Coral Attachment Methods

Staying true to sound science at the basis of our work, we constantly evaluate our technologies and techniques to make our restoration efforts more efficient and cost-effective. For coral restoration to be sustainable and attainable at a larger scale than thought possible, we need to weigh investment in terms of labor and materials against enhancing coral survival. How much effort, time and resources are needed for coral conservation, more specifically, coral survivorship?

This is exactly what our scientist did in collaboration with invaluable partners in the field.

The 2025 study “Influence of attachment techniques on coral seeding unit deployment cost and performance” focuses on the costs and performance of multiple designs of Coral Seeding Units using a variety of attachment methods. 

Over one year, SECORE’s Mexico-based research team , in cooperation with the Coralium lab under the lead of Anastazia T. Banaszak, (Autonomous University of Mexico), compared several known attachment methods to different Seeding Units types to understand just how effective, time-efficient, and cost-friendly they really are when applied in the field.

The study involved 11 attachment methods consisting of a combination of 5 attachment tools and 4 Seeding Unit types. The attachment methods which they took a closer look at to secure the Seeding Unit to the reef included masonry nails and underwater epoxy, adhesive, cement,  the Coralclip, originally designed for use with coral fragments, as well as the Drill & Bolt method.

The studied Seeding Units included the SECORE Star, Coral Assist Plugs (CAP), Stacked Units and Tetrapods.

Our Restoration Coordinator, Sandra Mendoza Quiroz, and her team analyzed the performance of a combination of these methods by tracking deployment time, overall costs, and coral survival rates.

The study of these 11 attachment methods showed some clear “winners”, which can help practitioners better understand the investments required for Seeding Unit deployment and attachment. Thanks to such studies they can make informed choices and better tailor the investment of their resources to achieve the best possible impact in their Coral Seeding efforts.

Read the whole paper: Influence of attachment techniques on coral seeding unit deployment cost and performance

A concise breakdown of the key results of coral attachment methods:

• Both the adhesive and the nail + epoxy attachment methods proved relatively time-consuming while showing poorer retention and are therefore, not recommended. 
• The cement attachment method showed moderately improved retention and quicker instillation, however, it is associated with reduced survival when outplanting young corals. The cement may pose risks to certain coral species if it isn’t fully cured. This makes it not recommended for coral seeding, particularly for the Acropora palmata, the Elkhorn Coral.
• Overall, drill & bolt attachment was the most effective method. Although this attachment method required the most installation time at 10x that of the unattached control, it did prove to have the highest retention and coral survival overall.
• Coralclip, with design improvements, may also be a strong option especially when paired with the SECORE star.