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IN
8 | THE CORAL CHALLENGE
SIGHT

“Our company is proud to partner
with the prestigious Monaco Scientific
Centre, and to work closely with Monaco
on the issue of sustainable development”,
Frédéric Grangié, President of Watches
and Jewellery at CHANEL

Professor Denis Allemand and Dr Françoise Gaill,
as well as Frédéric Grangié, President of Watches
and Jewellery at Chanel.
© Michaël Alesi

RED CORAL
Research continues

on precious coral biology

CHANEL and the Monaco Scientific Centre are continuing to work together

for a better understanding of red coral in the Mediterranean.

Eighteen months after CHANEL and the Monaco RESEARCH FOCUSED ON
Scientific Centre signed an agreement on the creation PROTECTION
of a research unit on precious coral biology, members
of the second steering committee met during Mona- Overexploited for many years, red coral is a natural
co Ocean Week on 23 March 2021, led by H.R.H. the Mediterranean treasure which must be protected.
Princess of Hanover. The Mediterranean red coral fishery is a regulated in-
dustry, carried out by certified coral fishermen (350
At the end of the day, a press conference presented in total) wearing a diving suit at 80 to 150 metres. A
the purpose of this partnership agreement, to deve- minimum size is required, and some countries have
lop basic research programmes on Mediterranean set quotas. However, in order to address the scarcity
red coral. Launched in 2019 for a 6-year period, this of this resource, we urgently need to develop new
scientific programme seeks to better understand the management methods and alternatives, like coral far-
growth and colour mechanisms of this endemic co- ming, allowing the jewellery sector to use red coral
ral, and to study innovative solutions likely to promote without exhausting natural stocks. The partnership
its conservation. Passionate about protecting our between the Monaco Scientific Centre and CHANEL
oceans, CHANEL thus consolidates its commitment is aligned with this approach, given that there is a
alongside top scientific experts on corals. lack of information on the biology of precious coral
in general, and red coral in particular. The research
unit on precious coral biology aims to address these
shortcomings, notably through careful studying of
the biological process of biomineralisation, for which
the researchers at the Monaco Scientific Centre are
amongst the world’s leading specialists.