In Depth: Ambiguous Reef Protection Laws Leave China’s Coral Sand Traders High and Dry

Unclear definition of what exactly is illegal to harvest has resulted in a legal conundrum for small coral sand businesses, with some facing jail

Unclear definition of what exactly is illegal to harvest has resulted in a legal conundrum for small coral sand businesses, with some facing jail. Photo: AI generated

In December 2021, with the Covid-19 pandemic raging around the world, police arrived at a quarantine site in Binzhou, Shandong province, where Wu Xing was interned and abruptly took him away. They brought the small businessman, who has dealt in coral sand for almost a decade, to his company’s warehouse, where Wu was astonished to find the premises surrounded by a dozen police cars.

Authorities had sealed the warehouse, with all the company’s computers and inventory still inside. The police were intently focused on a recently arrived container carrying 27.3 tons of coral sand, which consists of crushed fragments of dead coral or limestone skeletal remains of other marine organisms like molluscs and crustaceans. This calcium carbonate material, sold in blocks measuring about 3 to 5 centimeters in length, is used as a filter medium for purifying aquarium water.