CIBJO’s Coral Commission, having completed its work on the Blue Book, will become a forum for broader discussions about the challenges and opportunities facing the precious coral industry, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri said.

These issues include the potential use of robots in place of scuba divers, he added.

“A high level of standards in coral has been achieved through the work of the CIBJO Coral Commission,” Dr. Cavalieri told the CIBJO Congress on its final day, Sept. 7.

“So now we wish to widen the dialogue.”

CIBJO Coral Commission President Enzo Liverino said: “The jewellery industry needs to become more comfortable with using precious coral.”

One major issue facing the industry, Mr Liverino said, is the introduction of robots to replace scuba divers.

Robots can operate at considerably greater depths than scuba divers and can work in adverse weather conditions. They can also be more productive than human divers, working for longer periods and with greater efficiency in the ocean, he said.

The coral jewellery industry needs to address challenges including competition from other sectors of the jewellery industry, ocean pollution and efforts to protect sustainability.

Vincenzo Aucella, head of the Italian coral industry group Assocoral, spoke about the close ties between family-owned coral jewellery suppliers based in Torre del Greco, near Naples, a hub of the coral industry.