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| New push for protection of corals | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 2 2010, 08:05:41 AM (354 Views) | |
| Post #1 Mar 2 2010, 08:05:41 AM | Suzy |
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I have been following a thread on Reefs.org Industry page for a few weeks. These guys are basically the wholesalers that people buy boxes of corals from and then sell them from their basement. If you think RDO lets their off topic forum run amok, the Industry behind the Hobby forum can get really heated and dramatic. I have learned a lot about behind the scenes stuff reading this forum off and on throughout the years, and that is one of the reasons I wanted to start something along the lines of this website. So, I am not sure how to look a this new development. The industry is regulated by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CITES). This just basically means if someone imports one of these species from another country, and gets caught, they can get a fine. Many of these species are still imported but I think it does cut down on a lot of illegal importation. But, I think this really just covers imported corals for the hobby and the spp are really limited. This group is going another way. They want some spp placed on the Endangered Species Act list. By placing them on the ESA list, their environment is protected, if I understand correctly. We have all heard about the spotted owl and the California Condor issues, the little fish at the bottom of the food chain in a river in Ca, ect. This would give some spp more protection in our local water. Here is the court doc trying to stop the act, by those very involved in the industry: http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#documentDetail?R=0900006480a90b1f Here is a cut and paste of the spp: Acanthastrea brevis, Acanthastrea hemprichii, Acanthastrea ishigakiensis, Acanthastrea regularis, Acropora aculeus, Acropora acuminate, Acropora aspera, Acropora dendrum, Acropora donei, Acropora globiceps, Acropora horrida, Acropora jacquelineae, Acropora listeri, Acropora lokani, Acropora microclados, Acropora palmerae, Acropora paniculata, Acropora pharaonis, Acropora polystoma, Acropora retusa, Acropora rudis, Acropora speciosa, Acropora striata, Acropora tenella, Acropora vaughani, Acropora verweyi, Agaricia lamarcki, Alveopora allingi, Alveopora fenestrate, Alveopora verrilliana, Anacropora puertogalerae, Anacropora spinosa, Astreopora cucullata, Barabattoia laddi, Caulastrea echinulata, Cyphastrea agassizi, Cyphastrea ocellina, Dendrogyra cylindrus, Dichocoenia stokesii, Euphyllia cristata, Euphyllia paraancora, Euphyllia paradivisa, Galaxea astreata, Heliopora coerulea, Isopora crateriformis, Isopora cuneata, Leptoseris incrustans, Leptoseris yabei, Millepora foveolata, Millepora tuberosa, Montastraea annularis, Montastraea faveolata, Montastraea franksi, Montipora angulata, Montipora australiensis, Montipora calcarea, Montipora caliculata, Montipora dilatata, Montipora flabellata, Montipora lobulata, Montipora patula, Mycetophyllia ferox, Oculina varicosa, Pachyseris rugosa, Pavona bipartite, Pavona cactus, Pavona decussate, Pavona diffluens, Pavona venosa, Pectinia alcicornis, Physogyra lichtensteini, Pocillopora danae, Pocillopora elegans, Porites horizontalata, Porites napopora, Porites nigrescens, Porites pukoensis, Psammocora stellata, Seriatopora aculeata, Turbinaria mesenterina, Turbinaria peltata, Turbinaria reniformis, and Turbinaria stellula. Eight of the petitioned species are in the Caribbean and belong to the following families: Agaricidae (1); Faviidae (3); Meandrinidae (2); Mussidae (1); Oculinidae (1). Seventy-five of the petitioned species are in the Indo-Pacific region, represented by five families (nine species) in Hawaii: Acroporidae (4); Agaricidae (1); Poritidae (1); Faviidae (2); Siderastreidae (1); and 11 families and one order in the rest of the Indo-Pacific region: Acroporidae (31); Agaricidae (7); Poritidae (6); Faviidae (2); Dendrophylliidae (4); Euphyllidae (4); Oculinidae (1); Pectiniidae (1); Mussidae (4); Pocilloporidae (3); Milleporidae (2); Order Helioporacea (1). All 83 species can be found in the United States, its territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Navassa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Pacific Remote Island Areas), or its freely associated states (Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic of Palau), though many occur more frequently in other countries. Check out the names of these spp! (BTW, if you want to sound like you know what you are talking about, pronounce Acropora A-crop-ora). I do think this will greatly affect our hobby in a good way, IMO. If these spp are not traded as we do now, it will increase the value of spawning and in turn, it will increase research and desire. Money talks, right? Any thoughts? |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
 
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| Post #2 Mar 3 2010, 06:11:20 PM | Clint |
| The problem with the ESA is the sludgehammer way in which it is abused. If any group does not like what is happening in a location they find some connection to an endangered species and it is off the the races and entire regions can be shut down to anything. There may be limited instances were this is the best solution. The law has a place but I don't like it being used as a back door coverall for every activist group that has a problem with resource utilization. As for this particular utilization, I am skeptical, really everything is connected should an entire ecosystem be off limits because one species or group of species. Without knowing the details I am sure there are terrible practices that need to be ended and management changes that could be made that would really help sensitive species, but I think we have to be very careful, this could have many unintended consequences. The truth of the matter is human caused extinction is a problem and will continue to be. There is no one size fits all solution. |
breeding stock
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| Midvale (435) 213-6215 | |
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| Post #3 Mar 4 2010, 09:22:05 AM | Amie |
| It would be nice if there were limits placed on the amount of harvesting, not just a free-for-all. I've heard that people like Walt Smith have been banned from Singapore because he's destroyed entire reefs over there, and that's just not right. There should be limits and fines for stuff like that. It would be nice if there was some incentive to propagate coral instead of the smash and grab technique. I worry that the Tyree special method will just get worse and the cost of those corals will skyrocket. People will start paying $2,000 for a 1/4" frag called "bubblegum drop extreme". |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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| Post #4 Mar 4 2010, 09:23:26 AM | Suzy |
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And, this many species will cover a lot of area. Hawaii has a few more protected areas than Florida does, ocean wise anyway, and i think this effort is a product of that. I believe the group behind this (way behind) is a group of people in Florida. If they could get more protected ocean there, maybe they would drop the push for this ESA? Or maybe it is a way to keep Exxon out of their backyard? But, one of my favorite species is native to this area, very much over fished and threatened. I have mixed feelings, but I don't live there and would not be affected personally. If I were Diver Tom or someone who makes a living off of the ocean, I am sure I would feel different. Or maybe not... |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #5 Mar 4 2010, 10:53:40 PM | Clint |
| Amie I think you are right abuses must be stopped. It will be interesting to see how this Tyree modal works its self out. It is incredible how much people pay for some nice photography of nice corals. I think at first it sets up a very severe run on the market to get colonies out of the ocean because a fancy coral can be colored up and cut into a bunch of pieces and there is a lot of money to be made. But it the long term it might be good because these pieces are so expensive they are fragged extensively. This puts a lot of people in a short amount of time growing and selling them. For many it is a speculative investment. Speculative investments generally do not have a good long term track record. The price comes down eventually and at that point there are so many colonies that the drive to import that variety would have to been lower. It seems that mass high dollar fragging also weeds out impulse buyers without the system to support the expensive corals. People always seem to take better care of expensive stuff. I guess it seems like Tyree style farming would lend itself to intense wild pressure for a time then decreased demand overtime on a species by species basis. |
breeding stock
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| Midvale (435) 213-6215 | |
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| Post #6 Mar 4 2010, 11:39:35 PM | Suzy |
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I am so intrigued by the "recent" surge of named corals! Of course, these spp have always been around, but adding a famous name to them increases their value! And, people fall for it, over and over. I am not opposed to it by any means. There are miles of coral "farms" along the coast of Figi and the Pacific islands. This gives the local fisherman a reason to protect their investments, and a paycheck to feed their families. If there are status symbol reefers who will pay high prices for these corals, I am all for it, the same as I am for net penned fish. But, we have little incentive to farm our coasts because divers can go in and take as much as they can collect that trip. There are many, many people inland who will buy boxes of ocean booty every week from wholesalers and sell it from their basements. They get it for cheap, sell it for cheap, and the incentive to propagate is little. Some people will grow a frag and then sell it, but I think that is few. It takes too long to grow them out. I am still kinda on the fence of this legistlation. But, I am leaning towards pro the more I think about it. When I read other forums, which I do daily out of boredom, I see so many threads like: *Wow, I just had another tang die. He was sick for weeks but I didn't do anything about it. It's the 3rd so far (from a hobbyist who has had a tank for a short time) * My clown fish just laid eggs for the sixth time. Should I try to raise them? No, they make good coral food. * I just added a dog dewormer to my tank and everything died. I want to buy more cheap corals from someone If corals and fish from our coastlines are cheap, the value the buyer places on them is cheap. If they were valued a bit more, our hobby might not have the terrible reputation it does now. |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #7 Mar 5 2010, 08:08:24 PM | Clint |
| I wonder how many "new" coral come into the country every month and how man are just wild versions of what is already available. I think it is not a bad idea to still allow novel species or morphs into the country. I think there are probably some species that are in no danger that could continue to be imported. Maybe the thing to do is set of selective tariffs that would strongly discourage the "its cheap grab it" mentality. Somehow I think there needs to be a way to keep import channels open without just stripping reefs. The problem is once the law is in place even responsible operators are shut down. |
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| Midvale (435) 213-6215 | |
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| Post #8 Mar 6 2010, 07:57:27 AM | Suzy |
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One of the things that need to be considered is that if we continue to violate the CITES regs, and groups must resort to ESA protection is that ESA means we cannot transport the corals on the list across state lines. Even if they are grown in our tanks. As importers and wholesalers violate CITES, they run the risk of ruining their own businesses... |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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| Post #9 Mar 6 2010, 10:41:33 AM | Amie |
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I think it would be good practice if they closed down reefs for certain lengths of time in order to let them recover from being harvested. Then open them back up. Kind of a rotation method. |
stormy, stormy nights
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http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/interns.html Tell them Adam sent you. | |
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| Post #10 Mar 7 2010, 05:04:49 AM | Suzy |
| That would be good but maybe difficult to enforce. If the "fishermen" could have rules....Maybe a preserve every so many miles? |
Seahorse Whisperer
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"i was informed of some dolphin related testing going on up there" Too Funny! | |
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