There has been legislation passed recently listing 22 spieces of corals on the threatened and endangered list that will have a direct impact on our hobby. Below is a link to a presantation by Julian Sprung at a recent MACNA event.
The entire video is rather long, about 47 mins, but very interesting to hear what our government is doing to our hobby.
Please take some time to at least watch what Julian has to say so you will have an idea of what is currently happening to coral propagation and our hobby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdBUvMGqqhE&feature=youtu.be&trk_msg=FNS8V3H3I95K79ES0HC193TI40&trk_contact=PB89RHP9QOVAB2P5LBHMT09NJO&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=BRStv&utm_campaign=education&utm_content=brstv_010915
Wow! That was amazing. What a bunch of idiots they must be. How can they be so blind? Really sad to think an organization ran by a lawyers, can take an important thing like Endangered Species Act and twist it to fit their needs. They twist it so much so, that our own corals and fish and reef tanks could become illegal. It wont matter if they were grown here or in Figi or in our own frag tanks…in 6 months to 2 years…Hmmm Scary crap really…Wow!
This may take longer than we think, but there is something really wrong going on in Washington.
Would be great to hear comments and opinions from some vendors and what their thoughts are on this subject.
There are 22 coral species listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, grouped below by region where they are found.
Caribbean coral species:
Acropora palmata - Elkhorn coral
Acropora cervicornis - Staghorn coral
Dendrogyra cylindrus - Pillar coral
Mycetophyllia ferox - Rough cactus coral
Orbicella annularis - Lobed star coral
Orbicella faveolata - Mountainous star coral
Orbicella franksi - Boulder star coral
Indo-Pacific coral species:
Acropora globiceps
Acropora jacquelineae
Acropora lokani
Acropora pharaonis
Acropora retusa
Acropora rudis
Acropora speciosa
Acropora tenella
Anacropora spinosa
Euphyllia paradivisa
Isopora crateriformis
Montipora australiensis
Pavona diffluens
Porites napopora
Seriatopora aculeata
As mentioned in the presentation, this legislation has been in the works for a while now. This was interesting though, in that a big name in the industry was making these statements, some of which were pretty harsh. It’s amusing that he mentioned that moron snorkel bob too.
Personally, I think that with the attitudes of most environazis, that the salt water aquarium hobby will probably be illegal in my lifetime. I don’t want to make it sound like im anti environment (im not, I just think quality data needs to be used to make quality decisions), but most self described environmentalists and especially this who are involved with legislation thereof really get under my skin. Working in the chemical industry I bump into morons from the EPA all the time and most of them really don’t know their head from their hind ends.
To be fair, there are a lot of issues out that that are hard to debate- firearms, the environment, etc. There are many facets to debates like this. Unfortunately, it ends up being political, emotional and legislative in nature and not often founded on quality data.
To sum up though, our society seems more and more willing to let their freedoms go. I don’t think that trend is going to change anytime soon… enjoy the hobby while it lasts
Center for Biological Diversity
National U.S. group using science, law and creative media to protect the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
I am sure that this group has many accomplishments to help living creatures across our great land and beyond. But when this group, which if you look under their website “Meet the Staff” is composed of many attorneys, express these facts …
" But the greatest threat of all to coral reefs is carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. The world’s leading coral biologist, Charles Veron, warns us that unless CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are reduced to below 350 parts per million soon, coral reefs and reef-dependent marine life will be committed to a terminal and irreversible decline due to global warming and ocean acidification."
Why aren’t their time and efforts aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions?