Reef Destruction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dizzy
inhabitants came from. Were they legally collected or were they taken
outside of the law? Next time you go to your local fish shop ask them if
they know how the rock and animals were collected. I bet most of them have
no clue. I'm currently starting my fourth tank. I was looking for a good
source for live rock when I stubbed upon a great web site
(http://www.tbsaltwater.com/). You will have to check it out for
yourself!!!! These guys are great, I totally applaud them for how they are
going about the fast growing need for live rock and corals. Has anyone found
any fish breaders for reef inhabitants. I would love some information if so.
Here is a news letter I recently found on the web, read it and take
notice!!!! Good luck with all your tanks:)
The Diz
CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) -- Home aquarium owners, most in the
United States, are threatening fragile reefs by buying up tons of the
world's coral and tropical fish, experts say.
Enthusiasts are buying up live coral at a rate that has increased 12 to 30
percent a year since 1990, according to reports to be presented Tuesday at a
U.S. government conference on coral reefs.
The demand to fill fish tanks is fueling a thriving trade in illegal
harvesting, with divers squirting cyanide into reefs to stun fish and
killing smaller fish and coral in the process. Only one in 10 captured fish
survives, researchers from the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force said.
"Hobbyists have a love of these critters," said Roger Griffis, a Department
of Commerce policy analyst. "If they knew it was harming the reef, they
would be appalled."
The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force is meeting on the U.S. Virgin Island of St.
Croix to consider ways to preserve reefs and mull reports by its committees
of scientists, business leaders and government officials. U.S. Interior
Secretary Bruce Babbitt is to address the conference Tuesday.
Earlier conservation efforts have focused on threats like pollution and
global change. But early arrivals at the conference Monday said aquarium
enthusiasts are becoming a real threat.
Two-thirds of the world's 1.5 million aquarium hobbyists live in the United
States. They buy half of the aquarium fish and up to 80 percent of the coral
traded in the world, the task force's committee on international trade said.
The next largest importers are Germany and Japan.
Since the United States bans harvesting of coral in its own waters, most of
the supply comes from loosely protected reefs in poorer countries. Most
aquarium fish come from Indonesia and the Philippines, and more than half
are harvested with cyanide in violation of local laws, the task force said.
The U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species regulates
trade for 2,000 species of coral. But live fish, soft corals, anemones,
crustaceans, mollusks and other creatures imported to the United States for
the aquarium trade are not on the list.
In September, the European Union temporarily banned imports of a half dozen
coral species from Indonesia because of doubts over the country's claim that
the environment was not being harmed.
Seahorse populations have dwindled by more than 25 percent since 1994, in
part because of harvesting, the task force said. Twenty countries, including
the United States, export seahorses for aquariums and to be used in folk
medicines.
The booming demand for fish has prompted the African nation of Mozambique to
impose a ban on coral and aquarium fish exports until 2001. The Pacific
island of Fiji is also reviewing export laws.
The Marine Aquarium Council, a Honolulu-based umbrella for conservation
groups, marine industries and government agencies is calling for a
certification program. That would create a paper trail so that buyers know
their fish were harvested legally, said Paul Holthus, the council's
executive director.
Currently they have to "trust what they are being told" by sellers, he said.
In one report, the task force recommended increasing the number of Fish and
Wildlife Service inspectors at ports and testing fish for cyanide.
Matt Latourette
supplying aquarium hobbyist is miniscule at most and more likely absolutely
insignificant by comparison to the destruction that is done industrially in
the name of progress by folks who either don't give a damn about anything
except their bottom line or tunnel-visioned engineers who still follow the
"infinite dilution" model. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if at
some time in the future after the natural reefs have been wiped out by
stupidity masquerading in the name of progress that the cleanup crews in
charge of rebuilding devastated ecosystems will come to depend on the
aquarium hobbyists as a source of aquatic life for endangered species
breeding/regeneration programs. I admire what Tampa Bay Saltwater is doing,
but I have no problem with collected specimens either providing that they
are properly taken care of. If the reefs disappear, it will be because
large corporations filled the pocketbooks of the legislature as a means of
convincing them that dumping tons of toxins was okay rather than because a
few fish-loving aquarists purchased collected corals and fish and did their
best to keep them alive.
- Matt
"Dizzy" <di...@surfnetusa.com> wrote in message
news:wLju5.591542$MB.89...@news6.giganews.com...
Dizzy
the problem and we might be the ones that will replenish the reefs when
everyone else has destroyed them. I recently came back from a SCUBA trip
from Cozumel Mexico. Let me say it was one of the best dive trips I've ever
been on. I had allot of conversations with divers that have been diving
Cozumel for the last 10 years or so. I constantly asked questions about the
reef quality and how its declined. I would have to say the park organization
has done a excellent job in preserving the reefs. Outside the park things
seem to be a different story. Have you ever seen a reef that has been
harvested to such a point were it looks more like the Sahara desert than a
lush flourishing ecosystem? It's really a depressing site. The point I was
trying to make with my first letter, is everyone needs to be concerned about
how the harvesters are collecting the rock and animals they are purchasing.
The harvesters are not collecting rock and animals to save the reefs. It's
all about the money and I don't think they are very careful with their
harvesting methods. To collect from a reef is not a bad thing as long as
things are done in moderation and done carefully. The reefs are very
delicate ecosystems and should be treated so.
Matt Latourette <Matt.La...@rad.msu.edu> wrote in message
news:8pcm7b$1cc7$1...@msunews.cl.msu.edu...