no importing of the 20 threatened corals

This is not good, and I am concerned about which way it will go.





The real problem is, that acros are so hard to identify anyway, so either they will come in as something else, or they will use it as an excuse to eliminate all acro imports all together

 

Looks like the USFWS May have jumped the gun on this. I am trying to verify it now.


This is from R2R.


"The Good Catch - A Fisheries Centric Blog NMFS, which has jurisdiction over all marine species listed under the ESA, confirmed moments ago that USFWS's actions this morning were in error. USFWS confirmed they had spoken with NMFS but were waiting for confirmation from their Washington office that it is indeed legal to import the 20 species of coral recently listed under the ESA."


http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/173226-breaking-news-usfws-notifies-aquarium-businesses-importing-listed-corals-illegal.html#post2007806

 

It's not a surprise with so much misinformation out there. Check out this snippet from an article I was reading from a scientific journal.

Aquarium specimens are typically fist-sized colonies that represent six months to ten years of growth, depending on the type of coral. Most often, these are slow-growing, massive species with large fleshy polyps, many of which are uncommon or are vulnerable to overexploitation because of their life history characteristics. The flowerpot coral (Goniopora) and the anchor (or hammer) coral (Euphyllia spp.) are the most abundant corals in trade, partly because they must be continually replaced. These species survive poorly in captivity. They are also easily damaged during collection, are susceptible to disease, and acclimate badly to artificial conditions.

Some gonis are really hard to keep, Ill give them that, but Euphyllia? This isnt 1990 anymore. Our knowledge and equipment has totally changed the game over the last 10 years+. I hardly ever see wild colonies for sale anymore and we have moved more towards to an aquaculture or maricultured system. This is due in part to our growing success as hobbyists.