[Coral-List] question about the expanded listing of coral species
Les Kaufman
lesk at bu.edu
Fri Feb 19 22:39:39 EST 2010
Hi coral listing aficionados, pro and con.
I looked at the Center for Biodiversity petition for listing 83 (some
say 82, I guess counts vary) species of coral under the ESA. I was
supportive of the Caribbean Acropora spp. listing but this time I'm a
bit puzzled.
How were these particular species arrived at? I might have just
missed it, but certain species that really are of serious concern
didn't seem to be there- for example, Agaricia tenuifolia, or a host
of regional endemics that might have made more logical first-ups for
such a list.
Also, I am just wondering- what are the intended effects on the
aquarium hobby and trade? The intention of adding some legal teeth to
the fight for 350 ppm I can understand, but to worry about over-
collection of live corals for the aquarium trade- or more importantly,
trade of aquacultured corals- in the same breath, while we have this
immense global problem as first priority, is peculiar. It's been
demonstrated in a few places that collecting of corals for the
aquarium trade can be conducted in a sustainable manner, and having
more coral reef fans in the world could hardly be a bad thing if they
were suitably engaged in the larger battle.
Les
Les Kaufman
Professor of Biology
Boston University Marine Program
and
Senior PI
Marine Management Area Science
Conservation International
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