[Coral-List] 82 species of corals to be listed under the ESA

[Rudy Bonn]

ESA listing as certainly helped some species to avoid extinction, there is no question about that.  I recently went to the Tortugas and snorkeled within the park's research natural area, totally protected, at a place called "Little Africa" right off Loggerhead Key, I only saw two colonies of A. cervicornis, and A. palmata was absent, yesterday, I went to Sombreo and to my surprise, being a heavily used site, there was a healthy colony of A. palmata?  I think listing other corals might be useful in terms of drawing attention to the plight of coral reefs worldwide, but unfortunately, the general public in most cases, do not know what the different species are, and some dont even care, as I witness every summer during mini-lobster season where I have seen people flip over coral heads, come in contact with coral with their nets, fins, tickler sticks, and so forth and it is quite disturbing to see-- enforcement is a problem, as the man mentioned 3000 square
miles and some of Florida Bay.  So, I do agree somewhat with Gene, but I still think we need to look at other options as well like educating users of the resource through outreach, and community-based efforts that are aimed at the people of the Florida Keys for example, and those that come down here by the thousands during mini-lobster season!    
I remember hearing one person say once, " Ill never see a whale, why should I care."  I know that lots of folks are looking at community-based management of natural resources, but I still think, knowing human nature, that people will always be greedy in their approach to sustainability, not all, but it only takes a few to ruin it for everyone.  Rudy



Rudy S Bonn
Director of Marine Projects
Reef Relief
631 Greene Street
Key West, FL 33040
305-294-3100



Rudy S Bonn
Director of Marine Projects
Reef Relief
631 Greene Street
Key West, FL 33040
305-294-3100