[Coral-List] What agency should list corals

[Eugene Shinn]

I agree with everything Quenton Dokken says. How can we not all agree 
with what he says? However, none of what he has pointed out explains how 
listing corals will save them because we simply do not understand what 
is killing them. We do know periods of coral demise have happened in the 
not to distant past. It is unlikely humans could have been responsible 
back then. That is not to say humans are not doing something to day that 
is causing demise. The problem is we just do not know what it is so we 
do not know what to protect them from.Giving money to tax free Non 
Government Organization may make us feel good, especially the rich who 
need tax breaks, but their legal means of forcing government agencies to 
list corals under the Endangered Species Act will not solve the problem 
if we do not know what the problems are. In fact, listing makes it even 
more difficult (e.g.permitting) to do the science needed to determine 
the problem.If we were dealing with fish being over fished then we know 
what to do. Simply use the ESA to stop overfishing.In the case of corals 
where disease is the main problem listing will not bring them back until 
we have the science that pinpoints the source of the disease. If we knew 
that we would know what to do. Sociology, which may manage human 
behavior, certainly will not bring the corals back with out scientific 
knowledge to guide social change.Gene

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No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158
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