[Coral-List] Coral-List Digest, Vol 104, Issue 5

[Ron Hill (NOAA Federal)]

Colin,

You make some very good points about folks who keep aquaria and spend 
time and money in pursuit of coral aquaculture.  I know some of those 
folks and agree they can produce ecological insights and benefits.  
However, as with the discussion of divers and the dive industry being 
inherently different - there are also a very large number of people 
worldwide - who simply keep aquaria to look at and enjoy.  This includes 
companies that set-up, stock, and manage aquaria for businesses and 
individuals.  Many fish and corals die in these tanks and are simply 
replaced to maintain the aesthetic beauty of the tank without regard to 
the ecological costs.  Any idea how many of these types of tanks and 
fish tank people there are worldwide compared to those who actively 
culture corals, etc?  Seems this is an important statistic to discuss in 
the stated context of harvest of wild corals.

Regards,

ron
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 13:11:06 -0400
> From: Coral Morphologic <coralmorphologic at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Worst places to harvest coral for aquarium
> 	trade?
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID:
> 	<CADNNdUrcN0OxCZNYmPKcNHT5v70Z_R1fmpUUQ5gODz1b4z9GEA at mail.gmail.com>
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>
> Damien and Sarah,
>
> Most hobbyists who are aquaculturing corals in their homes feel very
> passionate about preserving the coral reefs, and want to help stem the
> losses. Captive corals don't get 'loved to death'... if they are
> properly-cared for, they will grow until they need to be pruned (like a
> plant), and then those fragments can be given/traded/sold to another
> hobbyist to perpetuate the wild lineage. Anyone investing thousands of
> hours of time, and then thousands of dollars of money into keeping a
> miniature coral reef ecosystem in their homes should be seen as an ally,
> not enemy. Furthermore, the information and understanding that hobbyists
> have provided about coral husbandry over the past 3 decades has provided
> scientists a major base to work off in the 21st century. Don't forget that
> the first/most important coral restoration non-profit, the Coral
> Restoration Foundation, was founded by an ornamental marine life collector
> and aquaculturist. Not by a scientist, or an environmental group. Sometimes
> the best ideas come from unlikely allies and outside the box thinking.
>
>