[Coral-List] Selling coral. Funny you should mention it.

delbeek at waquarium.org delbeek at waquarium.org
Fri Feb 15 18:27:24 EST 2008 

Mike et al., I am not sure what corals you are referring to that are
"prohibited", I am not aware that any coral is "prohibited" to be imported
into Canada unless we are talking about corals that are prohibited from being
collected in the country of origin e.g. US, Philippines???

What is more likely is that the corals were either misreported by number or
misidentified, or they were soft corals attached to coral rubble and hence
these were not declared or accompanied by a CITES permit.

Keep in mind that aquacultured corals are also being imported into Toronto in
large quantities, and elsewhere, so this distinction MUST be made when people
go off on the evils of the coral trade and imports.

Just my opinion based I what I know and have seen but if people really want to
have a big impact on preserving coral reefs in Indonesia and the Philippines,
then banning the importation of dynamite into these countries (or export to
these countries!), would be a much bigger step in the right direction than
banning the import of live corals into the US. Applying pressure on these
governments to rigorously enforce and prosecute reef dynamiters would be
another tactic. Dynamiting or using NaCN is totally in discriminant when it
comes to destroying corals and fish; the live coral trade on the other hand
only targets certain types and does not lay waste to acres of reefs in an
afternoon. The curio trade in coral skeletons is also magnitudes of scope
greater than the live coral trade. Lets pick the bigger battles that if won,
will have the biggest impact or else we may win a few small battles but end up
loosing the war.

Again the above is only my opinion and is not necessarily reflective of that
of my employer.

Aloha!
J. Charles Delbeek


Michael Risk <riskmj at univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca> said:

> Hello, humbly...
> 
> It seems my 25-year-old recollection of Oz legislation was incorrect.
> Mea culpa, again...
> 
> On a related note, I have talked again with the government guys about
> this coral shipment. It turns out that there are HUNDREDS of similar
> shipments coming into Toronto each day! This particular importer got
> burned on a tip, but there could be many more...
> 
> Some depressing lessons here, as though we needed more depressing news:
> 
> -this is Toronto. Perhaps 1/100 of 1% of the global market.
> -as most importers have some sort of pecies-specific permit, the
> species need to be identified in order for a successful prosecution.
> -the demands totally swamp the available taxonomic expertise.
> 
> We should have been training taxonomists in the 70's and 80's, not
> physiologists...
> 
> Mike
> 
> On Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:10:26 -0500
>  "Michael Risk" <riskmj at univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca> wrote:
> > Hello all.
> > 

> > Australia prohibits any and all sale/collection of corals. What the
> > guy
> > says is total bullcrap (I have learned my lesson.) Now. What to do.
> > 

> > I was contacted yesterday by representatives of the Gov't. of Canada.
> > An individual in Toronto licensed to import certain species of
> > corals,
> > and to raise his own for sale, was suspected of bringing in
> > prohibited
> > specimens.
> > 

> > All of his corals have been confiscated, and moved to the Toronto Zoo
> > (which has salt-water facilities). As soon as the corals are
> > identified, this guy will land up in court. He will likely pay a fine
> > in the range of several $1,000, which will certainly encourager les
> > autres.
> > 

> > In short, it is the responsibility of the animal-protection
> > authorities
> > in his country of operation to enforce the regulations. It's not up
> > to
> > us-although someone could certainly blow the whistle on him.
> > 

> > Mike
> > 

> > On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:34:11 -0500
> >  "Adrienne Carter" <Acarter at coastalplanning.net> wrote:
> > > 

> > >    This  website is even more some surprising! Below is directly
> > from
> > > the
> > >    website, typos and all:
> > > 

> > >    "CORAL  -  This  product  for the first time, has been given a
> > > license
> > >    from  the  Australian  Government to be exported for sale under
> > > strict
> > >    license,  due  to  the  fact  that certain areas of the reef
> > have
> > > been
> > >    allowed  to  bring  to  the surface and sell as ornaments. This
> > > unique
> > >    natural  Coral  has been harvested under precise, government
> > > approved,
> > >    world class management arrangements. As a healthy resilient
> > > ecosystem,
> > >    the  Great  Barrier  Reef accumulates and extra five million
> > > tonnes of
> > >    new Coral growth every year. Of this growth, a small quota of
> > > abundant
> > >    fast  growing  Coral  of  premium  quality  and  limited  size
> > is
> > > hand
> > >    harvested  from  specific  reef  zones.  Just  as  reefs recover
> > > after
> > >    natural  events  such  as  cyclones,  they also quckly replenish
> > > after
> > >    harvesting.   Corals   either  regenerate  from  the  base  or
> > >  larval
> > >    settlement  and  growth  of  a  new colony occurs. Coral
> > > harvesting is
> > >    based  on  the highest marine science standards. A portion of
> > > sales is
> > >    donated  to  independant scientific research to ensure that
> > > harvesting
> > >    remains  responsive  to  climate change and causes no detriment
> > to
> > > the
> > >    Great Barrier Reef."
> > >
> >
>      _________________________________________________________________
> > > 

> > >    From: Ed Blume [mailto:edblume at mailbag.com]
> > >    Sent: Wed 2/13/2008 4:00 PM
> > >    To: Adrienne Carter; Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > >    Subject: RE: [Coral-List] Selling coral
> > > 

> > >    That's one of things I'm asking.  What are the legal issues?
> >  What
> > > are
> > >    the  environmental  issues?   I'm not a coral expert, so maybe
> > > it's no
> > >    big deal that these species are being sold.
> > > 

> > > 

> > >    Ed Blume
> > > 

> > > 

> > >    -----Original Message-----
> > >    From: Adrienne Carter [mailto:Acarter at coastalplanning.net]
> > >    Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 2:41 PM
> > >    To: Ed Blume
> > >    Subject: RE: [Coral-List] Selling coral
> > > 

> > > 

> > > 

> > >    It  says  on  the  website  -"  The  Only  Licensed  UK  and
> > >  European
> > >    distributer of Coral from the Great Australian Barrier Reef"
> > > 

> > >    Is that even legal?
> > > 

> > > 

> > >    Adrienne Carter
> > > 

> > >    Marine Scientist
> > >
> >
>    ______________________________________________________________________
> > > 

> > >    From: Ed Blume [mailto:edblume at mailbag.com]
> > >    Sent: Tue 2/12/2008 11:52 PM
> > >    To: Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > >    Subject: [Coral-List] Selling coral
> > > 

> > >    This    site    that    is    selling    coral    looks
> > >    disturbing:
> > >    [1]http://www.steventhornedesign.com/store/catalog/coral
> > >    What  types  of coral are pictured?  And how bad is it that it's
> > > being
> > >    sold?
> > >    Ed Blume
> > >    Volunteer, Centro Ecológico Akumal (www.ceakumal.org)
> > >    Madison, WI
> > > 

> > > References
> > > 

> > >    1. http://www.steventhornedesign.com/store/catalog/coral
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Coral-List mailing list
> > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> > 

> > Mike Risk
> > Marine Ecologist
> > PO Box 1195
> > Durham Ontario
> > N0G 1R0
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 
> Mike Risk
> Marine Ecologist
> PO Box 1195
> Durham Ontario
> N0G 1R0
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>

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