[Coral-List] Martha Stewart pushing the coral trade

[Esther Peters]

   Even  more  shocking  are  the  containers filled with large seastars,
   urchins,  and shells.  Hope they were replicas, but fear they were not
   (just  saw  more in the local department store this afternoon).  There
   are  concerns in the Keys now about the disappearance of reef-dwelling
   invertebrates  besides corals (has anyone seen an Oreaster in the Keys
   in recent years)?
   Have  to  admit  my  mother  introduced me to beachcombing and we have
   collected numerous shells over the years (even buying a few and corals
   at  the  shell  shops, before I realized they were not being collected
   after  the  animal  had  died  naturally  and washed up on the beach),
   enjoying  them  in  the house.  As I clean out her house now after her
   death,  I  take a few to the beach when I can to return them.  One day
   noticed after I threw some on the sand, others came by and picked them
   up.    Well, appreciating nature is important and not everyone has the
   opportunity to beachcomb, but we now have to conserve and original art
   is  one way (I'm going to treasure an oil painting of my mother's from
   many years ago showing shells on a beach even more now).
   Esther Peters
   George Mason University
   Leslie Whaylen wrote:

The 2008 HGTV Dream Home is located in Islamorada, Florida.  I recently toured 
the house and was shocked to see so many shells and corals displayed.  I though
t to myself, "They must have taken out an entire reef to stock this home."  To 
see pictures, visit [1]http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dream_home/ and then click on F
oyer or Entertainment Room to view a slide show.  Granted, some are not real co
rals, but others in the house are.  Talk about sending the wrong message.  Perh
aps Martha Stewart was hired as a consultant for the interior decorating.  More
 tasteful are the various art canvases scattered throughout the house, painted
by local artists.


Leslie Whaylen
Florida Keys

+++++++++++++++++++


Dear colleagues,



I was at Macy's in NYC last weekend and just happened to observe the latest Cor
al Spray Bedding collection from Martha Stewart. Corals, sponges, shells, and J
EN Vernon's Corals of the World are featured as part of the display. The corals
 are replicas and not for sale. However, there is no disclaimer or notice to th
e un-sustainability of corals as ornaments, which may send the wrong message to
 the general public. Given the recent coral-list interest in the coral trade, I
 though I would share images of the display, see:



[2]http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/Steven_Lutz_Photos/Coral%20Trade%20
NYC/



As this is the International Year of the Reef, wouldn't it be nice if retailers
 got the message and noted such (at least by the end of the year)?



Cheers,



Steven Lutz



P.S. more coral trade images are available in the parent folder `Steven_Lutz_Ph
otos'

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References

   1. http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dream_home/
   2. http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/Steven_Lutz_Photos/Coral%20Trade%20NYC/
   3. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   4. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list