[Coral-List] Impact of listing 66 coral species on coral research

[Douglas Fenner]

Well said!  I agree completely.  Thanks for this.

Cheers,  Doug



On Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 3:23 AM, mtupper <mtupper at coastal-resources.org>wrote:

> Gene Shinn wrote:
>
> "Listing all those species (why no list all corals??) is going to retard
>  research needed to learn more about coal reefs.  Ask anyone who has ever
> worked
> on a listed species of any kind."
>
> I completely disagree with this statement. Admittedly, I work with listed
> reef
> fish species rather than corals, but one thing I know for sure is that it
> is
> EASIER to fund a research program on listed rather than unlisted species.
> For
> example, I have been quite successful getting funding to study large
> groupers
> and humphead wrasse. Do you think I would have had the same success if I
> had
> sought funding to study blue chromis or beaugregories? Of course not.
> Listing a
> species makes it a target for research and conservation funding dollars.
> Yes,
> there are permits that represent extra hoops to jump through, but as
> Jennifer
> Moore has already told us, NOAA will support research activities that aid
> the
> conservation of listed corals (just as they do for listed reef fish).
>
> On another note, several listers have doubted that listing a species does
> anything to help it survive. Again I disagree. In addition to research, I
> also
> work for an environmental consulting company, mainly doing environmental
> impact
> assessments of proposed development projects such as oil and gas
> exploration,
> LNG terminals, ports and coastal mines. The presence of listed species at a
> proposed development site is often a deal-breaker. For instance, the
> presence of
> coastal tailed frogs recently halted plans to develop a hydropower project
> on
> the BC coast.. Many developments that could have serious negative
> consequences
> for coral reefs through pollution, sedimenation, coral removal, etc.,
> could be
> thwarted by listing coral species.
>
> And for those that were complaining about the cost of upgrading sewage
> systems
> and other infrastructure to avoid killing listed corals, WAKE UP! Isn't
> that
> exactly what we need to be doing to halt the rapid decline of coral reefs?
> I
> would hope that most people on this list would prefer to pay a few extra
> dollars
> in municipal taxes to support infrastructure improvements, rather than see
> their
> local reefs disappear.
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
>
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