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USFWS Port of Los Angeles notifying aquarium trade

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    Posted: September 16 2014 at 1:42pm
Everybody needs to read this!! I just saw this posted today.

USFWS Notifies Aquarium Businesses that Importing Listed Corals is Illegal

Early this afternoon Eastern Standard Time, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Office of Law Enforcement at the Port of Los Angles confirmed that wildlife inspectors were notifying aquarium trade import facilities in Southern California that it is now illegal to import any of the 20 species of coral recently listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This information appears inconsistent with statements released previously by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) saying that there would be no immediate effect of the listings on the marine aquarium trade. Several of the coral species listed are popular aquarium animals with regular imports to aquarium wholesale businesses located in Los Angeles. The announcement of the threatened listings under the ESA came in late August.





http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/breaking-news-usfws-port-of-los-angeles-notifying-aquarium-trade-not-to-import-the-20-newly-listed-threatened-corals


Edited by suiso man - September 16 2014 at 1:44pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote suiso man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 3:49pm
I just read an update on r2r
according to the The Good Catch - A Fisheries Centric Blog NMFS, which has jurisdiction over all marine species listed under the ESA, confirmed moments ago that USFWS's actions this morning were in error. USFWS confirmed they had spoken with NMFS but were waiting for confirmation from their Washington office  I guess for now everything is back to normal...

read here
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jdinchak Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 3:53pm
whew - for now.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Molli Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 5:24pm
Does anyone have any links they could post that give a balanced view on what is happening with these corals in the wild.  I'd like to make an educated decision before I get on the band wagon to support the import of these corals by the trade.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote suiso man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 6:00pm
try reading here first. Follow the Reef2Reef link that will give you more information.

http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=72844&title=please-read-and-then-act
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sabeypets Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 24 2014 at 10:17pm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/9/fish
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 25 2014 at 12:09am
Thanks Shaun.

It's a long article and very insightful. Thanks to the author, Chris Jury in Hawaii. I look forward to next months article. If you don't want to read the entire article, IMO the best part is copied below for all to read.

Having lived there for two years, I can attest there are quite a few misinformed Hawaii residents constantly arguing for complete cessation of collecting. This makes Hawaii pretty much on top of the issues. The crazy arguments came up regularly at Hawaii County Council Meetings from the same people who were repeatedly asking Hawaii County to stop the collectors from doing business. (The Big Island of Hawaii is Hawaii County, where most Yellow Tangs are collected. The island of Oahu is not the Big Island, but is sometimes mistakenly thought to be, since the city of Honolulu, the state capitol is on Oahu.) Watching the TV broadcasts of those meetings was like listening to a broken record (repeated the same thing over and over).

Aloha  Hug

Know your enemy

On this point I feel it is important to be very clear: NMFS is not your enemy. They have no interest in taking away your ability to keep Percula clownfish or any other [invert or fish] species in aquariums. Rather, they are charged with the task of determining whether or not the risks this species faces in nature are sufficient to afford it protection under the ESA. If indeed Percula clownfish (or any other aquarium species, for that matter) is truly at risk of becoming endangered, or of going extinct in the wild, then itshould be listed under the ESA. Losing this species from the marine aquarium hobby would be extremely regrettable, but that possibility is of trivial importance when compared to the idea of the species being driven to extinction in the wild. Marine aquarists, if they are both honest and ethical, should support good conservation policy, even where it conflicts with their own interests. Having said this, I do not feel that listing A. percula under the ESA is warranted based on the best available science, as I will discuss next time. If you choose to submit testimony regarding this proposed listing, I strongly encourage you to be well informed and respectful. Combative, uniformed, or overly emotional testimony will undermine your argument. It would be an overstatement to suggest that NMFS doesn’t care how marine aquarists and other stakeholders feel about the proposed listing, but a well-reasoned, scientifically valid argument will carry more weight than an emotionally charged, ill-informed one. NMFS wants to get this listing right, and they are requesting testimony from the public to help ensure that they do get it right.

Likewise, the CBD is not your enemy either. From my interactions with employees of the CBD, though limited in scope, I can confidently say that they are acting in good faith. Many coral reefs have been severely degraded around the world over the last few decades, and if declines continue at current rates or if they accelerate (as many scientific projections suggest they will if human stressors are not reduced), then in a few decades there won’t be much left to protect. I disagree with the CBD here on the science, but I strongly agree with their sentiments that effective action is needed to prevent the global collapse of coral reefs—a sentiment I’m sure almost all aquarists also share.

So, if neither of these organizations qualify as enemies of the marine aquarium hobby, who does? As mentioned above, and as I will detail more explicitly next time, climate change, ocean acidification, and our inability thus far to effectively limit these two global stressors are the major threats to coral reef organisms. The real enemies of the marine aquarium hobby are those special interest groups and politicians who argue that these threats don’t exist, or aren’t caused by humans, or we shouldn’t do anything about them anyway. The enemies of the marine aquarium hobby are those folks who are working to prevent effective policy to limit climate change and ocean acidification. Let me be very clear: if we continue with business-as-usual emissions of greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide), then within the next few decades almost all coral reefs will be severely damaged, and most will utterly collapse by the end of the century. If we experience the devastating declines which are likely under business-as-usual, then listing the Percula clownfish and a handful of coral species under the ESA is the least of our worries. Under severe reef declines, I would fully expect that many if not most of our favorite aquarium species would be listed as Endangered. This would be effectively the end of the marine aquarium hobby, and could occur within the lifetimes of many readers here. In order to preserve our hobby and the reefs we love, we must take significant and effective action to reduce climate change, ocean acidification, and a variety of local human impacts on coral reefs. A small contingent of very vocal people in the U.S. and other countries are working hard to roadblock and delay the required climate policy solutions. Know your enemy.

 

Conclusion

With this article I hope that I was able to help you to understand how the Percula clownfish and seven other reef fish species came to be petitioned for listing under the ESA, the process involved in listing a species, and the implications of listing of listing A. percula for the marine aquarium hobby. Next time I will discuss the scientific data relevant to the proposed listing. In particular, I will discuss the science NMFS considered in making their 90-day finding regarding A. percula and the scientific data which I believe suggest that listing of this species is not warranted. It is my hope, particularly if you choose to submit testimony regarding the proposed listing of A. percula under the ESA, that you will come away from these articles with a better informed position and understanding of the factors surrounding this complex issue.



Edited by Mark Peterson - September 25 2014 at 12:16am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sabeypets Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 27 2014 at 1:00am
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140828-coral-reef-endangered-species-act-listing-ocean-science/

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/nmfs-seeks-public-comments-for-status-review-of-percula-clownfish-for-esa-listing
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hydro phoenix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 06 2014 at 7:08pm
Any more notice on this? I just told my husband that he might lose his fav coral and fish and he told me he'll go to jail before he lets either of them go. He's so sweet.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ReefdUp Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 06 2014 at 8:12pm
I had a LFS try to justify their prices with this...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 06 2014 at 8:17pm
That is sweet, but I do not believe any animals are going to be taken away from us. I believe the point of all this is to get the attention of the world.  This all because of major concerns about coral endangerment and extinction. If things keep going the way they are, wild collecting may be curtailed worldwide.. The hobby needs to continue to develop more improved methods of supplying captive raised animals before we get another step closer.  

Reducing our dependence on carbon based fuels should be a big part of the plan, if there is a plan.Ermm

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 06 2014 at 10:49pm
I agree with Mark for once, it is sweet. I also don't think we'll be losing our fish or coral....yet. I don't this as a way to get the world's attention, it's to prevent wild capture of some species by eliminating the market for them. The people in countries where these are captured make a subsistence living and will do whatever it takes to generate income. We wonder what we should have to eat before we prepare it or go to a restaurant, they wonder if they will eat. When your children are hungry you don't much care if the fish or coral you are capturing are endangered.

I recall some poor fellow that was involved in some criminal activity. When we visited him at his house he had eagle feathers, among other items, so a visit from Federal Fish and Wildlife added federal felonies to the state charges we had. I don't see us getting there with our animals, but the time may come.

Again, I agree with Mark, (I'm feeling agreeable tonight) that captive breeding will help this situation. I, for the life of me, don't see how this is connected to carbon based fuels though.

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Edited by Fatman - October 06 2014 at 10:54pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pgravis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 06 2014 at 11:04pm

"I, for the life of me, don't see how this is connected to carbon based fuels though."

Ocean acidification   More co2 in atmosphere, more acidic the water is. Also, warmer climate = warmer water.   We see the same effects in our tank with bad heaters or dosing.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 07 2014 at 7:02am
Now I see the connection! I was looking at it from an economic perspective!
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Lol, maybe driving less will give you more money to spend the extra on tank bred!
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