The Reef Hobby- An Endangered Species?

[MikeTucc]

I (sped) read the actual document, and there is no immediate plans to prohibit any species except the two Caribbean Acroporids that are already prohibited. NOAA was actually quite clear about this point multiple times. Yes, Threatened status is one step removed from Endangered, but it is a pretty big step. I understand the concern of aquarists about the ESA listing; I'm an aquarist after all and obviously deeply invested in the hobby and industry. However, I think the fear has been exaggerated.

I disagree. Under a 'threatened' listing, NOAA can make a later decision to limit or prohibit 'take' or trade in any of these species without moving them to 'endangered' status. All it would take is an opportunistic anti-aquarium organization to present data that aquarium trade is causing a significant decline.

But the most important thing we all need to understand about NOAA/ESA is this: It's really not something the aquarium industry has much influence over. Even if we prove to everyone that our industry is a model conscientious steward of the world (and let's be honest here ... our industry is still very far away from riding this high horse), NOAA may still move ahead with decisions to elevate the listing status or implement prohibitions on certain species. Why? As Thales says, our industry is a mere blip on the radar. They don't care if we are super duper breeders or owners. If the species is threatened by whatever (coastal development, climate change, CoTS, diseases, pollution, ad nasuem), it's going to head towards some protection.

Very true. But the ESA as it is written was never intended to protect animals which lack clear species delineation, threatened by global forces over which any one government has limited control, in territories completely outside the jurisdiction of the US. Even NOAA understands this and, I think, is frustrated by the fact that they are bound by law to undertake these sorts of reviews. CITES is certainly the more appropriate arena for protection of species involved in an international trade, and all stony corals already fall under CITES protection. It's important to have someone relay this information to NOAA during their review process (i.e. what PIJAC has been doing), although as they have made clear, significant trade, even in aquacultured specimens, has no impact on their findings.

PIJAC's threat to sue NOAA does not sit well with me. Maybe I'm naive and this is actually how lobbies work, but I just can't understand how suing the organization you hope to win over is a good idea. It's bad PR. It's also completely pointless for the reason I stated in the previous paragraph. PIJAC also believes it's a right to own animals, even those that are threatened. It's not a right. It's a priveleged responsibility.

This is just how things work with NOAA/NMFS. Long story short, when an organization like CBD petitions NOAA, they are bound by law to produce a finding within 90 days. When they don't (which happens often, and also why CBD petitions often contain dozens of species), the petitioner can sue NOAA for reimbursement of their own legal expenses in drafting and putting forth the petition. It's literally a self-perpetuating cycle with these activist law groups funding themselves by suing the federal government. PIJAC is threatening to sue for an altogether different reason, which is (I believe) to prevent NOAA from dragging their feet on this so we can all move forward.

IMHO, I would spend our collective resources to fight organizations like Sea Shepard, which (with the help of For the Fishes and Snorkel Bob) is spreading outrageous misinformation in their propaganda campaign.

Disagreed. It's important to fight them, of course, but they simply do not have the ability to end the reef hobby like one ESA listing could. With the number of petitions out there it is hardly unrealistic to think that a genus listing for Acropora, Euphyllia, etc. couldn't make its way through the pipeline in the very near future. Then it's all over. Illegal to sell, or even transport these corals across state lines. Illegal to frag them. Aquacultured or not, that is the end of the reef hobby IMO.

And IMHO, the emphasis should not be about protecting our hobby. It should be about doing what is right ... what is scientifically sound. If some corals are threatened, and some corals really are threatened, our hobby can not stand in the way of their protection because we like greater variety in our glass boxes or we want our livestock cheaper.

100% agreed on this front. With ESA listing, it's literally all we can do. We can't lobby against it because it is a science-based process, not legislation. What we can do (and what PIJAC has been doing), is delving deep into the research and enlisting the help of actual subject matter experts (like Charlie Veron) to provide data to NOAA to help balance the typically skewed and often factually inaccurate info provided in the petitions or gained from a frantic 'review' made with limited resources and time.

 

[Chameleon]

Nice article Scott,
Thanks for bringing this up in an eloquent way. I am just a hobbyist myself and know this will have a vastly different impact on me than it will on the industry. While the affects of such a band and other bands to follow may never trickle down to me on a personal level it is truly disheartening to think it may discourage or abolish future generations of reefers. While many hobbyist get into keeping reef tanks for a variety of reasons such as intrigue, beauty, selfish ambition, Joneses, fads, and the like, many reefers get in for a true passion and love for reef creatures. Many reefers who get in for other reasons develop this true passion and love of reef creatures. To think that one day people with a true passion, like myself, will not be able to explore this passion is a true shame. It is sad to think a hobby that does so much for reef awareness and understanding threatens itself through an inability to convey the benefits of the hobby by its members, and hyperbolized environmental damages proposed by its detractors. I think its important we do what we can, how we can to educate the population, but realize we are fighting an uphill battle as logic never rules in these type of scenarios. That is why I think it is important for all of us to work together with our various expertise and backgrounds. That is the great thing about this hobby, it attracts such a variety of people with new and different ideas, strengths, and experiences.

 

[domingo]

I think also that import prices should be higher, so that local propagation would be more stimulated. At the same time, give our contributions to PIJAC.

 

[Keithcorals]

This stuff always makes me nervous. I've been told for over 20 years that some coral or all corals are going to be banned. That something I love doing could be ended because of the ignorance of people who don't know a thing about coral is truly sad. To me the only Extreme legislation that makes any sense would be to limit certain species to only be acquired by licensed and certified aquaculturists. With only an inch of some corals many thousands can be grown in only a few years. This not only would protect A truly endangered species from being over collected in the wild but would provide a substantial number of specimens in captivity.

 

[reefwiser]

The problem is that corals are endangered do to human population pollution in many area's sewage is released right over reef area's. Global warming is not going to stop by creating a ban on corals. The hobby should step up education on reef resoration and showing how fraging is helping us aquaculure the corals in a ecofriendly manner.
The hobby is an easy target as it is such a niche hobby. While it seems large to those in the hobby it is a very small segment of the Aquarium business. An the little guys have small voices. We must use our voice to say the hobby is for aquaculture and farm raised coral and fish.

 

[CWMorrow]

Truth is there isn't such thing as "global warming" it's "climate change" some places are hotter, others are colder

The polar ice is melting.

 

[FlyinBryan]

Is membership with MASNA enough? I have some political connections along with lobbyists. Let me see what I can get stirred up. I think the amount that is harvested for hobbyists is probably a minuscule amount compared to whats under the ocean!

 

[uniquecorals]

I think the real gain from this rant has been that, at least for a number of us, this latest legislation was a definite wakeup call about our hobby's status. Again, legislation protecting the reefs is never a bad thing. However, if it leads to the blanket banning of trade in animals that are being sustainably maricultured and/or propagated around the world, it's like using a sledgehammer to push in a pin, IMHO.

We must never lose sight of the fact that the legislation was put in place for the right reason- to protect the reefs. The problem is, in doing so, the aquarium trade becomes an easy target and is summarily dismissed, largely because of the public perception that we are a greedy, unconcerned, and self-centered group, with no regards for the precious wild resources- when the sad reality is that the reefs have no better voice.

If this spurs more people to spread the word that the hobby is beneficial, and to perhaps raise public awareness of what we really are about, it's a win-win, and the industry can work WITH scientists and legislators to put in place logical, helpful legislation that permits the sustainable trade in these precious animals.

I'm super happy that this has at least spurred discussion and a desire among everyday hobbyists to learn more, get involved, and support the efforts of PIJAC in working with the legislators in the hope of creating a more balanced compromise to assure the future of both the reefs and the hobby. It's gratifying to see so many hobbyists and vendors donating to this very worthy cause!

Thanks for all the you do! If we unite as a hobby and industry, we can accomplish a great deal!

Scott

 

[Leonard]

Thanks for the thoughtful counterpoints, Mike.

NOAA bases its ESA decisions on biological data. To petition for species elevation, you need to supply biological data; the vast majority of petitions don't advance past the 90 day evaluation period. When they accept public hearings, they listen to biological data. It would seem logical to me that to win this argument as it pertains ESA, our hobby should support research into biological data, not litigation or marketing campaigns (the latter would serve useful against the propaganda of anti-aquarium activist, not ESA). And whatever that data tells us (good or bad for our hobby), we should cede to science, not our personal interests. This applies to CITES too, which takes guidance from the ESA and vice versa.

The big question still stands. What reasonable and realistic course of action can our hobby/industry take to prevent ESA listing? I can't see one ... again, because we play such a small role in this. My belief is that we are throwing good money at bad when we spend our resources fighting NOAA. The ESA is not a battle for public support.

 

[Leonard]

I think one thing that a lot of people are misconstruing from the current ESA decision is that the marine ornamental hobby is being unfairly targeted by either NOAA or the public. We aren't. Any damage to our hobby is collateral damage

Now what Sea Shepard is doing is a whole other story ...

 

[Leonard]

Thanks for the thoughtful counterpoints, Mike.

NOAA bases its ESA decisions on biological data. To petition for species elevation, you need to supply biological data; the vast majority of petitions don't advance past the 90 day evaluation period. When they accept public hearings, they listen to biological data. It would seem logical to me that to win this argument as it pertains ESA, our hobby should support research into biological data, not litigation or marketing campaigns (the latter would serve useful against the propaganda of anti-aquarium activist, not ESA). And whatever that data tells us (good or bad for our hobby), we should cede to science, not our personal interests. This applies to CITES too, which takes guidance from the ESA and vice versa.

The big question still stands. What reasonable and realistic course of action can our hobby/industry take to prevent ESA listing? I can't see one ... again, because we play such a small role in this. My belief is that we are throwing good money at bad when we spend our resources fighting NOAA. The ESA is not a battle for public support.

Sorry for three straight posts, but R2R locks out edits after some period has passed.

I think I may have been too nihilistic with my opinion in my previous post (above) and I didn't want to sound dismissive of Scott's call to action. What PIJAC is doing in regards to submitting data to NOAA during the hearing process is exactly what we need to do, and it's something we should support. Provide good data to help make good decisions. This is something we can do and rally behind. We must also respect the data ourselves.

 

[Oscaror]

The polar ice is melting.

Climate Change. Do you see the oceans boiling? Nope. But the ice caps are melting. Causing cold water to spread. Then cold winds blow in soouth and it's getting colder wherever it goes.
Climate change. The climate is changing globally, but it's not all getting warmer.

 

[Harold Green]

Endangered species and the hobbiest

From time to time I end up reading about different animals that are extinct in the wild. Zoo's and private collectors manage to keep enough alive to prevent the species from disappearing entirely and no one complains about those captive bred animals as long as they are treated well. If anything the breeders are seen as heroes who manage to save the planets dwindling wildlife. If it wasn't for the history of improper collecting the marine hobby would not be treated as the destroyer of wild reefs. Actually it's probably the true hobbyist who wants the reefs protected the most. Like many hobbyists I buy aquaculture corals to protect the wild corals and also due to the fact that most aqua cultured corals are hardier. With climate change and pollution many of the wild corals will eventually disappear regardless of how protected they are and we the hobbyist may be the only thing standing in the way of losing many of these species entirely.

 

[Kworker]

Climate Change. Do you see the oceans boiling? Nope. But the ice caps are melting. Causing cold water to spread. Then cold winds blow in soouth and it's getting colder wherever it goes.
Climate change. The climate is changing globally, but it's not all getting warmer.

While it may be getting colder in remote areas, the average temperature of the earth is increasing. Trying to dispute the overall warming is ignoring the "cold, hard" facts. The water that melts from the glaciers are pretty much just contributing to increased sea levels. The oceans temperature is increasing. It's not decreasing due to melting glaciers. If that were the case we would be having decreased temperatures on average and be debating another ice age sometime in this millennium.

 

[Pixievixi]

I believe it would be fare to designate different monitored harvest zones for a short period of time. Like crab fishers in Alaska. Just my opinion.

 

[Pixievixi]

And on an environmental note, I'm concerned about the great ocean conveyer and the presence of exploding jellyfish popn. Levels. This is a terrible sign.

 

[Oscaror]

While it may be getting colder in remote areas, the average temperature of the earth is increasing. Trying to dispute the overall warming is ignoring the "cold, hard" facts. The water that melts from the glaciers are pretty much just contributing to increased sea levels. The oceans temperature is increasing. It's not decreasing due to melting glaciers. If that were the case we would be having decreased temperatures on average and be debating another ice age sometime in this millennium.

You know what, we both have made good points. Let's not start a global warming debate.
For the sake of this thread, stop the madness.

 

[CWMorrow]

You are both right. As temperature changes, the wind changes. Some cold places are becoming warmer, and some cool places warmer-like the ocean in some places, and some coral can't adjust.

 

[that Reef Guy]

From time to time I end up reading about different animals that are extinct in the wild. Zoo's and private collectors manage to keep enough alive to prevent the species from disappearing entirely and no one complains about those captive bred animals as long as they are treated well. If anything the breeders are seen as heroes who manage to save the planets dwindling wildlife. If it wasn't for the history of improper collecting the marine hobby would not be treated as the destroyer of wild reefs. Actually it's probably the true hobbyist who wants the reefs protected the most. Like many hobbyists I buy aquaculture corals to protect the wild corals and also due to the fact that most aqua cultured corals are hardier. With climate change and pollution many of the wild corals will eventually disappear regardless of how protected they are and we the hobbyist may be the only thing standing in the way of losing many of these species entirely.

+1

All Great Points.

 

[Kworker]

You know what, we both have made good points. Let's not start a global warming debate.
For the sake of this thread, stop the madness.

Sure, never even was a debate.