Last week, we reported on the process to start legislation to ban 20 species of corals in the U.S. Territories. The process does take time to work its way through the United States and as we again reported last week the phase the 20 corals are in is the commenting phase. The commenting phase is very important because it acts as a barometer if the National Marine Fisheries Service were to issue a “no take” provision on the corals then there would be a public outcry.
Sadly though it looks more and more like the corals are headed into receiving that “no take” (4d) provision. As of this writing the industry has only given 12 comments. Suppose for moment we can live without those 20 corals but as we were talking to Jack Kent this morning that is not our only concern:
“The intent of these regulations is to stop corals from coming into the country at all and to outlaw selling them or taking them across state lines. This will devastate the hobby, if we don’t take strong action. NOAA picked 20 diverse corals, that look like most of the stonies in the world, just so they could use the regulation that says if an agent can’t identify something and it looks similar to a threatened species, they can stop the importation just based on that.”
In other words agents who inspect coral shipments won’t be able to tell the differences between these 20 corals and other species and to “play it safe” will block the importation of corals that might look like the original twenty. And for all intensive purposes Jack Kent, who could be called one of the original founder fathers of the industry is sadly, very much right.
The scenario he outlined is already happening to other corals that have already received a “no take” (4d) provision but most hobbyists aren’t aware to the interworking’s of live stock distribution here in the United States and it’s territories and they should not have too, until now.
If you’re a hobbyist reading this now—head on over and write something up regarding the twenty corals.
If you’re a professional aquarist—head on over and write something regarding the twenty corals.
If you’re a wholesaler, importer, distribution or a consumer packaged goods company who profits on the industry—head on over and write something regarding the twenty corals.
All of you will be glad you did several years from now.
