CL post a joke!

[fishsoldseprtly]

I saw this post on CL and they say that they can get and specialize in Clarion angels, why would you as a business who is setting up tank for residential and commercial post or even want to sell a Clarion to your customer?
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/for/385820320.html

So if the buyer or owner who probably does not have a clue, see how beautiful an angel is and ask for one and gets caught, who is going to take responsibility? Owner or business? hahhaa

I know its not that hard to get a hold of such angel or RARE fish, but why would you want to sell the ILLEGAL ones as a business? doesnt make sense.

just my $.02.

 

[bored4long]

I think the best we can do is educate those that do not know (as you just educated me with this post). I applaud your efforts.

Alternatively, if selling Clarion Angels is illegal, then pose as a customer, order a Clarion Angel and sick Fish an Game on the poster. Maybe even tipping off Fish and Game to this post would lead somewhere, but I doubt that department has the resources to track down a Craigslist poster.

- Mark

 

[MrMikeB]

This **** makes me sick...

Any person knowingly taking endangered species out of sheer greed and contempt for its existence is one of the lowest forms of 'life' I can imagine. Anybody knowingly paying for such a specimen to encourage this type of illegal activity is no better off.

 

[pbetito]

So Mike, were we going to cook our california condors with the orange glaze??

 

[MrMikeB]

Actually, I hear a light peanut sauce helps take out the bitter aftertaste of the condors.

Seriously though - Most of the time I like to think myself rather pragmatic and level headed, and there are only a few things that I get all indignant and passionate about. Poaching endangered species for greed and profit is one of these exceptions. :mad2:

 

[tylorarm]

From what I've read I didn't get the impression Clarion's were even close to an endangered species. Geographically limited but thriving in the areas where they're native, the Revillagigedo Islands. What makes them rare, and perhaps what keeps them from being endangered, is that it is very hard to get permits to collect them and the remote location of the islands, some 300 miles off of Cabos if i remember correctly. That's one long boat ride to collect a few fish. Throw on top that if you get a permit it is likely very limited in quantity, and the economics just aren't there, even at high resale prices. That's my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Jacob D]

They're not endangered, tylorarm you pretty much summed it up. IIRC, a year or two ago (maybe longer) there were some folks busted for smuggling them.

edit: here's a link to the news clip, go figure the guy was also smuggling people in!:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20050911-9999-1n11smuggle.html

 

[bored4long]

A quick search leads me to believe they are only illegal to export from Mexico, but not actually regulated by the US. Considering Mexico is the ONLY place they exist, seems like there wouldn't be any legal way to acquire one.

Here is the link to a reef post regarding smuggling of the Clarion Angel (not sure if the same incident as mothra's link). http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtop...=&sid=afc60df99bef8ebf58249c5d02d326ed#685281
[am I allowed to post links to other reef forums?]

Reasons listed by LivestockUSA to not support Clarion Angel sellers:

Clarion Angel is a beautiful rare Angelfish,
found almost exclusively around Clarion Island
in the eastern Pacific, SW of Baja California.
It is listed as endangered because the one island
is the only gene pool of the species.
Occasional wanderers elsewhere are presumed to
have originated at Clarion Island.
One man-made disaster could wipe them out.

In all likelihood, a store you buy fish from
probably buys from one of these unscrupulous,
wholesalers that would gladly deal in endangered
species for a buck. But, they would have only
done this if the demand or market existed.

If they knew hobbyists policed themselves and just
said no to endangered species, instead of trying
to "out-cool" and "out-rare" each other, it
would not have happened.

AquariumPros also lists it as a fish to not keep in captivity because of its rarity:
http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/badfishlist.shtml

 

[Justin74]

Albeit a pretty fish, far far from being soo exotic looking that it would deserve an underground market, especially amongst 10X more sustainable resources and much more exotic and beautifull than that IMO. Not even mentioning the ornamentals coming in that are farmed and more suitable for our home aquaria anyway. Just doesnt make sense on many levels, to me


-Justin

 

[kevin95695]

Wouldn't it make sense to start some sort of a sanctioned captive breeding program?

bored4long's quote about "one man-made disaster could wipe them out" seems all too likely to happen wether they're desirable in the aquarium trade or not...

 

[MrMikeB]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10454318#post10454318 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin95695
Wouldn't it make sense to start some sort of a sanctioned captive breeding program?

Funny you should mention that...

 

[fishsoldseprtly]

they are not endangered, you just cant collect them from where they are normally found, off of Mexico, along with the Garibaldi's but there have been ways to collect them legally.