Ethical Reefkeeping?

[joelsaxton]

I am a reefer myself, so this is not me coming down on anyone here. But I just wrote a paper for school on coral reefs in the world and the situation is quite sad. I would like to know other people's opinions on the subject, as well as the benefits/hazards that the reef hobby provides to coral reefs. Someday the environment may be so badly fouled that the only place to see certain coral species would be in a reef aquarium. On the same token, I wonder how much this hobby actually impacts coral reefs, and how much burden has been relieved through aquaculturing. I hope this inquiry makes sense.

Thanks,

Joel

 

[Tobman]

Joel,

Your inquiry is right on the money. We should all be concerned about the health of our coral reefs.

I think the impact that reef keeping has on coral reefs is small compared to such things as global warming and industrial runoff. But our impact is definite and can be changed.

There are efforts being made to lessen our impact, such as aquacultured corals and live rock, as well as sustainable harvesting methods of wild corals and live rock.

Check out the Marine Aquarium Council for more info. and ideas

 

[XeniaMania]

Problem is the people over there need to make money. Most of the collectors of rocks and corals are village people where this is their main source of income. There will always be some sort of market for our reef. It'll take the government on their end to go, ok, too much has been taken, we need to close like Indonesia. Australia has always been reluctant to open their reef but I think they have recently so we'll see.

 

[joelsaxton]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6908941#post6908941 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tobman
Joel,

Your inquiry is right on the money. We should all be concerned about the health of our coral reefs.

I think the impact that reef keeping has on coral reefs is small compared to such things as global warming and industrial runoff. But our impact is definite and can be changed.

There are efforts being made to lessen our impact, such as aquacultured corals and live rock, as well as sustainable harvesting methods of wild corals and live rock.

Check out the Marine Aquarium Council for more info. and ideas

Thanks, I will take a look.