Peter e. I somewhat agree with your remarks . I realize that mortality will always be "part of the game " . I realize its usually higher in fish but it can get better . I don't completely ban wild collection just unsustaiable areas of wc like philipenes and Indonesia - although baliis not terrible :/. Let me just say I don't want to offend you by this statement but you are wrong about one big thing. Wild collection of corals , especially slow growing Lps and sps is much more enviormetally unfriendly than buying wild caught fish . Why do you think laws are stricter for coral collection? (Even though there probably Not followed half the time. ) by taking the coral your taking away not only an organism ,but an enviorment and that will cripple not only fish but human populations . Keeping our coral on our reefs is very important and it is truly a resource that MUST be used not abused . Sure I admit I will still order a large wild coral colony here and there . But I frag that off and grow them out justifying my purpose and purchase.
Just a few thoughts, you realize a HUGE amount of the fish we keep come from Indonesia, right? If we ban that, then common fishes prices will skyrocket. A fish might run 20-50$ now, but with a large supply area gone, they become more rare in the hobby. (there ARE other places to keep supplying fish, but you get my point)
Collecting. It's only unsustainable if you look at it in one way. Right now what's happening is collectors realize a rare fish will make big $, so they go out and collect as many as possible without thinking long term. Population drops and drops and drops until it's not as common or even extinct in a certain region of the world. But if you showed them how to collect responsibly, by implementing quotas, and enforcing it with harsh fines, then it could be sustainable.
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Also, you just said it's wrong to take coral from a reef, but justified your purchase by saying you'll cut it up and make more of it? That coral is now gone from the reef, the frags you grow out don't go back to that reef. Sure, it lessens immediate impact on a reef, but it's the general principle I'm getting at.
Personally, I don't see why we don't just take frags. Why not send collectors out immediately after a storm and pick up the frags lying on the ocean floor? They will die on the sand with a rapid change in lighting, flow, and no where to encrust on. Buying large colonies is EXTREMELY unethical IMO. Just do a simple Google search and many pictures of sand beds LITTERED with natures "frags" come up. Many of those won't come back after that.
One last thing, take the coral Gerardia sp. (NOT an aquarium coral! :lmao: ) A study found a colony that is over 2500 years old! So what you are saying is you'd pay money to have a coral older than the United States, than Europe, than most of modern human civilization for that matter, out of the wild when you could pay 20$ for that same animal, just much smaller? Given the ideal conditions and pampering we love to give our corals and fish, they tend to (IMO) grow much faster in tanks than in the wild. You're single zoanthid polyp, or 3" acro frag will grow plenty in a few years. I NEVER buy large corals taken from a reef. Frags FTW! :thumbsup:
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