Reefkeepers poaching and selling livestock.

[mandarinfanatic]

http://************.com/2014/12/05/south-african-harlequin-goldies-pseudanthias-connelli-time/

South African law does not allow for capture and resale of these fish. It really brings reefkeeping into disrepute. The company selling this livestock claims to only sell mac approved livestock. These fish were poached and anyone purchasing them is aiding and abetting a criminal act.

 

[alton]

Link doesn't work?

 

[mandarinfanatic]

Link doesn't work?

There's a reason it's shows as ****, so please don't find ways around that - billsreef

 

[alton]

And then my company blocks it! Must be a conspiracy

 

[mandarinfanatic]

And then my company blocks it! Must be a conspiracy

Haha.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

jake adams wrote the article so I am confused how such a reputable person would write an article on poached livestock?

 

[nemo's janitor]

The receiving of the stock is well advertised by DeJong marine life. This would indicate that the stock is legitimately received.

What DeJong needs to do is provide the countries export permit, collection permit and country of origin certificates.

This is going to be an interesting one.

 

[nemo's janitor]

I think it important to understand that reporting is to share news. Not to decide what is right or wrong. That is up to the audience.

Now to get the info on how the specimens were legally captured and exported.

 

[billsreef]

The company selling this livestock claims to only sell mac approved livestock.

Amazes me that companies still go with that "MAC approved" bit. MAC has been defunct for a couple of years now.

 

[Vilas]

I have a south African collection permit. It is explicitly clear. The laws in this country do not allow you to sell so much as a grain of sand from the sea. You can't trade it, donate it, or barter with it.
You can catch certain species using certain methods for your own tank, with proper permits (separate permit for fish, inverts, plants, molluscs, etc) as long as you keep a detailed log of collections and deaths.

So while they could be legally captured, they could not be even given away legally. I'm amazed that anyone would risk it. The penalties are quite severe.

 

[billsreef]

Vilas,

Do you know if there is a chance the species can be found in the waters of country bordering South Africa that might allow for collection and export?

This anthias bit reminds of the Japanese Acan craze, where either the Acans were smuggled, or the origin of Japan was an outright lie.

 

[Vilas]

I believe com.ercial sale is also illegal in Mozambique. The waters on the west coast are brutally cold. Above moz is Tanzania and Kenya - not sure of Tanzania, but sale is legal in Kenya. Also unsure of their range. Let me go find my trusty book.

 

[Vilas]

This book claims they're endemic to KwaZulu natal - my neck of the woods. This area is a province in sa, which is somewhat near Mozambique. I am unsure if collection for sale is legal in moz, but I hear it is illegal.

To me, endemic to kzn means they're find in my neighbourhood, nowhere else.

Now I want to go catch some, haha.

Book is the reef guide, by Dennis king and valda Fraser.

 

[OnceTrueFalseBr]

http://************.com/2014/12/05/south-african-harlequin-goldies-pseudanthias-connelli-time/

South African law does not allow for capture and resale of these fish. It really brings reefkeeping into disrepute. The company selling this livestock claims to only sell mac approved livestock. These fish were poached and anyone purchasing them is aiding and abetting a criminal act.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/05/ssd-2-petabytes-of-data/

?

LOL

 

[OnceTrueFalseBr]

I have a south African collection permit. It is explicitly clear. The laws in this country do not allow you to sell so much as a grain of sand from the sea. You can't trade it, donate it, or barter with it.
You can catch certain species using certain methods for your own tank, with proper permits (separate permit for fish, inverts, plants, molluscs, etc) as long as you keep a detailed log of collections and deaths.

So while they could be legally captured, they could not be even given away legally. I'm amazed that anyone would risk it. The penalties are quite severe.

Can they be bred?

 

[Vilas]

Someone other than me has to answer this, I'm just the chick in the tide pools with a butterfly net and a reference book.

 

[Vilas]

Oh, legally speaking? Not sure, but any endemic species isn't allowed to be traded. It gets tricky - some fish you CAN find locally, or you can buy from Kenya. One is legal, the other isn't.
Up until recently, we weren't allowed to trade frags, so I'd doubt it. You'd have to have special permits at very least, for aquaculture. I mean, you need a permit to even keep a marine tank, technically - but commercial use is a much bigger story. I couldn't speculate much more

 

[billsreef]

Thanks for looking that up.

To me, endemic to kzn means they're find in my neighbourhood, nowhere else.

That would be the correct interpretation of endemic.

Looking at the currents and temperatures of that coast, I wouldn't expect an endemic population of the KwaZulu Natal are to finding it's way upcurrent, and into much warmer water, in substantial quantity (if at all) the distance required to reach waters of legal collecting/export...Kenya.

 

[Vilas]

Yup. Kzn has much colder water than even Mozambique. If they're living only here, they probably are perfectly adapted to our conditions. And it is indeed upstream for them to swim, which is why I can confidently use seawater in my tank. The cities are all to the right of me.

 

[Vilas]

A local board is also discussing this. No one there is aware of any permits having ever been issued to commercially collect. Smells like poaching to me. Poachers with serious amounts of, er, bravery for publicising such an act. Perhaps they did manage to secure a permit, in which case, they would be very wise to make that normally impossible permit public.