derek.litchfield

Lynz, Glad more Alexandria folks around. Am right off 395 King Street exit. Lemme know if you're in area and have questions, need help, or just wanna stop by. Always something fragged in my tank to be given away to fellow wamas. Derek

Greetings all, I have been meaning to start posting on WAMAS for some time. And to start providing more news and story links, which I will do. It's rather late at night, so bare with me. I am a Chief within International Conservation at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. My unofficial response to this story is unfortunately in agreement. Even as a hobbyist myself, I am conflicted to say the least. There are obvious benefits to the aquaculture trade. However, the hard line approach for trade of animals on ESA or IUCN Redlist is necessary to curb declining species. Not for all, but for some species, the ability to differentiate between wild-caught and farm-raised animals is too difficult, and provides too many loopholes. FYI, along with ESA and CITES, the main weapon for international conservation is now the Executive Order on Wildlife Trafficking. http://m.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/01/executive-order-combating-wildlife-trafficking This is the single biggest step the U.S. has ever taken against international wildlife trade. And other countries are following suit. Right now the major targets of the E.O. are the big African species such as Rhino and Elephant. However, the goal is to spread action to many other endangered species throughout the globe, and to assist established international conservation organizations. A relevant example to the Bangaii case is the hard line stance we are taking on the the domestic importation, trade and sale of elephant tusk within the U.S. Many many organizations are very angry at us for halting ALL sales of non-antiquity elephant tusk. This action will have an immediate impact on many industries. However, hard line strategies must be made if we are to save a very quickly vanishing species. The same goes for many other species.