Our hobby needs your help in the next 24 hours!

[johnnybv]

This affects us all, and with all of our voices we can make an impact, please take a min to read this and then let your voice be heard, this letter is from our friend Chris Brightwell.

 

Good evening,

Less than one day remains for public comment regarding the proposed listing of 66 species of corals under the ESA. If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes to visit www.regulations.gov, then in the search box enter NOAA-NMFS-2010-0036. Please craft a letter in opposition to this proposal. I have provided the content of the letter I submitted to them (as an upload) below, for your reference. E-submissions must be filed by 11:59 pm EDT on April 5 when the system shuts down. If you encounter problems filing electronically, then FAX and mail a copy. I urge you to forward this email to anyone who may have an interest in the outcome of this proposal; distributors, retailers, maintenance operations, coral culture facilities, and aquarists must all make their opinions known.

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

I am writing to voice my opposition to the proposal that 66 coral species be listed under the Endangered Species Act. I am a marine scientist who has been involved with aquarium husbandry for 33 years, the last 13 of which have been in a professional capacity. During that time, I have communicated with, and consulted for, recreational and professional aquarists and researchers from 90 countries, on every continent excluding Antarctica. The one common thread between all of these individuals is a love of aquatic life, and a desire to improve the understanding of the biological and chemical requirements of aquatic species, not only in captivity but also in Nature. It is clear to me, as it must be to you, that these individuals collectively represent the greatest resource for data collection and species management on the planet. Each year, they spend thousands of hours, and tens of millions of dollars, on designing, building, and maintaining systems expressly intended to completely satisfy the requirements of Cnidarians in captivity.

 

With regards to coral care and propagation, the knowledge and dedication that private individuals possess and put forth, respectively, is orders of magnitude beyond the grasp of governmental agencies. Many significant advances in the understanding of, and procedures utilized in, the successful propagation of corals have been made by these individuals. The propagation of corals lessens the burden on wild stocks through decreased collection, and simultaneously distributes the genetic material of these organisms to every corner of the world, where they exist in some capacity as a reserve to guard against the complete loss of those species in the wild as a result of habitat loss, global climate change, or seawater acidification.

 

From a monetary perspective, private individuals and companies represent a massive resource, with more money being spent on the care of the reef building corals annually than any government funding agency would allocate to the same. Additionally, the funding never runs out; conversely, the amount of money that is spent increases each year, regardless of the political or economic situation. The reason for this is that aquarium husbandry is a hobby for many people. History shows that, statistically, the amount of money spent annually on hobbies increases significantly when economies are in severe decline; hobbies represent an escape mechanism for individuals. In this day when the government is spending less money on research, private individuals are spending more money than previously, which was still more than the government was spending in total under the best conditions. If there was ever a time that the government should step in and declare these species endangered and illegal to possess, it is certainly not now.

 

Habitat loss, global climate change, and seawater acidification collectively represent the single greatest threat to the extinction of reef building corals, in total; additionally, these issues are not being addressed by the world’s governments at a rate sufficient to halt the loss of these organisms, and scientists are well aware of this fact. Water chemistry and temperature changes occur slowly on a global scale, and reef building corals react slowly to changes in water chemistry; even if every cause of the afore-mentioned problems were to be remedied today, it is highly probable that many coral species would still ultimately become extinct as a result of the changing water chemistry and temperature, because there is a lag. If it is your intention to utilize the loss of these species as a means of levying the carbon emissions laws against the US or other countries, essentially martyring these species, then I put it forth that the creator of this concept be disbarred. To lose the existence of any organism simply to make a point goes against all of the principles of humanity.

 

Realistically and pragmatically, the listing of these coral species as endangered, which necessarily makes possessing them illegal, will result in the extinction of the corals. No individual aquarist will have been permitted to maintain the stocks privately, and to suggest that governmental research institutions will be able to maintain ample biomass of all of these stocks in captivity successfully until such time that reefs can be re-seeded with captive stock is not realistic. It can, however, be done with the help of the public, who has far greater resources in terms of time, money, and space than the government could ever amass.

 

The fate of all coral species rests not with leaving them in the ocean or in maintaining them in a government-sanctioned lab. That fate rests with the world’s populace, for the reasons stated throughout this letter. I recommend that the government work in conjunction with private individuals, companies, and researchers to save these species in captivity, where the environment is often controlled with technology that rivals that used on the space shuttle. Common sense dictates that this is the most sensible course of action; do not make it illegal for these people, who are far more interested in the long-term survival of all aquatic life on Earth than are those who have no connection to aquarium husbandry or research, and who have far more qualifications and resources to carry this work out than the government, to be involved with the survival of these organisms on the planet. To do so will be a crime against Nature that cannot be undone.

 

Sincerely,

 

Chris Brightwell

 

Marine Scientist

 

Brightwell Aquatics

 

 

 

Kindest regards,

 

Chris Brightwell

 

CR Brightwell

Marine Scientist

President

 

There are no shortcuts to making a quality product.

Brightwell Aquatics

463 Industrial Park Road

Elysburg, PA 17824

(v)570.486.4787

(f)570.486.4755

www.brightwellaquatics.com

 

Business hours: 8:00a – 4:30p EST (GMT-5), Monday – Friday, excluding major US holidays.

 

This communication is intended for the designated recipient(s) only. It may contain confidential or proprietary information and may be subject to confidentiality protections. No portion of this communication may be reproduced in print, electronic or otherwise, without express written consent from Chris Brightwell. If you are not a designated recipient, you may not review, copy, or distribute this message. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you. No contracts, agreements, or legally binding understandings may be entered into solely by an e-mail communication. Note that it is against company policy to accept or open zip files from any source.

 

[roni]

Thanks John, just posted.

[Coral Hind]

Thanks for sharing that. I also emailed it to some fellow reefers not on WAMAS. I wonder if CMAS or SMMAS know about this.

[Chad]

I also shared with non-WAMAS reefers. HRRC (Virginia Beach area) did not know about it.

[roni]

thanks for posting. I'm not sure why people aren't more in arms over this. While on the surface this may be a decent idea, how well do you think customs people will understand the difference between the different species? This has a high likelihood of being all stony corals pretty quickly. Some of the verbiage also applies to tank aquacultured corals...i.e. illegal to grow coral in your tank and then sell/trade it.

 

When this happened with the florida acro species in the early 90's, those basically went out of the hobby (at least publicly). Even those people that had pieces in their personal tanks didn't advertise or trade them.

 

I've already posted an official comment. I urge everyone to take a few minutes and do so. It may be too late but if you do anything hobby related today, it's this.

 

Dave can you post on the general forum and announcements as a sticky? I also posted on richmondreefers.org

Edited April 5, 2013 by roni

[Jason Rhoads]

For any who are interested in reading through the actual petition, it can be found here:

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/species/coral_petition_cbd.pdf

[John]

I'm not sure why people aren't more in arms over this.

 

Because people in the know should have communicated in advance...12 hour warning to petition is a little late in my book...

[Jason Rhoads]

Comments will be noted as long as they are timely filed. As long as the period is open it will make it on to the record (at least this is how the cases I cover work).

 

"Comments and information regarding this proposed rule must be received by April 6, 2013. The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, from 6 to 9 p.m. in Silver Spring, MD."

Edited April 5, 2013 by Jason Rhoads

[Jason Rhoads]

I also found the Federal Register publication with their findings and determinations for any who are interested:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-12-07/html/2012-29350.htm

[johnnybv]

Because people in the know should have communicated in advance...12 hour warning to petition is a little late in my book...

 

Im sure its been out there for quite a while, but kept under the covers as long as they could. Be thankful that we even found out before anything happened.

[Jason Rhoads]

Im sure its been out there for quite a while, but kept under the covers as long as they could. Be thankful that we even found out before anything happened.

 

Initiations like this all get published in the Federal Register. There is absolutely no attempt at cover up. The Department of Commerce is required to follow strict protocols for this stuff.

 

For example, in this particular case they published initial determinations (based on the petition) on February 10, 2010 (75 FR 6616; February 10, 2010). It has been public for three years.

[johnnybv]

I think 3 years is plenty of time! still sux....

[hypertech]

Right, because the federal register is a quick read over morning coffee.

[linkfalcon]

Not a good reader can u break this down for me how does this affect us