URGENT Call for Concerned Aquarists to Write ObjectionsWill U.S. Fish & Wildlife inspectors be able to ID incoming stony corals?Photo Credit: Scott W. Michael/Aquarium Corals*(Unidentified*Acropora, Indonesia.)PIJAC, the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, issued a call to action on April 3rd, 2013, for everyone involved in the aquarium industry and hobby to submit public commentary in response to the NOAA Proposal to list 66 CORAL Species on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as we first reported late November, 2012.You have less than 48 hours remaining to submit your public comment(electronic submissions are closed after*11:59 PM*EDT, April 5th, 2013).*Mail submissions must be postmarked April 6th.Public commentary is a fundamental core part of the ESA listing process, so don’t think what you say won’t make a difference – it certainly could.We are providing expanded commentary on the NOAA ESA Coral Petition issue in another article*today; if you’re unfamiliar we encourage you to become invested in the implications this proposal has for you as an aquarist.For those already familiar with the issue and simply looking for instructions, you can view the full PIJAC press release with instructions.* We’ve also excerpted a portion here.Recommended ActionIJAC urges people involved with the ornamental marine trade and hobby to not only submit their personal comments, but also forward this PetAlert to others involved with marine organisms, marine products, and marine retailers. COMMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY*APRIL 6, 2013. See below for instructions on how and where to submit your comments.Comments should include a brief description of your involvement with coral activities. Your comments should be in your own words – do not simply copy the talking points.Comments should be addressed to:Regulatory Branch ChiefProtected Resources DivisionNational Marine Fisheries ServicePacific Islands Regional Office1601 Kapiolani Blvd.Honolulu, HI 96814Attn: 82 Coral Species Proposed Listing** OrAssistant Regional Administrator,Protected Resources,National Marine Fisheries Service,Southeast Regional Office,263 13th Avenue South,Saint Petersburg, FL 33701,Attn: 82 coral species proposed listingElectronic Submission:*Submit all electronic public comments NO LATER THAN APRIL 5 via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, first click the “submit a comment†icon, then enter NOAA-NMFS-2010-0036 in the keyword search. Locate the document you wish to comment on from the resulting list and click on the “Submit a Comment†icon on the right of that line. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.*E-submissions must be filed by11:59 pm*EDT on April 5 when the system shuts down. If you encounter problems filing electronically FAX and mail a copy.Mail:*Submit written comments to Regulatory Branch Chief, Protected Resources Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacific Islands Regional Office, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814; or Assistant Regional Administrator, Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL 33701, Attn: 82 coral species proposed listing.*Must be postmarked no later than April 6 and to be safe send April 5.Fax:*808-973-2941; Attn: Protected Resources Regulatory Branch Chief; or727-824-5309; Attn: Protected Resources Assistant Regional Administrator.Postal or Fax Submissions: If responding by mail, make sure the envelope is postmarked/date stamped on or before April 6. PIJAC recommends that you also FAX a copy to NMFS.For any questions about this proposal and responding to it, contact PIJAC atinfo@pijac.org*or Marshall Meyers at*marshall@pijac.org.Download or view the full PIJAC release
One of the species listed is frogspawn....wth.... It would seem to me that the biggest threat after reading that VERY extensive article is the acidification and rising temperature of the oceans. As such, it would make more sense to allow experience hobbyists take these creatures into an artificial environment and sustain them after the oceans can no longer sustain them.
Dean Hicks wrote Making lists like this without differentiating captive bred, maricultured and wild caught strains is pure crazy.The proposed rule while well intended to protect the 83 species of reef building corals is fundamentally flawed as it applies to the aquarium hobby and industry. Reasons include: 1. Insufficient scientific data that attributes collection of these corals for the marine ornamental trade having any meaningful impact upon wild populations. 2. Impractical to differentiate all the species listed in a manner that would allow consistent and accurate governance of the rule. Coral taxonomy is very complicated and the necessary training and management of inspection/enforcement programs that would be necessary to comply with the rule would be an unjust use of tax payer dollars when the outcome is so ill defined and scientifically unsupported. 3. There is no expressed consideration given to the immediate negative impact this rule could induce. In particular the growth of mariculture in the tropics is providing a meaningful income to islands and a reason to sustainably manage their resource. The aquarium industry has moved to recognize this and popularized the mariculture industry with a preference for farmed corals over wild harvest. 4. The rule in effect would severely impact a multimillion $ industry in the US serving aquarium hobbyists. As well as immediate jobs impacted, this can be expected to have a negative impact on public awareness of corals and education of the plight of coral reefs - a detriment to the wild stocks of these corals and the associated environment. 5. Missed opportunities in furthering coral science. Advanced aquarium keeping and the "disposable income" that has fueled it has led to many breakthroughs in coral husbandry that has in turn allowed researches to implement such advances in formal peer-reviewed research. These are some of the reasons that the proposed rule is flawed and would/could do significantly more harm than the good intent.Your Comment Tracking Number: 1jx-84lf-sg56
If you havent already submitted your comment by now please hurry and do so. If not please write a letter and drop it in the mail early saturday morning. We as Marine Aquarists can not I repeat "CAN NOT" afford to let this happen.
