Any updates?

-Rich

Update
 

Well, I've called UPS and have been tracking the (two) boxes of Fiji LR (50lbs each). They will be delivered tomorrow. (Woohoo!) They had no problems clearing customs it seems, although I will have to pay duty on the shipment of about C$68 total. (Which I anticipated, and for 100lbs of WSI Fiji LR, that's still considerably cheaper than J&L). And the UPS person said nothing about needing a CITES permit so.. I don't think that will be an issue. :exclaim:

So that's the update for now. When I receive the boxes tomorrow I will take some photos of what is inside when I open them and will post them. Luckily it's been quite warm in Western Canada for the past few days and it will still be warm tomorrow so I'm glad I got this rock when I did. I just hope that the die-off will be low. <fingers crossed>

Take care!

How long has it been in transit?

Transit time
 

Ok now don't freak out, but it's been about 5 days. BUT they said that that is quite standard and it shouldn't make a big difference. If there is a problem then I can supposedly return the rock for a replacement.

<fingers still crossed>

I've heard of places importing live rock into Canada before without the permits and perhaps it's a case of "sometimes you get lucky" and "sometimes you don't." I don't really know. I know I've heard stories up people getting caught trying it, and both importers and exporters getting into a world of hurt because something wasn't legit ... but all I have is hearsay.

At any rate, this is what I do know. In general, all stony corals are, I believe, listed on CITES Appendix I & II. This means at a minimum, a CITES permit from the country of origin, or a re-export permit, must accompany the shipment for it to be legally imported into Canada.

I should mention that CITES is the "Convention of International Traffic in Endangered Species" and it should be noted that essentially every country in the world has signed this treaty. For more info see the links below.

Appendix I are species at the highest risk, and basically there is no legal traffic in this species, except for exceptional circumstances (e.g., medical research).

Appendix II are species at risk but not as high a risk as Appendix I, therefore traffic is permitted, but only with the appropriate documentation in place.

I think the complication for live rock is that it is not a specific species. However, the CITES treaty does not differentiate between alive or dead, whole or parts thereof. For example, boots made from the skin of an animal listed on Appendix I are a controlled item. It doesn't matter that the animal is already dead. Also, seeds of an endangered plant would also be a controlled item.

Thus, being that live rock tends to "dead coral covered in live invertebrates", it follows to reason that it really is a controlled CITES category.

That said, I've been having a dog of a time trying to find a website that proves this assertion. It's really easy to do a specific species lookup in the CITES database; it's not so easy to use vague common name terms.

I suppose there's always the possibility that live rock has been de-listed off CITES. Who knows.

Or maybe this place just happens to have the correct documentation.

Anyhow, for some further reading if you're interested, check out the following links:

http://www.cites.org - CITES organization web page
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/E-19/C....32/101487.html - Import of Specimens (Personal or Household) Permit
http://www.cites.ec.gc.ca/eng/sct0/index_e.cfm - Canadian government website on CITES
http://news.fws.gov/coral.html - a US government page on the coral trade

Did the rock arrive yet?

Alright! Finally! It HAS arrived today (Friday) after some UPS delivery issues: They said it was on the truck for delivery yesterday and then noone came! So I went to their distribution center and they said that the package was still in BC! Which, as it turns out was incorrect, as it has just been delivered to me a couple of hours ago.

AND, for some reason, they had the wrong postal code for me on the boxes. <sigh>

So that thing was frustrating! BUT anyway, I'm feeling better now that it's been delivered to me. (A week in transit?! Ouch.)

Ok, here are some pictures:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tboxclosed.jpg
The first box seems to have made the journey from California alright!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...tboxopened.jpg
Opened the first box. They seem to always give a free 'gift' so I suppose those two stems of something are it. Don't know what this is though. Ideas? Anyway, the newspaper was still moist although not really covering everything.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...dboxclosed.jpg
The second box seems to have had a rougher journey.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...dboxopened.jpg
Ok, here's the first look at the second box's contents. I took the newspaper off for this photograph.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...aterbucket.jpg
I've put all the rock in a plastic bin and am putting water from my aquarium in there.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...et-closeup.jpg
Here's a closeup of the rock in the bucket. Fair bit of algal growth.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t-closeup2.jpg
Another close-up!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...t-closeup3.jpg
Yet another close-up. Most of the rock looks like this. And it smells great!

I had to pay about C$68 or so for customs duty. (But with all the costs it still comes to about C$3.75 per pound) I was never asked for a CITES permit. (The shipping company - Ocean Pro Aquatics - may have handled the permits part, or perhaps it was never needed for LR) The rock was in transit through the US and into Western Canada for a week, with four or so hot packs in each box.

Ok.. so can I get some input on this? I'm just going to make sure that everything's submerged in saltwater for now and will be doing some regular water changes. Since my aquarium has no fish in it yet I may just end up putting all the rock into it for cycling. (Will it kill my amphipods, etc.?? Should I wait?)

Looking forward to comments. :)

Exellent! :biggrin:

If you don't have any fish, I don't think that cycling in your aquarium would be a problem.

You can aquascape while it cures! :biggrin:

Rock
 

With No fish in the Tank I would through it right in as long as the Rock dosen't have a fowl odor. So what was the total $ paid with shipping etc.

Stan

Those two "stem things" look like mangroves to me.

Christy :)