Indonesia - New Government Quota System To Preserve Coral Reefs
 

This is good news.
http://indonesia-oslo.no/new-governm...e-coral-reefs/

article from above link.
Sunday, 25 October 2009
New Government Quota System To Preserve Coral Reefs
The government plans to set a quota on coral trading to ensure the sustainability of marine biodiversity, a minister revealed Monday.
“Coral reefs are very important for our country, as it is located within *the* Coral Triangle area,” Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fredy Numberi told a press conference during a symposium on coral reef management.

The quota system was recommended by the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), Fredy said.

It was reported that a piece of coral is sold for Rp 1,000 (10 US cents) to Rp 3,000 while the replacement of the same coral would cost between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000.

It takes at least one year for a coral reef to grow by one centimeter.

A 2003 Johns Hopkins University study revealed Indonesia’s 85,000-square-kilometer coral reef area is home to a third of the world’s coral and a quarter of its fish species.

Indonesia has fallen victim to destructive fishing, unregulated tourism and climatic changes, as well as coral trading. Data from 414 reef monitoring stations in 2000 found that only six percent of Indonesia’s coral reefs are in excellent condition, while 24 percent are in good condition, and about 70 percent are only in poor to fair condition.

Yaya Mulyana, the director of the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program Phase II (COREMAP II), said once the government has set a quota, traders will be advised to sell only transplanted coral .

There are about 50 species of coral in Bali and West Nusa Tenggara that can be transplanted.

State Minister for national development planning (Bappenas) Paskah Suzetta said the government would produce a blueprint to address several maritime issues such as fisheries, tourism, sea resources, and modes of sea transportation.

“The Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Ministry *DKP* and Bappenas will cooperate in drafting the blueprint,” Paskah said on the sidelines of the symposium.

Source: The Jakarta Post

This is great news that the Indonesia gov't is finally clamping down on their coral exports. I am astounded whenever I speak to the L.A. buyers as to how much coral they import weekly. The U.S. coral consumption is insane.

There will definitly be a rise in coral prices as the supply will begin to diminish significantly. I am already experiencing this as a lot of my wild coral qoutas are cut back this semester.

Good to hear, it would be nice if all countries with costal reefs could implement this. I wouldn't mind paying more for coral if I new that some of that money went back to conserving the reefs. Keep in mind in an area like Indonesia this is going to be hard to implement/ maintain.
Levi

That is great news... However that may mean even higher coral pricing, but we may also see even more agricultured, which is ok in my books.

edit

Well that was truly unexpected.

I for one am pro aquaculture and that is why most of the corals you see that I sell are fragments and not whole colonies. As well the acroporas that I mainly sell are aquacultured in Indonesia and are from fellow hobbyists as well.

I can appreciate you lumping all retailers into the mix of coral reef exploitation, however without retailers selling corals the hobbyists would not have any brood stock to be trading amongst each other.

My response was not for promotional purposes; just my thoughts on the industry as a whole and how many corals that are being harvested on a weekly basis. I did not once offer anything for sale on this thread, just my opinion from somone that is involved in the industry. I suppose if any other vendor chimed in, they would be considered maliciously trying to promote their business in this thread.

The quantity of corals that I sell wild caught is very limited as I have explained. My CITES quotas are drastically reduced for this semester and I am not at all upset because I feel that it definitley is time to restrict the amount of corals being exported from Indo.

I don't feel shameful or even the least bashful as I primarily promote aquaculture and sustainability.

Thanks for your insight and I am sorry that you feel so negatively towards coral retailers.

:P

WOW, pot meet kettle. Retailers sell what consumers purchase. I did not post this article for people to bash others.

Oceanic, don't worry... I haven't personally bought from you, but without retailers where do most of us get our goods from. Yeah it is great to buy frags off fellow reefers, but at some point the retailer is involved.

I think it may be the responsibility of all to maybe know where their coral comes from... It is the choice of the consumer if they wish to buy agricultured or wild or both... I personally have both... But it is the responsibility of all (mankind) to take care of our earth, so I welcome any government intervention, as it is better now than when it is too late.

To all a good night.

Excuse me???....how can you make a statement like this?..... Retailers are not the cause for the state of the worlds reefs......we the consumers/hobbyists are the cause for creating the market..... Retailers are simply responding to consumer demand.

So I suppose all those frags in the buy/sell forum are free?.... Guess Im not a "real" reefer, like you...:neutral:

I couldnt agree more!