[Pan]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the info on Guam. Did some reading on this US 'territory'. Seems they do have some serious issues with their ecology. Apparantly mainly due to tourism though, before the EPA got in there an laid down some rules. Good article on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam

All kinds of horror stories re the introduction of non native species, but I don't really see the correlation to our hobby, other than overfishing maybe. Introduction of domestic livestock, tourism, agriculture... Not hobbyists creating the problem as much as the human species doing what they do, move in, develop and try to make a living.

"Aquatic preserves
As a vacation spot for scuba divers, efforts have been made to protect Guam's coral reef habitats from pollution, eroded silt, and overfishing that have led to decreased fish populations. In recent years the Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources has established several new marine preserves where fish populations are monitored by biologists.[20] Prior to adopting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‎ standards, portions of Tumon bay were dredged by the hotel chains in order to provide a better experience for hotel guests.[21][22] Tumon Bay has since been made into a preserve. A federal Guam National Wildlife Refuge in northern Guam protects the decimated sea turtle population in addition to a small colony of Mariana fruit bats.[23]"

Good 'ol wikipedia... heh