Well, funny thing is that the Gov'ts won't acknowledge the fact that calcareous corals CAN be successfully farmed and then fragmented into daughters. Sometimes these corals have been grown and passed on for years to the point that they are no longer recognizable as the parent.
They assume that the corals for sale are wild-caught. That's why they are so strict on those licenses. Mostly I think it is due to the general ignorance of the leaps that this hobby has advanced. None of this "coral fragging" was that common a few years back.
Heck, if I can grow my SPSs to the point that I can frag some off to sell, most hobbyist can, too, with a little more work and dedication.
They also had restrictions about the piece of LR or cement frag plugs the corals are attached to, too. Need to be about 3cm or less.
At the end of the show, most vendors were just giving their stuff away for next to nothing so that they didn't have to take it all back. The booth that had over 100+ fish took over 8 hours to set up: set up their tanks, warm up salt-water that was provided, ready the fish for acclimating. They had most of the fishes left. Shame because they had to drive over 10 hours to get to SEAMAX.
You can see why most vendors/attendees won't consider coming back for another show. It has nothing to do with the weather, as Seattle offers more than just the show in Summer. I bet most Canadians won't go because of the restrictions. I know that we won't. It is just too bad, as it could have the potential to grow into a much bigger event.
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