Data: Wrong; Sustainability: Don't care; Robert Wintner: Aquarium trade should stop!

[Myka]

And Snorkel Bob? He doesn't have clean hands either...

I've seen divers and snorkelers and dive shop owners damage the reef many times. I've seen them run their boats onto the reefs, I've seen them break corals, take them out of the water, or otherwise disturb them. I've heard them joking around about terrible things they have done and shown no remorse. They feed the fish unhealthy foods. Should we ban snorkeling and diving too?

Sunbathers on the beach bring gallons and gallons of sunscreen and tanning oils into the water. They trample the reefs and scare the fish. Maybe we should ban this too?

Let's not even bother to talk about the animal farming on land producing waste that runs off into the oceans or the food farming where fertilizers have made soil so salty it won't even grow plants anymore. Guess where those phosphate laden waters run off to?

My point is, the aquarium trade is a drop of water in a large puddle.

[msjboy]

I think the marine fish hobby is expensive so it will be a barrier to entry for those who would care less if the livestock was any cheaper....the hobby will get even more expensive if there is qoutas or if they are all tank bred which again might be a good thing for nature proponents.

If we were abound in ref fish and cheap, i think we would have a lot more mass dieoff as people do not care. I think many people buy goldfish and they end up dead in a few months foe example,....only a few studiuos person will,ake effort to keep their stock alive instead of just replacing it

I remember when red ear turtles were $1 each at stores...and because of it, people dumped them, killed a lot by letting kids take care of it and so on. Also pet monkeys were readily available but no more....will corals and marine fish come to this...i cant say.

Msjboy

[saltcreep]

Originally Posted by Myka

My point is, the aquarium trade is a drop of water in a large puddle.

And nobody is arguing that point. This simply boils down to those with a vested interest wanting to shut down the aquarium trade in Hawaii because it does impact the reef. It doesn't matter the degree or where is falls in the pecking order for damage to the reefs, simply put, the industry damages the reefs. There is no other way to put it.

This can only be "won" from a position of sustainability.