[cUddlefish]

I work for a governmental entity. Here is how this could fictionally (I pray) affect ALL of you:

Govt: You are importing coral.

Me: Yes I am.

Govt: Are your permits in order?

Me: Pretty much. I followed most of the rules.

Govt: You have to follow all of the rules exactly.

Me: I know - I had some problems in the past but they are taken care of now. My paperwork is pretty much in order.

Govt: Not good enough. It needs to be in total order and you need to follow the rules.

Me: But there is this vague part in the regulations and I followed it to my benefit. Come on. EB had a misunderstanding and you let him go.

Govt: Ok wise guy. New legislation. No coral may come into the country at all and all aquacultured coral must have a permit. All reef keepers must apply for and obtain a permit before keeping any corals or their relatives including but not limited to octocorals and coralmorphians and all other cnidarians and their relatives. All Reefkeepers must submit to random inspections by the Environmental Protection Agency. All kept corals must be genetically tested to prove they are related to a known sample maintained in a coral registry. Corals may not be relocated or propagated unless all propagated material be registered through a coral registry and DNA testing must accompany all samples. Prapagates may not be relocated until the new location is permited and inspected by the Environmental Protection Agency. Failure to do so may result in revocation of permit and or a fine with imprisonment not to exceed 2 years.


Could this happen?

Hey - Animal Rights/Green Earth groups are only just now setting their sites on the aquarium industry. It would be a bad idea to give them ammunition.