Anyway... before this thread dies, let's see if we can't get real discussion of the actual issues going here. I just posted this on RM, let's see what come if I post it here too:
Ok, let's put together some possible scenarios...
Scenario 1: (best case)
Suppose that everyone involved only had the absolute best of intentions. Mr. Borneman took the corals honestly and didn't in any way intend to deceive anyone. Say he thought this would be a great project, etc. etc. And let's say RS also participated in the project as an act of charity and with the best of intentions.
Questions: when the corals started to decline, why wasn't FKNMS immediately contacted (as was required)? Supposing that the decline was unforeseen and was not due to any fault by RS or Mr. Borneman, the FKNMS could have stepped in to help them had they been contacted as soon as the corals became in jeopardy. Furthermore, why was there no follow-up article to RK explaining what happened?
Scenario 2:
Suppose that Mr. Borneman only had the absolute best of intentions, but RS (while having good intentions) was under the impression that they would get financial compensation for their efforts. And supposed that when they realized they weren't being compensated for caring for the corals, they stopped caring for them properly and that's why they started to decline.
Questions: why wasn't funding arranged for before the corals were taken? And again, why wasn't the FKNMS alerted immediately to the problem? If Mr. Borneman was unable to come up with enough funding to support RS in their efforts to care for the corals, why didn't he contact FKNMS for help?
Scenario 3:
Suppose that Mr. Borneman and RS, while at the same time believing they were working towards a noble cause, also expected to gain financially from the project. When the corals started to decline, Mr. Borneman didn't contact FKNMS because he thought he had everything under control and didn't want the FKNMS to suspect otherwise.
Questions: If Mr. Borneman knew he had FKNMS's complete, well-informed support, why would he hesitate to contact them when things started to go bad? why was Mr. Borneman locked out of RS only after he was aware of the jeopardy the corals were in? Why was it Mr. Watson who had to contact FKNMS?
Scenario 4 (worst case):
Suppose Mr. Borneman took more corals than he was allowed, expected to gain financially from the endeavor and didn't alert FKNMS because he knew he was doing something shady and didn't want to call attention to the sitatuon.
Questions: Why didn't FKNMS pursue prosecution? Why is he still working with NOAA and SECORE?
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Now, here are the problems I find arising with ALL of these scenarios:
1. The corals suffered: No matter what the intentions of Mr. Borneman were (good or "bad"), why were the corals allowed to decline for so long?
2. We were not updated: When you take hundreds of pounds of protected Florida corals and talk openly and enthusiastically about it at hobby conferences and in hobby publications, I believe there's an obligation to update the hobby on the status of those corals and the project (no matter the outcome-good or bad).
3. Possible funding issues: When you take hundreds of pounds of protected Florida corals (for whatever reason), it's imperative that you have the proper means and funding to care for them (if not from grants, then from your own pocket). If the reason for the corals decline had anything to do with lack of funds (even if realized after-the-fact) FKNMS should have been contacted *immediately.*
4. Contamination: Why wasn't the contamination issue properly dealt with? Why weren't the Florida corals in a separate room (with separate air circulation) from the Indo-pacific corals? Given the potentially devastating effect introduction of contamination can sometimes have, why wasn't this a bigger concern?
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The bottom line (at least for me) is that these corals were taken under Mr. Borneman's research permit and were thus solely his responsibility. No matter what his reasons for taking them, or his intentions with them, they still suffered on his watch. And to me, that's a major concern. Not to mention that no matter what happened or why, given how much coral was involved and how broadly and openly he discussed this project with the hobby, we should have been updated as to what happened. The hobby should not have had to learn of the fate of this project from my website. We should have been informed of its fate from someone involved in the project.
When someone, anyone, takes truck loads of protected corals to a commercial distributer, one should certainly expect to raise a few eyebrows (no matter what the reasons are) and should be well prepared to answer a lot of questions. And at least in my opinion, Mr. Borneman is no exception.
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