I am also of the opinion that sending out a mass email to all members of this site in order to increase activity on this forum is in VERY poor taste. I was surprised to see this forum move to the pay-for-play model, and now I just get the sense that RAG is scrambling to stay afloat.
Do I think that Eric made a mistake somewhere along the way? Sure, but it is now resolved. MOVE ON PEOPLE!
I am also of the opinion that sending out a mass email to all members of this site in order to increase activity on this forum is in VERY poor taste. I was surprised to see this forum move to the pay-for-play model, and now I just get the sense that RAG is scrambling to stay afloat.
Do I think that Eric made a mistake somewhere along the way? Sure, but it is now resolved. MOVE ON PEOPLE!
Hmmm - I get mass emails from other sites too. I do not think that in poor taste. I think I can refuse to allow mass emails from those sites if I wanted. This site has emailed people on other occasions to invite to a special chat session and other discussions as well. This is no different.
If you "get the sense" that RAG is scrambling to stay afloat - your senses deceive you. This has been discussed elsewhere and does not belong on this thread.
The issue is not to be "resolved" here. It is to be discussed (which is what I think we are doing). The issue is even different to different people. To me, the big issue is sloppy paperwork and judgement and preparation to a degree where the government is gonna make it even harder to work in aquaculture or mariculture or even ultimately in reefkeeping.
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Ask me why you shouldn't go to Friends University!
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.
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Ask me why you shouldn't go to Friends University!
If you read it again, the permit was only for corals under 20cm. The navy was under contractual agreement to transplant anything over 20cm. Then look at the inventory.
The above statement should make all of us think why a problem that was solved 2 years ago is coming out again...
The problem was not "solved." It was simply abandoned and then swept under the rug without any notice to the hobby community to which it was broadly announced.
It may not say it explicitly, but there are several good reasons to think the FKNMS intended to limit the size of corals taken to ~ or <20cm:
1. The asked-for format of the inventory has columns for <8cm, 8-15cm, 15-20cm, and >20cm. If the FKNMS had actually expected Mr. Borneman to take corals as large as >50cm, why would they have asked for columns distinguishing corals falling a 8-15cm from corals in the 15-20cm, but not distinguishing corals at 22cm from corals >50cm? It seems obvious that they wanted to be aware of the size of the corals to within approx. 5 to 8cm. Thus, one could argue that they didn't intend any corals over 28cm to be taken. And even with a most generous interpretation of the inventory structure, certainly they didn't expect people to take corals >50cm.
2. The permit required FKNMS suprvision... this shows that, while the permit may be vague, it was not intended to be an "all access pass" to the all the corals at the T. Annex.
3. Lauri's email states that she specifically instructed Mr. Borneman not to take corals >20cm.
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