> Martin you are so wrong, the effect of collectors on the reefs and live rock
> in Florida was minuscule compared to the damage done by bottom trawling,
> siltation from on shore developers, and pollution. Collectors were just an
> easy target for the state legislature so they could make it look like they
> were doing something.
I never meant to imply that collectors were solely responsible.
Merely that they add to the pressures you mentioned (siltation,
dredging, etc., which are well known and acknowledged). But
devotees of the hobby vehemently maintain that their activities do
no damage, and I just don't buy that. Especially considering some
of the collecting methods that are used. Explosives and poison
come to mind. Like I said, how do you _KNOW_ how the
specimens were acquired?
And how else would we know how to breed these animals in
captivity without capturing wild ones? But the pressure is so
intense now that I would only purchase tank raised animals. The
experts who have a real chance to breed, say, clown triggers, can
be the ones who go out and collect their own. Kind of like what we
do in NANFA. Is there anyone here who would consider, for even a
heartbeat, setting up a wholesale native collecting operation? I
didn't think so.
Prost,
Martin
------
It makes me mad when I go to all the trouble of having Marta cook up about
a hundred drumsticks, and the guy at the Marineland says, "You can't throw
chicken to the dolphins. They eat fish." Sure they eat fish, if that's all
you give them. Man, wise up.
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