Naesco-
I answered the question of what I consider to be unsuitable species in the "not my fault" thread. (actually, it was even directed to you
)
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>I support the banning of the following categories of animals:
Deadly- such as blue ring octopus
Obligate feeders- Fish and inverts that are known to have an extremely specific diet that is either too expensive or impossible to provide in a captive environment. Many animals such as certain butterfly fish and nudibranchs fall in to this category.
Extremely large species- Fish such as certain groupers, sharks, snapper, etc... that are unable to be properly housed by the vast majority of hobbyists.
The needs/nature of these animals are well researched and documented. There's no arguing that a blue ring's bite is deadly, etc... I do not believe in banning any species that does not not have the reasons backed up by scientific data and research. For example, someone saying "I can't keep a bubble coral alive and I know 6 other people that can't either, therefore it should be banned". I would want to see documented scientific research that yes indeedy it is practically impossible to properly provide for bubble corals in captivity.
Someone is bound to be thinking "What about banning corals that can not be harvested in a sustainable manner?". It is important to keep in mind that sustainable harvest quotas vary from ocean to ocean, country to country, and even collection area to collection area. To insure that sustainable numbers of animals are being harvested, it is necessary to have individual collection areas monitored by organizations such as Reef Check and to have the country of origin establish laws to provide for proper harvest. Back to the bubble coral example, you may be able to prove that bubble corals are endangered in country xyz, so they shouldn't be harvested there. However, they are perfectly sustainable in country abc. If the US banned the import of bubble corals because of country xyz's shortage, country abc wouldn't be able to harvest their sustainable product.
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