Correct me if I am wrong CITES permits are given when corals cross international borders. I have heard that in some cases (not dealing with coral) Fish and wildlife my want documentation (and CITES) if material is sold inter provincially. So if I sold a coral to the states I would have to have CITES documentation. The only documentaton I could give them is a reciept form the store I bought it from. I think that might be enough to satisfy fish and wildlife. I think the intent of CITES was to monitor and control the movement of livestock from the wild to the wholesaler and not from the LFS to the hobbyist. As for ORA you could provide DNA to establish lineage of the coral but that is going over board and cost some $$$ to do.

Authenticity
 

That paper would just say its a coral that's been exported right, not a "LE Tyree piece"? Fundamentally I think a lot of the confusion here has to do with the fact that there is no way to actually verify this. If the system were cut and dry and everyone had access to it then great bang problem fixed, but I don't foresee that japanning any time soon. Then again, when you purchase a pure bred dog you pay allot extra to have the papers go along with it, when you purchase a frag that costs 13X what something similar would cost you would assume that there would be some sort of paper to go along with that.
Levi

I really don't understand the process where corals get pedigreed. Didn't they come out of the same ocean as every other coral? It didn't just happen to flash into being, it came from parent corals that surely had more then 1 offspring...meaning there are lots more just like them waiting to be harvested...

+1. But you said it way more elegantly than I could :wink:

Red Planet and other ORA frags come on ORA plugs. The most no-brainer proof of lineage is to ask for confirmation of the plug. Bam, you're good to go.

On the other side of the issue; if one assumes that the frags are brought in legally, consider for a moment the implications upon the individual, who did all the legwork, relinquishing all their man hours over an unprofitable dispute on a public board. Seems like a moronic move to me. Doubly so if it's to satisfy the cause of a competing vendor.

$0.02 and a dollar to top it off.

Hey Levi. You are correct - however it would have be "re-exported" from the USA, with the original CITES. I don't thing actual "LE Tyree piece" is what anyone is after (at least not myself), just confirmation that it came was imported from the USA and not a well photographed house coral at a premium price.

Your confusion about this is understandable - and that is why I am so committed to drilling down and getting to the bottom of this. As a collector (and I know you are a collector!) - some corals have superior colour and are historically known to do well in captivity. Steve Tyree has been involved with collecting such corals since the early 1990's. When you mention the Tyree name - well you can expect a coral that has superior qualities - at least according to someone with over 20 years experience keeping SPS. Agreed there are plenty more corals in the ocean - but when you buy a Tyree coral, you are getting a coral historically known to be hardy, colourful and unique. If there is no way to confirm it was at least imported from the US, well you don't know what you are getting which is unfair given the higher prices typically associated with the frag.

Can happen to the best of us :mrgreen:

If it is worth doing - heck it is worth doing right and there is nothing to be defensive about. Legwork is only what your time is worth, to you. If it was as simply as filling out the forms it would not be worthy of discussion. I showed up at the CITES office, learned the process, could not obtain the information required for some of the same corals I can now buy from others...that is why I am working hard at figuring this out.

What the hell does that even mean? This is fluff. If I was a vendor and you came along to ask me how I went about with my due processes, I'd tell you where you could shove it. The fact that you were not able to obtain the processes could be a sum total of many factors including the questions you asked, your relationship with the Fish & Wildlife officers, how nice you were to the receptionist, the way the stars lined up and whatever else happened in tandem with your inquiry. It's hardly excusable that such as, you feel the need to bully it from another vendor on a public forum.

Just a thought
 

I may have missed it, but has anyone considered the amount of frag ops out there, and how far back the original cites May be from? i sell the occasional frag, or trade them. do i need to provide this as well. there definately would be cost implications. i do agree it needs to be perhaps more readily available, but where would it stop. CITES Are applied for and granted or denied. are you willing to pay for it with every purchase. like previously mentioned, a purebred Dog, pay for papers.

Some of the aqua-cultured corals have tags sticking out of plugs, but have never any papers for them.