I normally don't like to get all Chicken Little about things, but I think everyone should read this Reefbuilder's article carefully:
http://reefbuilders.com/2013/04/03/r...coral-listing/
RB has written about this rule before, but the public comment period is about to close, and so far there's only 46 comments from the public. If this is passed, it could very well mean the end to the US coral trade, which can only have horrific consequences for us up here in Canada.
I'm very much in favour of conservation, and this hobby is by no means free of ethical dilemmas, but the NOAA has already acknowledged that the big threats to the species they're trying to list as threatened climate change and habitat destruction, neither of which have any hope of being resolved, addressed, or even influenced by this regulation. Furthermore, the science used to classify many of these species as endangered or threatened is so flaky it can't even be called science. I'm not saying they're not threatened, but the work to prove it absolutely has not been done. This is how the IUCN has evaluated the risk status of Acanthastrea ishigakiensis:
"There is no species specific population information available for this species. However, there is evidence that overall coral reef habitat has declined, and this is used as a proxy for population decline for this species."
Translation: we never actually did any work with this species, but we're guessing it's in trouble.
Making it illegal to grow these - or any other species - in home aquariums will absolutely, under no circumstances, prevent the destructions of reefs due to climate change. In fact, 99% of what we know about coral propogation and mariculture (techniques that are being used to restore reefs the world over) are the direct result of and funded by the hobby aquarium trade. When it comes to corals, the hobby is one of the biggest allies reefs have in terms of encouraging non-destructive reef related economic activities, which in turn funds the facilities and fosters the know how to repair reefs that are on the edge.
Obviously we need rules, but this is a bad one. I hope everyone takes a moment to comment on the regulation while there's still time. There's a link on the RB article to the comment page.