The biggest threat to our hobby

[Jakegr]

Thanks for the reply Asylumdown, that makes more sense to me. Other than reducing collection pressures by eliminating the US market for corals, the ESA listing would not be effective in many ways and may have negative impacts by banning coral aquaculture in the USA.

I do think closing the US market would significantly reduce collection, which may or may not increase populations. In situations where there is no data I tend to stay on the cautious side, which is why I am not as strongly against the ESA listing as other hobbyists are. Despite that, I've decided not to support the ESA listing due to the majority of the species being outside the USA's range of enforcement and it's negative influence on the development of coral aquaculture in the USA and abroad.

The main reason I do not want to write a comment on behalf of MASNA is because I do not want to be associated with them in any way. They seem to claim the scientific high-ground when it suits their interests, but when there is no science to support current practices their opinion seems to be "maintain status quo". Not a big fan of lobby groups.

On the bright side, coral culture will still be legal in Canada even if this passes

[Dearth]

I visited several US forum reefing sites and if you can manage to make it through the whining and name calling crap what it boils down to is this copied from another forum

You can continue to own any coral on the list

You can continue to transport them across state lines but not internationally and not for commercial purposes

You can give and receive any coral on the list but must be done for free and no money or services can be exchanged (ie. trade frags with someone else or friends but must be done with no monetary value or services exchanges)

Exception from certain rules/regulations if you already own any of the above coral

Any coral not farmed from native environment is excluded(ie. if it is grown in your tank and parcelled out)

The new law affects sellers and collectors of coral adversely (stores, wholesalers, coral farmers in US territorial waters)