For those who are always asking for proof...

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by Scavenger

It is truly sad what's happening to the natural world, however, we can't go pointing fingers and telling other countries they are wrong unless we sort out the mess in our own backyard first. Again, truly sad.

+1000! Just like people sending money to other places when there are starving / homeless kids here in Canada.

Originally Posted by spoot

Where is Cites when you need them? There ought to be better enforcement into matters like these; especially on products/livestock coming into North America and Europe.

CITES only controls trade on threatened and endangered species, from what I remember. Though I personally consider anything that lives in the ocean to be threatened...

Originally Posted by Leah

What I do not understand is if 75% die off within 48 hrs. Than what are they selling?
How are they making any money this way? I can not seem to understand why then
this would be profitable. If they see this why would they continue. I can not see the
logic in this. Sorry this really confuses me! I agree this is really sad.

They are selling the other 10 percent that actually make it to a store. For a ridiculous price, considering it costs very little to actually catch the fish by these methods. I suppose you are paying for them to hold it for 48 hours to make sure it actually survives, and the shipping. And the 100 percent markup at the LFS.

I can't wait to open my restaurant that sells only rare and endangered dishes. Manatee steak, anyone? I'll have mine medium-rare...

[fiorano]

i did a paper for an environmental science class on reef ecosystems in indonesia. Cyanide fishing and dynamite fishing cause a ridiculous amiount of damage and the profits outweigh the fines received from actually doing the deed... i think it is just absurd that this is not policed more effectively

[Tarolisol]

I just read an article today in the sun that states there are over 2.5 million fisherman in the philipeans(sp?) and indonesia thats alot of fish being taken out of the water for various reasons. I do have to agree if the home aquarium keeper is the cause of most of the problems with fishing that I would gladly sacrifice my hobby to ensure the survival of the oceans, but there is alot more to it then that.

[Puff]

i work in thailand most summers and we have a very nice tank in the office. i went to the supplier one day and had a good ole' b***h out. the guy was putting the completely wrong fish and corals in the tank, and things were suffering. the next day the tank had fewer, and better suited inhabitants. it's a rougly 30-40 gallon tank, and this idiot had about 5 clownfish, a mandarin, a koran angel, and a bunch of other fish. i walked in after not being in the office for a year and freaked out.

then i went down to the big fish (livestock) market with our office manager. she LOVES marine fish and has a tank of her own. we went into one store and she literally got chased out. apparently most fish sellers in the market think she works for the Wildlife department, as she always goes in and bitches people out, and one time the wildlife officers came in and shut a place down a few hours after she left (she hadnt called), but she was angry because she saw some extremely rare corals and fish jammed into a tank.

honestly though...things are just done differently out there. many people are just struggling to survive, and view the ocean as an easy thing to rape and pillage.

living in north america, many of us dont realize how hard it is to make a living in some of these countries. obviously i dont agree with their methods, and i absolutely hate it, but at the same time they are just trying to live. unfortunately it's unavoidable, as they will always need to eat, and the ocean will always be in their backyard.