Everyone read right now

[dustin_P74]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1616975


if this bill passes the aquarium industry and hobby will be dead overnight

 

[bigploch]

I am not sure how I feel about this whole thing. On one hand, being part of a hobby that could potentially render certain species of fish extinct is not good in my opinion. On the other hand this bill could render a few people friends of mine homeless. This decision will require a bit of research. I am anxious to hear other's opinions on this.

 

[ccCapt]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1616975


if this bill passes the aquarium industry and hobby will be dead overnight

Your announcement is a week late ;)
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1611822

 

[dustin_P74]

Your announcement is a week late ;)
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1611822

i didnt see that, i only saw what kevin wrote today

 

[Smitty]

That is crazy!!! There are too many other issues in this country to be worried about instead of banning fish and animals. Doing this would really screw up the economy, because this hobby(keeping animals and fish) is a multi-million dollar business. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

 

[dustin_P74]

because this hobby(keeping animals and fish) is a multi-million dollar business.

i would say multi billion dollar industry, and think about how many jobs this bill would eliminate

 

[Smitty]

It's just a scary thought of all the people involved with the sale and trade of pets to all of a sudden just lose their livelyhood, their dreams, and well-being.

 

[dustin_P74]

and think about all of the pet owners that would probably be required to euthanize their pets because theyd be illegal

 

[ccCapt]

You guys got to take the time and R E A D the whole thing.

"(f) Animals Owned Lawfully Prior to Prohibition of Importation- This Act and regulations issued under this Act shall not interfere with the ability of any person to possess an individual animal of any species if such individual animal was legally owned by the person before the risk assessment is begun pursuant to subsection (e)(3), even if such species is later prohibited from being imported under the regulations issued under this Act."

 

[Bifferwine]

Also, there is an exemption clause for any animals that are already widespread and kept as pets or by hobbyists in the country. That would include 99.9999% of the stuff in our tanks.

The guy that posted this mentions that guinea pigs, hamsters and gerbils could be considered "exotic". But if you take the time to read it, it would not have any effect on animals that are already commonly kept as pets or bred for hobbies.

the Service must make a determination that those listed species, based on scientific and commercial information, are not harmful to the United State’s economy, environment or other animals’ or human health may be harmful “but already are so widespread in the United States that it is clear to the Secretary that any import prohibitions or restrictions would have no practical utility for the United States.”

Look, there's not a person on this site that has something in their tank that nobody else in the country has.

Especially when it comes to corals. Because of how they can reproduce (fragging), it's not even necessary to import most corals. It would be impossible to regulate the spread of fragged corals within the country, and this law wouldn't even apply, since they are not being imported.

I would fully support this bill.

 

[Bifferwine]

PS -- notice the woman that introduced this bill is from Guam. Guam has had more than 90% of their native birds completely wiped out by people that brought non-native snakes over to that territory. Prior to this, there were no native reptiles on the island of Guam. As such, the birds of the island had never adapted any awareness or defenses against such predators. This issue has decimated a huge portion of Guam's wildlife, and has caused several bird species to go extinct in our lifetime.

You have to know the context of where this bill is coming from to appreciate what it is and what it's trying to do.

It would have no effect on the saltwater business as we know it, although it would probably make it more difficult to import NEW species for the trade that have not ever been kept in the hobby before. But if you look at the shape that corals reefs are in today, are more stringent rules regarding harvesting of NEW species a bad thing?

 

[dustin_P74]

Look, there's not a person on this site that has something in their tank that nobody else in the country has.

i think i can honestly say im one of a VERY VERY VERY few people that can say they own a zebra angelfish trio

 

[Bifferwine]

Well, they are not judging species in trios. This is based on a species by species basis. I find it extremely hard to believe that there are not three other people in the country that have one of those fish.

 

[BigH55]

The MAN is just mad because he cant keep his tank going good and his stuff keeps dying. I quess ill have to get rid of my bengel tiger and family of chimps. Typing with no hands isn't worth it. (Sorry bad joke).

 

[ccCapt]

i think i can honestly say im one of a VERY VERY VERY few people that can say they own a zebra angelfish trio

Your the 1 who bought that trio for $700? Damn dude, I guess your Mom got a new job huh. Been spending some big $$ lately.

 

[yote]

PS -- notice the woman that introduced this bill is from Guam. Guam has had more than 90% of their native birds completely wiped out by people that brought non-native snakes over to that territory. Prior to this, there were no native reptiles on the island of Guam. As such, the birds of the island had never adapted any awareness or defenses against such predators. This issue has decimated a huge portion of Guam's wildlife, and has caused several bird species to go extinct in our lifetime.

You have to know the context of where this bill is coming from to appreciate what it is and what it's trying to do.

It would have no effect on the saltwater business as we know it, although it would probably make it more difficult to import NEW species for the trade that have not ever been kept in the hobby before. But if you look at the shape that corals reefs are in today, are more stringent rules regarding harvesting of NEW species a bad thing?

Also look at the Everglades.There was a show on Natgeo a couple of weeks about how the pythons and boas are wiping out the native wildlife down there.
Its the classic example of the few bad apples ruining the entire barrel.I can see that ladies point of view.There are people that will by an exotic animal without doing any research,then when they find they cant take care of that animal,they just release it right out into the woods,lakes,or streams.
But I dont see that law helpping matters either.Take a trip down to any Texas border town,you can buy black market animals down there all day long.If this bill passes,its not going to stop the black market pet trade,its just going to hurt the exotic import people that do follow the laws.

 

[yote]

And this right here is enough for me to not support it:
HR 669 also calls for the establishment of a user fee system for funding assessments following the adoption of the
“Preliminary Approved List.” This has been a long term desire of animal activist and environmental protectionist
3
organizations since they know that user fees can become cost prohibitive and virtually eliminate small interest
groups or business from participating in the process. It can easily paralyze access except for the wealthy or those
living off of tax exempt dollars who use the system to drive their agendas. Furthermore, fees are not made
available to the Service until 36 months into the process. It is not clear how the Service would implement the first
three years of work under HR 669.
RECOMMENDATIONS – TIME IS NOW!
According to the Defenders of Wildlife "For far too long the pet, aquarium and other industries have imported live
animals to the United States without regard to their harm…" Defenders, the Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are part of a coalition pushing hard for passage of this bill without
amendments.

 

[dustin_P74]

Your the 1 who bought that trio for $700? Damn dude, I guess your Mom got a new job huh. Been spending some big $$ lately.

she hasnt got a new job but her severance package was extremely large

 

[dustin_P74]

Also look at the Everglades.There was a show on Natgeo a couple of weeks about how the pythons and boas are wiping out the native wildlife down there.
Its the classic example of the few bad apples ruining the entire barrel.I can see that ladies point of view.There are people that will by an exotic animal without doing any research,then when they find they cant take care of that animal,they just release it right out into the woods,lakes,or streams.
But I dont see that law helpping matters either.Take a trip down to any Texas border town,you can buy black market animals down there all day long.If this bill passes,its not going to stop the black market pet trade,its just going to hurt the exotic import people that do follow the laws.

yote, the black market trade isnt going to make this law stop, i mean look at marijuana, you cant control the spread of it, you cant control people using it but they still make it illegal

also i think kevin made a good point when he wrote this and that being, they want to make an animal completely illegal if it can hurt the ecosystem in Hawaii but what they do is make the entire united states one large ecosystem even though its not and if the animal can hurt the ecosystem of Hiwaii then its illegal in Kansas were it can do no ecosystem harm

 

[yote]

Thats what I was getting at Dustin.All their going to do is make it harder for bussiness,while driving up the price for illegal animals.Just padding the pockets of poachers IMO.