[mac]

OK, here is a topic irritating to me that I wanted to bring up. In the last couple of weeks I have seen a few online vendors advertise so-called Japanese corals for sale. I have refused to buy and sell these corals as have several other reputable vendors.

There are a many issues to consider, just a few listed here, others may apply:

1. I spoke directly with US Fish & Wildlife officals and these corals are in fact being imported illegally into the US if they actually originate from Japan.
2. Vendors may be saying these are "Japanese" only to screw hobbyists and demand extreme prices or simply call attention to their otherwise incomplete web sites. However, some corals are endemic only to that area and can not be said to actually originate from other areas such as Australia.
3. The corals may be imported from Japan to other countries and then paperwork is altered to make them seem to be legally imported from another country into the US--also an illegal practice. This practice brings our entire industry/hobby into negative light of officals that regulate legal CITES importation of corals and leads to potential problems. Who knows, officials may use this illegal importation as grounds for shutting down all imports and for all practical purposes shut down our hobby---realistically captive grown supply can not meet demand at this time. Tonga imports are currently banned and the industry is under closer scrutiny recently, speculation may lead one to believe offcials are building a case here.
4. Will hobbyist help regulate these unscrupulous vendors by not buying these corals and therefore killing demand and helping to save our hobby?
5. This issue is already known to US Fish and Wildlife officials, no one needed to make them aware, they told me this is most definitely on their radar screen and they are watching and investigating actively and some heads may roll. This does put our entire hobby in a negative light and will in fact bring greater scrutiny to honest legal importers.
6. I for one will absolutely not handle any animals that are imported illegally no matter how much money I could make by selling them at inflated prices, this is not my business model and never will be. Sorry, I feel strongly about this issue and will not sit by blindly as our entire industry/hobby is brought down by a few greedy vendors! I have been offered these corals for sale to me by a couple of my suppliers and could make lots of money selling them, but I absolutely refuse to buy and sell them.


Please respect this post, if you have something to post here on the subject please do so in a respectful manner, please do so only here in our paid forum. I have no interest in bringing this to the other forums on this board, if you do then please respect the fact I do not wish to be dragged in and wish you to not quote this thread in other forums, if you feel the urge to post this topic elsewhere on this board then please do so with your own post not linking to this thread. Thanks