Nemo mania about to break loose?
Geez I sure hope not.
Blue tangs already account for so much coral destruction in their collection. I hope the marketplace doesn't push them any harder then it already is doing. They're in season now and on living coral cover reefs they are popping up everywhere. The problem is, those reefs are futher and futher away as the nearer ones get cashed in. Cyanide collecting has decimated critical blue tang coral habitat near traditional collecting areas so they keep coming from futher and futher away. The big numbers today come from principally Davao and General Santos in Mindinao. Look it up on the map and see if you can get any futher away from Manila than that.
Nemo wouldn't bet collected and shipped from Australia in real
life. No normal importer would ever pay the Aussie price. The retail trade would never support that and hobbyist even less. Huge numbers come from Indonesia [ pro cyanide] and Philippines [allegedly moving away from it albiet without training and net supplies].
The Solomons, Tonga and Vanuatu provide token amounts comparitively.
Blue tangs are indic
ator species and reflect the % of coverage of old, live pocillipora and acropora stands. Attracting the squirt bottle to their hiding places deep in the interstices of the coral, their capture generally ensures a serious dose of poison.
Numb and oblivious to this, the general public grabs for the color and prettiness like a baby does for a rattle.
The more informed hobbyists and marinelife dealers often pretend to care...mix it with a dose of denial and then execute the sale.
The final consciencious 1% of marinelife dealers refuse to carry blue tangs unless they can get the few netcaught ones available. After 20 years of net trainings from the NGOs we've been hearing of, this amounts to practically nothing and not enough to stock one single L.A. wholesaler.
This is why some of us are angry. If its what you do for a living, whats the alternative? Selling out??? What if you are the rare few who find that offensive and unacceptable? What if you insist on a policy of not using your purchasing power to help accelerate coral destruction? What if you want to do the right thing?
And what if there is still no @#*#@# net training and netting supply moving forward to allow you to do the right thing???
Mary, Jenn, Tim, Judy...will anyone ever understand why it is so important to have blue tangs caught with nets? So that we can be complete and compete on a more level playing field. This is where much of the anger comes from that newbies and innocents just walk in and say, "Hey guys, can't we all just get along?"
ITS VERY UNFAIR FOR HONEST DEALERS to compete against the cyanide trade and twice as unfair if that trade recieves absolution from some "environmental NGO".
DON'T JUST JUDGE THE TRUE BELIEVERS ON THE SUPERFICIAL STUFF. TRY AND SEE WHAT LIES BENEATH. What would you do? Would you just sell out like almost everyone else? Or would you stay honest, stay sincere and ...yes, stay passionate about the question?
Sincerely, Steve
ps. Well, what would you all do?