FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY

[Amphibious]

I'm still going to wait till I can get my hands on the actual case report/court opinion. I'm not about to throw Richard Greenfield in with the likes of Walt Smith just yet.

Would you care to explain this?

 

[Anonymous]

Now this is about to get interesting :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

the ind forum always is ah, um, 'interesting'

 

[sihaya]

Oh, wait... I didn't mean to imply that Walt Smith is a criminal. That's not what I meant by "likes of." I simply meant that I'm not going to morally condem Greenfeild without more information.

Sorry if I confused anyone. Wink

 

[sihaya]

Oh, wait... I didn't mean to imply that Walt Smith is a criminal. That's not what I meant by "likes of." I simply meant that I'm not going to morally condem Greenfeild without more information.

Sorry if I confused anyone.

 

[Anonymous]

IBTL and/or post purgings.

 

[bobimport]

If selling crummy rock is a crime .....................

 

[Goldfish]

I got some reef bones in that still had live seaweed on it.

I got it through central. You can imagine the condition of the box and how musty it smelt about 3 weeks later when I ordered some more.

I contacted Caribsea, and they researched it, and then got back to me and told me that it had been mistakenly shipped before properly drying.

So they then took back the smelly rock from Central Pet, and replaced it with properly dried rock.

And corline algae does not keep it's color when it has been under ground.

I knew it was dead live rock, but I did not know they were getting it illegally.

 

[dizzy]

This is like deja vu all over again only it's live rock and not some rare angel from Mexico.

 

[pyrrhus]

ignore

 

[bobimport]

Nov 11 2006 A U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted a Haitian freighter off the coast of Port au Prince today loaded with coral and dried sea cucumbers. The boat is registered to the brother of the Haitian that shipped Carib Sea. Some people never learn :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :? :? :?

 

[13engrsapper]

Again let me clarify a couple things, some questions here are worth addressing, other assumptions/conclusions have been made. I will post a statement from Betsey, the vice presidnet of the company. As far as who am I, My name is Tony I am the sales manager for the company. Those of you in the industry know how to reach me via cell phone or my office, I welcome any and all calls. I have worked in this industry for over 20 years for a number of companies. Those of you that know me know my personal reputation and what kind of people Betsey and Rick are. Quite simply they are some of the nicest people you would ever meet, and I am blessed to have a job with them. It is true we had an issue with one of the 63 containers of rock we brought in as reef bones. We are not in Haiti collecting this product we purchase it from someone outside our company. I am not familiar with the permit process, but I do know this... the last container that arrived in March (or there abouts) did not have the paperwork from our Hatian supplier, this was very unusual and is being looked into further. In the mean time Rick decided it was easiest on the company in terms of use of time to plead guilty to a misdeamor charge. We are a small family owned company and don't have the time or manpower to have our president and product developer tied up in an extended court process. I will attach Betseys lettter to our customers below. We are not the kind of company that spends our days on these boards bashing other people or companies, and will not be dragged into those sorts of disussions. Again, any industry people are welcome to contact me as always, I am happy to adress any issues or concerns you may have.

November 8, 2006



To Our Customers,

CaribSea Inc. is an enthusiastic supporter of coral reef conservation and has, over our 35 years in business, contributed substantial support to living coral research and captive propagation programs in the public, private, and academic sectors. CaribSea Inc. supplied coral rock, as our product “Reef Bones” as well as “Reef Rock”, and cap rock sold as “Honeycomb Base Rock”, as an alternative to ornamental corals and live rock. These materials are collected on land and are commonly used as building materials in South Florida and the Caribbean.

Recently, CaribSea and its president, Richard Greenfield, Jr. pled guilty in federal court to a misdemeanor charge of importation of coral rock without the proper permit. This misdemeanor was only in the case of one container of rock from Haiti (the material sold as Reef Bones). There was no problem with our other Coral Rock sold as “Reef Rock”, or the cap rock sold as “Honeycomb Base Rock“ and we continue to offer both. Although our lack of the appropriate $100 permit was unintentional, CaribSea has subsequently, with assistance from Fish and Wildlife, obtained the proper import/export permit.

We welcome any questions regarding this matter, and are available during regular business hours.


Yours Sincerely,


Betsey G. Moore
Vice President, CaribSea Inc.


So again feel free to contact me, Tony Wagner, if you have any question with regard to this or any other CaribSea issue. Thanks.

 

[Len]

Folks, our policy dictates that you refrain from accusatory and insulting posts. Please keep your comments factual and refrain from malicious public speculation or commentary.

 

[Anonymous]

Tony
Mr Greenfield was a speaker at our club when your company was new. I consider him very much one of the good guys in the industry. Will you please know that you have support in our area and we will continue to support you? Rick gave a ton of sand to our fledging public aquarium and we are grateful to this day.

Will you tell him thanks for The Living Planet Aquarium and the people of Salt Lake City?

 

[13engrsapper]

Thanks for the kind words aerosmith. He is indeed one of the good guys (the whole family is), and I have learned much from him; such as the importance of family and friends. In fact he would probably be disappointed that I am working at 10 PM when I should be spending time with my wife and kids. Thanks again, I will let him know in the morning.

 

[desheriff]

Gee whiz guys I am sure that we have all made mistakes in the past etc
While some may consider it fun for insults to be traded It does nothing to help any ones cause and if you must do via pm or email.
Or drink a beer or ten thats what we do in Oz
Steve 8O 8O

 

[dizzy]

I think that those of us who work in the industry have the right to be disappointed when other people bring our industry into the news in a negative light. I look at this as another black eye for an industry already in the crosshairs. If you don't commit the crime then please do us a favor and not plead guilty to it, as it makes all of us in the industry guilty by association. (Look what happened to the Republicans) Our industry is being judged in the court of public opinion and these incidents are likely to be very damaging. Nice people can do dumb things. Smart people avoid situations like this. Dr. Andy Bruckner and the USCRTF are already convinced that importers are vastly under reporting the amount of fish and corals coming into the country. I can well imagine they are shaking there collective heads when they hear about potential Lacy Act violations right in our own backyard.
Mitch

 

[bobimport]

63 containers? WOW! that's some business. My question is did you have paperwork for the last 62?
Do you intend to import more now that"F&W has shown" you the way to get paperwork?
I am going to have to try to get one of those permits. Since the government in Haiti will only issue permits in the amount of 6000 lb at a time please put in a good word for me with your connections in the government in Haiti. Funny when the Government in Haiti wanted to know what limit to put on a permit I suggested 6000 lb. ( 2 LD-3 containers). Did you know that each permit contains a mark that is known to the resident agent at F&W and to the director in Haiti to make sure that the permits are not forged?

Let me ask the question after all these years in the business what made you thnk FISH and Wildlife would not want inspect a load of coral rock?

You see I am the one who tried for 2 years to get the US to accept permits from Haiti. Do you have any idea how hard that was? The US even called Haiti and at the dept in PAP all they got was a busy tone.
(one line and 11 ext)

 

[Jaime Baquero]

Mitch,

I agree, this kind of "news" are not good for the industry, it provides ammunition to those in favor of closing down. Despite the fact that there are good people within the trade more and more negative stuff is going to be public. The fact that importers/ exporters are under reporting the amount and value of fish and corals into the US is just one of the many "dirty" secrets of the industry. Its future is gloomy.

 

[Jaime Baquero]

63 containers? WOW! that's some business. My question is did you have paperwork for the last 62?
Do you intend to import more now that"F&W has shown" you the way to get paperwork?
I am going to have to try to get one of those permits. Since the government in Haiti will only issue permits in the amount of 6000 lb at a time please put in a good word for me with your connections in the government in Haiti. Funny when the Government in Haiti wanted to know what limit to put on a permit I suggested 6000 lb. ( 2 LD-3 containers). Did you know that each permit contains a mark that is known to the resident agent at F&W and to the director in Haiti to make sure that the permits are not forged?

Let me ask the question after all these years in the business what made you thnk FISH and Wildlife would not want inspect a load of coral rock?

You see I am the one who tried for 2 years to get the US to accept permits from Haiti. Do you have any idea how hard that was? The US even called Haiti and at the dept in PAP all they got was a busy tone.
(one line and 11 ext)

Bobimport,

You seem to know very well what is going on in Haiti. I know that the situation in that country is terrible because of corruption, poverty and lack of education. Could you please tell me how the collection of MO is regulated. How many collectors are in the country and finally if collectors are getting any benefit from this trade?

Thanks in advance