Bad news for coral reefs

[gordob]

It looks like our tanks may be the only places reefs exist one day, if things are done to change the current course. Very sad to hear, to say the least.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/25/coral-reefs-may-be-gone-b_n_827709.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/25/coral-reefs-may-be-gone-b_n_827709.html</a>

- Brad

 

[fish scales2]

Although I agree something should be done about our collection practices, that article is based purely on speculation and non-truths.

I believe the coral die off in the 70's made the bleaching in 05' look minimal. We almost lost every one the stags and elkhorns in the keys. Thanks to people like Ken Nedimyer and the things we have learned from him our Oceans MAY have a bright future.

We as hobbyist can only do so much but one thing we can do is to quit buying wild collected corals. EVERYONE, Take a look in your tank and make a change.

 

[brianjfinn]

Fish Scales2;618398 wrote: Although I agree something should be done about our collection practices, that article is based purely on speculation and non-truths.

I believe the coral die off in the 70's made the bleaching in 05' look minimal. We almost lost every one the stags and elkhorns in the keys. Thanks to people like Ken Nedimyer and the things we have learned from him our Oceans MAY have a bright future.

We as hobbyist can only do so much but one thing we can do is to quit buying wild collected corals. EVERYONE, Take a look in your tank and make a change.

:up:

 

[gnashty]

Fish Scales2;618398 wrote: EVERYONE, Take a look in your tank and make a change.

:yay:

 

[spiderman097]

Cheers Chris!

 

[hammcd]

is there a way to make sure what you are getting isnt bought wild?...i mean i know getting frags from fellow members is one way, btu if you buy them at a store is there a way to make sure...

 

[brianjfinn]

Hammcd;618426 wrote: is there a way to make sure what you are getting isnt bought wild?...i mean i know getting frags from fellow members is one way, btu if you buy them at a store is there a way to make sure...

Ask about their suppliers and where they get their livestock from. This is good practice anyway, just so you can learn who has quality livestock and who doesn't.

 

[hammcd]

i usually get my stuff from fellow arc'ers or atlanta reef..ill ask alan next time im there

 

[morganatlanta]

There's nothing wrong with "wild caught" as long as it is done sustainably. What we need is a realiable way to know how the coral was collected. If people can derive value from the reefs through "gardening" coral, then the reefs have more economic value, and they stand a chance against other interests.

For example, if a proposed mine is going to put silt over a reef, but the mine will provide jobs and tax dollars, the mine is likely going to win out. But if the reef is also providing jobs and tax dollars, then it stands a chance.

If you give all your money to an aquaculture company that grows coral in the US, then the locals that could be making money sustainably collecting coral are going to have to go work in the mine.

Global warming is a whole 'nother problem, but don't let the threats from global warming scare you away from providing locals in the tropics with a way to make a living by conserving the reefs.

We reefers shouldn't get to high and mighty about this stuff anyway. If energy usage is at the root of global warming, and we use ridiculous amounts of extra energy to create artificial tropical reef environments in our houses, then we are the ones to blame for the whole thing...

So we are saying to the guy who used to make a living collecting coral... "We aren't going to give you any money for your coral anymore because your reefs are dying, but your reefs are really dying because we a pumping CO2 into the atmosphere from all the energy we use. That's okay. We farm our own coral now in Wisconsin and don't need your stuff anyway. Sorry pal. Go work in the bauxite mine because I need more aluminum for the heatsink on my new lights."

 

[laura]

Kudos to you, MorganAtlanta! We have to look at the "big picture", and take everything into consideration before reacting. Very well put!!!

 

[gordob]

Good points!

- Brad

 

[brianjfinn]

MorganAtlanta;618528 wrote: There's nothing wrong with "wild caught" as long as it is done sustainably. What we need is a realiable way to know how the coral was collected. If people can derive value from the reefs through "gardening" coral, then the reefs have more economic value, and they stand a chance against other interests.

For example, if a proposed mine is going to put silt over a reef, but the mine will provide jobs and tax dollars, the mine is likely going to win out. But if the reef is also providing jobs and tax dollars, then it stands a chance.

If you give all your money to an aquaculture company that grows coral in the US, then the locals that could be making money sustainably collecting coral are going to have to go work in the mine.

Global warming is a whole 'nother problem, but don't let the threats from global warming scare you away from providing locals in the tropics with a way to make a living by conserving the reefs.

We reefers shouldn't get to high and mighty about this stuff anyway. If energy usage is at the root of global warming, and we use ridiculous amounts of extra energy to create artificial tropical reef environments in our houses, then we are the ones to blame for the whole thing...

So we are saying to the guy who used to make a living collecting coral... "We aren't going to give you any money for your coral anymore because your reefs are dying, but your reefs are really dying because we a pumping CO2 into the atmosphere from all the energy we use. That's okay. We farm our own coral now in Wisconsin and don't need your stuff anyway. Sorry pal. Go work in the bauxite mine because I need more aluminum for the heatsink on my new lights."

Nice. Good argument, if you ask me.

 

[darcurr]

MorganAtlanta;618528 wrote: There's nothing wrong with "wild caught" as long as it is done sustainably.

+1
Most all fish are wild caught, including the ones we eat.

 

[swfk44]

AndrewG;618654 wrote: The Huffington Post is a pile of crap. It's all politically motivated. Don't worry life will find a way. Always has.

+10 i whole heartedly agree the huff and puff post is crap. quote http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110224/sc_afp/sciencewarmingoceansenvironment;_ylt=Ahoam_1POjqwPp.yiFX08Ktpl88F;_ylu=X3oDMTM2MGVyc3JzBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDExMDIyNC9zY2llbmNld2FybWluZ29jZWFuc2Vudmlyb25tZW50BHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA3dvcmxkMzlzY29yYQ--"><span style="color: #399800">CO2 emissions</span></a> are also making the oceans more [IMG]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jeffrey-h-toney/global-weirding-caribbean_b_817733.html"><span style="color: #399800">acidic</span></a>. Because of the rising acidity levels, some scientists claim we will see conditions not witnessed since the period of [IMG]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/09/carbon-emissions-creating_n_173322.html"><span style="color: #399800">dinosaurs</span></a>.:yes: quote

<span style="color: red">don't some of you PUMP co2 in your tanks from a bottle :doh::lol2:</span>

 

[johnqx4]

Seems like we have this thread repeated about once a month. Different name, same thread.

Here is what we know about global warming and the weather: In reality, we don't know much of anything. The best super computers on the planet can't predict weather worth a crap.

A single hurricane can (and often does) do more damage to a reef in an hour than we can do in a life time.

Conversation, harvesting, fragging... Never bad, good practice, but not necessarily the complete solution.

Do what you can. Use your brain. Make common sense choices. don't try and enforce your beliefs on others. Another round is always in order...:wine:

Bad news for the reefs.... Just FYI. The KT explosion happened a couple hundred million years ago (or so). Basically a rock about 6 miles across landed in the carribian (sp) off of the yuchatan (sorry about my spelling, I'm too lazy to look it up). It largely set the planet on fire and is today considered the most likely cause for the demise of dinosaurs. It should have destroyed every reef on the planet in a day. BUT (and this is totally not understood) they went large unscathed... The smarter we get, the more we realize the more we don't know....

My $.02 worth


johnny

Edit: I did mean conservation... Gotta lay off the chardonnay...

Edit: Oh, and the huffington post are the biggest bunch of quacks on the planet (IMHO)

 

[brianjfinn]

Random fact about the Huffington Post: Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post does the voice of Tim the Bear's wife on the Cleveland Show, who's name is, of course, Arianna.

 

[snowmansnow]

Coral reefs will be here LONG after the human race is extinct and the next life form is digging up OUR bones and sticking them together for some kind of kids to gawk at in a museum.

That being said... I do believe in taking care of our planet however we can.

B

 

[fish scales2]

There is a process already in place called mariculturing, most clams that we get in now are maricultured and there are many many corals that are being grown this way, I am simply saying that we should support aquaculturing and mariculturing as well.

Wild collection is acceptable in my opinion if being sent to mariculture facilities. Mariculture&gt;Aquaculture IMO at least maricultured coral can be placed back whereas aquacultured cannot.

MorganAtlanta;618528 wrote: There's nothing wrong with "wild caught" as long as it is done sustainably. What we need is a realiable way to know how the coral was collected. If people can derive value from the reefs through "gardening" coral, then the reefs have more economic value, and they stand a chance against other interests.

For example, if a proposed mine is going to put silt over a reef, but the mine will provide jobs and tax dollars, the mine is likely going to win out. But if the reef is also providing jobs and tax dollars, then it stands a chance.

If you give all your money to an aquaculture company that grows coral in the US, then the locals that could be making money sustainably collecting coral are going to have to go work in the mine.

Global warming is a whole 'nother problem, but don't let the threats from global warming scare you away from providing locals in the tropics with a way to make a living by conserving the reefs.

We reefers shouldn't get to high and mighty about this stuff anyway. If energy usage is at the root of global warming, and we use ridiculous amounts of extra energy to create artificial tropical reef environments in our houses, then we are the ones to blame for the whole thing...

So we are saying to the guy who used to make a living collecting coral... "We aren't going to give you any money for your coral anymore because your reefs are dying, but your reefs are really dying because we a pumping CO2 into the atmosphere from all the energy we use. That's okay. We farm our own coral now in Wisconsin and don't need your stuff anyway. Sorry pal. Go work in the bauxite mine because I need more aluminum for the heatsink on my new lights."

 

[jballa15]

Global warming and especially ocean acidification are the culmination of massive amounts of scientific data that support the rise in ocean temperature and acidity. The rate of projected increase is debatable (ie:modeling), but the recent history is not fabricated...CO2 reaches an equilibria with carbonate to give rise in ocean acidity and cause all sorts of ecological impacts (most of which are still being studied), but the point is that these phenomena exist as unbiased data based on carbon dating and sourcing of anthropogenic carbon. These observations serve as warning signs and baselines for future models and experiments to determine trickle down ecological affects...just the intro : )

 

[gordob]

Just to defend myself for this post...By posting it, I am not saying I completely agree with what was written. My reasoning was to share what I came across. I knew it would spark input, & I appreciate everyone chiming in with different perspectives. I do think conservation is a good thing, but I don't think we can change the course of nature.

As for global warming...there is definitely some impact on the environment from our habits and way of life, but I do not think we are causing "global warming" to happen. Throughout history, the earth has gone through different cycles, & I believe we are in the middle of another one of those cycles. Have we increased the timing of that cycle? Maybe, but I believe it would happen if we weren't here.

I apologize, because I didn't intend to spark a global warming debate here.

- Brad