Barrier Reef Left with a Massive Hole!

[Paul_N]

"Face it man, our hobby has done some pretty extensive damage and we are by no means in any position to be giving ourselves a pat on the back for the small steps we have made in preserving those reefs."

I couldn't disagree more strongly about this statement. It has to start somewhere and I really think we should pat ourselves on the back just for awareness that has been brought about with forums like this and local clubs. I realize we have a long way to go but if you are going to say that then what it the point of this:

"I just feel obligated to share what I know as it is easy for the average person to get excited when they hear phrases like "net collected", etc."

I think most of us are aware of this and truthfully think you don't give the average person in this hobby enough credit:

"but there is just so much more to a healthy reef than "replanting" coral in areas that are suffering. A suffering reef with newly replaced coral can end up being nothing more than a bandaid fix if there is no longer natural recruitment to the site. "

But, I also feel that you have to start with the band aid to "stop the bleeding" so to speak and address and work on the bigger problem.

One band aid and step in the right direction would be to make sure things like this (the original topic of the thread) don't happen again.

 

[TyreeUM]

Hey Paul, I appreciate your comments, and like I said I never wanted this to turn into an argument, and clearly from the language I used in my post I pushed it in that direction so I am sorry. You are clearly an educated guy, as I am sure a lot of people on that participate on this forum are. The only point I was trying to make through this whole discussion was despite the efforts that have been made to make collection of reef animals more eco-friendly, the main underlying problem has not been addressed, and that scares me. We have over collected species around the world to the point of near extinction using eco-friendly means because no one had any idea at what level the collection was sustainable. So when I heard about the complaining of this ship running into the reef and getting mad at the captain and whatever, I just wanted to give the perspective that we are all partly responsible for wrecking reefs just being a part of this hobby. Anyhow, sorry for my last post - I didn't mean for it to come across the way that it did.

 

[Paul_N]

Hey Paul, I appreciate your comments, and like I said I never wanted this to turn into an argument, and clearly from the language I used in my post I pushed it in that direction so I am sorry. You are clearly an educated guy, as I am sure a lot of people on that participate on this forum are. The only point I was trying to make through this whole discussion was despite the efforts that have been made to make collection of reef animals more eco-friendly, the main underlying problem has not been addressed, and that scares me. We have over collected species around the world to the point of near extinction using eco-friendly means because no one had any idea at what level the collection was sustainable. So when I heard about the complaining of this ship running into the reef and getting mad at the captain and whatever, I just wanted to give the perspective that we are all partly responsible for wrecking reefs just being a part of this hobby. Anyhow, sorry for my last post - I didn't mean for it to come across the way that it did.

No worries, I completely agree with the fact that there is waaay more that needs to be done from "our side" in this hobby. IMO, including but not limited to getting more species like clowns that can be captive bred and also regulation of the collection of others. I also agree the education of people just getting into this hobby and those that choose to stick their head in the sand is first and foremost.