How to get 10-20 years in prison travelling with corals....

[xellos88]

Mixed feelings. Good that they caught the guy and made an example out of him and made it look "scary" to do this kind of thing. At the end of the day, it's just a photo op for the Bureau heads. The smart smugglers are still getting away with what they do. Agricultural runoff, reclamation for developments, boat anchors, etc 2x still continue to do 1000x more damage to the reef.

 

[xellos88]

This part from the FB article is interesting
"The offenders (of Coral Exploitation and Exportation) shall also be required to pay the cost of restoration of the damaged coral reefs based on available studies and as determined by the department.

Ouch; how long is a piece of string?

Which is funny because the best way to restore damaged reefs (according to a respectable local scientist) is to leave it alone and costs $0.

https://thegoodtrip.ph/posts/payo-with-dr-licuanan

 

[dylana407]

Which is funny because the best way to restore damaged reefs (according to a respectable local scientist) is to leave it alone and costs $0.

https://thegoodtrip.ph/posts/payo-with-dr-licuanan

The cost to restored = the cost to keep you out of jail. They payments go straight to their retirement account.

 

[sghera64]

I'm dumb founded with the local authorities by showcasing huge corals in the open and killing them at the same time!!! Atrocious & stupid ... instead of protecting & putting the corals back into the ocean, they let them "hang dry" ;Punch ;Rage

I had the same reaction. At first, I thought they were at a MACNA conference booth showing off their wares: “Gee look what we foiled? Aren’t we special? Hey are these wet rocks supposed to smell so funky?”

 

[ca1ore]

Lets be honest; if it weren't illegal, & you weren't going to be fined or jailed, would you do it then?

It would depend. If taking a hammer and chisel out to the reef, then categorically no. If it was a matter of snapping off a branch or two .... and I had some reasonably good way to actually get it home alive, then perhaps so. ‘‘Tis all moot though.

 

[sghera64]

Okay, I will come clean. Each time I go diving on the reef, I actually capture and collect more coral and rock (and occasionally fish) than I could fit into a dump truck. And I take it back home with me to the Midwest (US).

Then I edit all the boring and blurred footage out, add some soothing background music and share it on my YouTube channel.

It’s the best way to “collect” live stock from the reef: you will never get caught, nothing dies and you don’t have smelly leaks in your luggage. Besides, I’m too lazy to snap ‘n bag. I doubt I would be able to get it home with a 48 hr travel journey (pre-flight decompression, flying, layovers, driving). I can barely get my coral home from an out of state trip to a not-so-local fish store.

 

[Blackedge]

This was a distraction and the real load got past

 

[Scrubber_steve]

It would depend. If taking a hammer and chisel out to the reef, then categorically no. If it was a matter of snapping off a branch or two .... and I had some reasonably good way to actually get it home alive, then perhaps so. ‘‘Tis all moot though.

My point is, I guess, that you considered it. In reality, if you did snap off a bit & took it home your action would have no detrimental effect on the reef at all.
I don't know what difference a hammer and chisel makes. Surely thats how many corals are collected legally.

 

[Frogger]

Mixed feelings. Good that they caught the guy and made an example out of him and made it look "scary" to do this kind of thing. At the end of the day, it's just a photo op for the Bureau heads. The smart smugglers are still getting away with what they do. Agricultural runoff, reclamation for developments, boat anchors, etc 2x still continue to do 1000x more damage to the reef.

These are often corrupt countries and officials who look the other way if the price is right, However it is one baby step at a time and these countries are starting to realize the value of their natural resource coral reefs even if a lot of their early decisions are just political. Like banning exporting of cultured corals from legitimate responsible wholesalers is definitely a political misstep.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

This was a distraction and the real load got past

Australia gets a lot of (or at least use to) illegal Indonesian fishing boats comming into our waters.
I wonder if they are also grabbing a bit of coral from our western, northern & perhaps eastern reefs?

 

[Frogger]

My point is, I guess, that you considered it. In reality, if you did snap off a bit & took it home your action would have no detrimental effect on the reef at all.
I don't know what difference a hammer and chisel makes. Surely thats how many corals are collected legally.

Problem is if you do it why should I not be allowed to do it, after 1000 people have done it there is nothing left. There has to be zero tolerance for people taking corals without proper permits and sustainability being practiced.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

This reminds me of when I went to the petrified forest national park in arizona. Tons of people visit every year, and alot of people try to take pieces of petrified wood even though there's signs every where saying not to and you'll face a hefty fine if you get caught doing so. But if there wasnt regulations on such things, and anybody could take a piece here or there, over a long enough period of time there would be nothing left. Everybody thinks "it's just one little piece" but on a large enough un regulated scale, it'll be everything.

 

[ca1ore]

I don't know what difference a hammer and chisel makes. Surely thats how many corals are collected legally.

That may well be, doesn’t mean I’d do it. I conclude a long time ago that measuring my actions against that which somebody else might do was a low bar indeed. When I was in Florida I visited an aquaculture facility where they were growing staghorn colonies on rope lines down to the sand in an effort to repopulate the decimated wild colonies. When I suggested they could generate revenue by selling some of them to the reef hobby, the guide looked at me like I had two heads ( for the record - I don’t).

 

[mikes686]

The true profit of greed. Thankfully all mine are farmed, might have been illegally acquired initially...

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Problem is if you do it why should I not be allowed to do it, after 1000 people have done it there is nothing left. There has to be zero tolerance for people taking corals without proper permits and sustainability being practiced.

Yes I know that . But it doesn't change the fact that one person taking one small piece off a larger coral has no effect on that coral or the reef.
You've got to be realistic, a heck of a lot of people could do that without any negative effect on a reef.
Illegal collection of large amounts of coral by a lot of people, completely unregulated & in specific relatively small areas would eventually have a negative effect of course.
Don't forget that coral grows, repairs itself, & spawns new coral all the time. This is how large areas of reef damaged by cyclones is reclaimed. One decent cyclones takes more coral in that one event than legally collected coral takes in a year.

 

[Blackened]

2 full suitcases of just corals...Clearly wasn't thinking of anything but $$$$...

Let me guess : Dynamite , Atom Bomb, Pink Rainbow Alien Eye, Bubble Gum Monster

 

[Tamberav]

I voted yes but I was going to do it with proper collection/fishing permits if I did. Decided it wasn't worth the hassle or trying to keep it alive and just took pictures.

 

[Reef Box]

My wife and I decided to bring home a ziplock full sand from the Dominican Republic to put in our tank as a little something to remember our time together. Imagine our surprise when they pulled my wife over (and to a secluded room) without me being allowed back with her (it was her name on the suitcase). Come to find out after she all but died that while it is not illegal it does look EXACTLY like a brick of cocaine on the X-ray! Oddly enough it was in the "honeymoon suitcase" so she also had to explain that......;Wideyed. She didn't think it was as funny as I did but it still makes for a good story....Could have been much worse, who knew?!

 

[P-Dub]

That's HILARIOUS!!! Ironic that the PI government will nail this guy while allowing indiscriminate dynamite fishing and live coral removal and acid bleaching for tourism and export by the locals without even a slap on the wrist. What a joke. Nice PR stunt by the PI government.

 

[Elegance Coral]

I got busted doing this.
Back in the early 80s/late 90s me, my wife, and our sheltie went to the FL. Keys for a week. I spent the whole week collecting coral. I was pulling a 4'x8' utility trailer full of buckets, that were full of coral, as I tried leaving the Keys. Got pulled over in Key Largo. I almost made it. The police officer didn't know if what I had was legal to possess or not, so he called the game warden. While we waited for the warden to show up, my wife sat on the guard rail, holding our dog. The officer informed us that if I had stuff I was not allowed to, my wife and I were going to jail, my dog would go to the pound, and they would impound the car and trailer and we'd never get them back. So, for 20 minutes, the longest 20 minutes of my life, I stood there on the side of the road, watching my wife hold our dog, cry, and telling me she couldn't go to jail. Not much I could do about it at that point. A pretty helpless feeling. When the warden showed up, he started going through the buckets, pulling stuff out, and saying, "You're not allowed to have this, you're not allowed to have that......" I just knew we were going to jail. I played stupid. Told him I had no idea it was illegal to collect this stuff. That I was just collecting stuff I thought would look good in my aquarium. I think he felt sorry for my wife. She did look pretty sad sitting on that guard rail, hugging our sheltie, with tears running down her face. The warden said, "I'll make a deal with you. If you help me put this stuff back in the water, I'll write you a ticket for fishing without a license and let you go." I started grabbing buckets, and we dumped a whole weeks worth of work back into the ocean.
That was a different world and a different time. This was before the Keys were completely devastated like they are now. Taking this stuff was illegal, but wasn't viewed as the big deal it is today. If it were to happen today, I'd surely go to jail. It's not worth it. After that experience, I make sure to dump the sand out of my shoes before leaving the beach. I ain't taking NOTHING from the ocean!!!!!!!

The moral of my story..... Just don't do it.
Peace
EC